In multiplayer video games, some maps are just too iconic that they become legendary among the players. Maps like Nuketown of the Call of Duty franchise or the widely famous map of Counter Strike Dust. It also has a quote that says if a game has custom maps, there’s always dust 2″. Some things about these maps make them timeless because it’s not nostalgia that is holding these map’s popularity, it is something else.
But no new game has achieved this feat of being time in its game design, not since the last decade. There are games with good and sometimes great map designs but they are not on the level of counter-strike or call of duty.
In this blog, we are not going to discuss what makes a map timeless. Instead, we are going to talk about maps, specifically maps in Rainbow Six Siege. Since they have a habit of getting things wrong in terms of map design. Almost all of the maps in Siege had a rework at least one time since their addition to the game.
So There are a total of 26 maps in the game. Some of them are almost a decade old and some of them are new and some of them total garbage according to the community.
So we are going to talk about each map and their addition to the competitive games. When they were added to the game, how did they look and things like that? This blog is not going to be a tier list because we are just going to describe the maps and will give you some information if you have missed it.
If you play R6 alot then you should definitely have a look at our article about buying and selling in rainbow six.
Clubhouse:
Firstly we will go through the base game maps that were released back in 2015. Clubhouse is first on the list. The last bit of rework that this map had was more than half a decade ago with Operation Para Bellum. The opinion of the community about this is really good. Almost everybody likes this map. Clubhouse has also never been removed from the game. While I want to talk about the map more, there are 25 of them in the list so we have to move on.
Bank:
Next on the list is a bank and I know that this map is one of the most hated ones in the game. Ubisoft tried to fix it with the Crystal Guard update in 2021 but the pick rate of this map never saw a healthy spike in growth. The reason for this biasness could be that banks do give an upper to the defenders. There’s a lot of room for defenders to make plays and it is the reasoning that most of the time bank gets banned first.
Chalet
After the rework in 2020 with the operation Shadow Legacy the map became playable. But it never left its perception of being terrible. While the map still does not get picked more often the rework of the chalet made it more appealing to the new audience. Since its release chalet has been reworked a few times but Ubisoft haven’t figured out a way to make it more lucrative for its player base Some of them even call it the worst thing that ever happened to Siege.
Consulate:
The consulate just had a rework about a year ago with the update of Operation Dread Factor. The map is located in Ivory Coast, Abidjan. The Rainbow Six community did not receive the Consulate’s rework very well. The reason that Ubisoft has removed most locations on the map is that it made the consulate playable in the first place. Players were saying that this new consulate feels like a whole new map
Hereford Base:
The Hereford base is the fifth map that was released with the base game on December 1st, 2015. Since then the only rework it had was with Operation Grim Sky expansion update. The World War 2 theme map base map has been removed from situations which directly means that it will be forgotten by the players in upcoming years. Although you could still play the map in snipers-only mode it is not available for competitive play.
House
House is the sixth one on the list. House was first shown during the reveal of the game at E3 2014. So basically this was the map that devs were most confident about in terms of visuals. Although in itself the house was a good map and the play rate was stable. I don’t know why they have to reshape the map in 2020. After the rework, House never got back its familiarity or the love it used to get.
Kanal:
Kanal is another map that players despise and their reasons for that. Firstly the complaint is that the map is too linear for a tactical shooter. The next complaint or reason is that rotating is extremely hard, not only that attacking on this map is a nightmare.
Even after the rework, with the update of Operation Ember Rise in 2019 the map hasn’t gotten any better in the eyes of the players. I am not trying to make you hate this map and if you like this map then it’s all good.
Oregon:
Oregon is one of the few maps of the game that everyone loves. Whether it’s the pro-scene or the normal weekend players everybody seems to enjoy this map. However, After the rework in 2020, things started to change for Oregon. The players who loved the map before were now hating it because of the layout changes but after some time and enough e-sport play on the map the meta got well-defined and things started to get back to normal.
Presidential Plane:
The presidential plane is a remake version of the 747 map which was around half the size of it. The presidential plane is a map that went stale as time went on. It’s just there sitting in a perma ban slot collecting dust.
But for casual play it’s a fun map to play. The reasoning behind its unpopularity among the serious players is that it is just unbalanced; you can never expect when and where you would encounter your enemy.
Yacht:
Now we are in the territory of the DLC maps. We are going to start this list with the yacht considering that it was the first map to be added to the game. A yacht was added to the game on February 2, 2016, with Operation Black Ice update. The initial thoughts of the players were nice but as time went players started to hate the map they reasoned that some areas were getting them suspension bans.
Some others were complaining about how you can’t roam around outside of the yacht. That’s why Yacht was removed from the game to get a rework but to this day we haven’t gotten it back.
Border:
The border was introduced in the game on May 10, 2016, with Operation Dust Line expansion update. The map had reworked which infuriated some of the players for not being deserving enough to get a rework done. The map is also coming to the upcoming mobile version of the game.
All in all, the border and its rework were great at the time of their release but got stale after the time went on. Hopefully, you will see a better version of it in the upcoming mobile version.
Favela:
Favela was added to the game on August 2, 2016, with Operation Skull Rain. There are two maps named favela, the original one and the reworked or remade version. The first favela takes place on an island on a full bright day. On the other hand, the remade version takes place at night; it also has a completely different layout than the original one.
So it’s kind of a new map and as always siege players hated the map because they were unfamiliar with the layout. And nobody wanted to learn a whole new map from scratch. Nonetheless, the favela is a nice map to play on.
Skyscraper:
As we are going from the oldest to the latest our next map is Skycraper which was released way back in 2016 november with Operation Red Crow. the reworked version of it however came to the game with Urban Operations expansion.
There is also a version of it being a single-player. As always Neophobia of the siege got the better of this map and it never saw the true appreciation that it deserved. The reworked version of it however got somewhat accepted by the community.
Coastline:
The next map we are going to talk about briefly is the coastline. This map was added to the game in Feb of 2017 with Operation Velvet. The map is situated it an island depicting visuals like Sussex. The map also had a rework which came in the later part of 2021. Since then the map has faded from the minds of the players Just like the Consulate did.
Theme Park:
The theme park was added to the game during the last quarter of 2017 alongside the operation blood orchid. As its initial release, the theme park was just another chalet coated up in different aesthetics. The map was and is heavily in the favor of defender sides. It’s safe to say that it is Another mind-map of the game with nothing going in its way. Even the rework failed to revive the map.
Tower:
Tower was introduced in the game alongside the operation white noise at the end of 2017. December 5th to be precise. The map in itself is extremely unbalanced and due to its size, the map’s callout and strategizing are cruel. The map is heavily biased toward the defendant’s side. The pathways or the destructive do not do anything meaningful. There’s also a modified version of this map which made its appearance on the M.U.T.E. Protocol Reloaded event.
Villa:
Villa was added to the game with the Operation Para Bellum which was the first season of 2018. Villa was supposed to be the next clubhouse but got punched in the face as soon as it got into the hands of the player. The map was not bad as per se but it did not have any effect that would make it enjoyable. Also, the layout made it impossible to get good at. It is also the first map of the list that hasn’t been reworked yet.
Fortress:
Finally, a map that the community feels good about. So Fortress was cast into the game in the last quarter of 2018 alongside Operation Wind Bastion. As of now, the map is out of the ranked map pool but it will make a comeback shortly.
Fortress has everything that an average player wants in a map, a balanced layout with no upper hand towards any team while also giving a fresh look into the game. All in all, against all of the maps that have received a rework I think Fortress deserved it the most.
Outback:
Out Back was released in the first quarter of 2019 on the 18th of February to be precise. The map offered a new scenery to the players as before out back they had only seen buildings and constructions of mammoths but now they were seeing a fresh scenery.
As for the player’s reaction towards the map itself, they were mostly positive but since the tradition, they started to hate it after a few months of it being added to the game. They had some merits to the claims that Outback has too many angles to watch. Outback also had a rework which was released with a high expansion update.
Kafe Dostoyevsky:
This map’s name sounds like a person’s name. Kafe Dostoyevsky was released early in December 2019 with Operation Phantom Sight. Ubisoft’s devs had reworked the map before releasing it to the general audience.
The reason? Because it was just too hard to attack or defend for most players. As the rule for mainstream is to be perfect for the average the map had to be reworked which did not solve the problem again. As of now, the map is sitting in ranked mode’s rotation.
Emerald Plains:
Emerald Plains was first introduced to the players via a test run in March 2022. After being tested for more than three it was released to all the players in the mid-season of Demon Veil. and as always the players complained about it.
I don’t how Ubisoft and their devs take up with these players. Even after testing it for almost a month players were still not satisfied with the map However the maps still have not gotten any rework and I don’t think they will give any of it in the future.
Nighthaven Labs:
The last map on the list is nighthaven labs. This map is the latest iteration of the maps of the game; it was released on December 6, 2022. It is situated in a discreet shore location somewhere in Singapore. As for the player’s sentiment, it was the first time that we’ve got a mixed bag of reviews and just blatant hate towards a map.
Some reviews are saying that it has a bit of a learning curve but it is a solid map while others are stating that because they got 2-4 the map is trash. I don’t know which opinion to believe in as of my understanding the map itself has corners to refine but it is not a bad map as per se.
Final words:
Now we are at the end of the blog. After a dozen map reworks and most fans getting upset yet still Ubisoft not getting the point we have arrived at the end of it.
For those of you who have noticed I have not included the stadium alpha and bravo because both of those maps were supposed to fire range maps. Once they are released for the ranked play I will add them. Till then goodbye.