Spetsnaz go loud in new Rainbow Six Siege trailer

Rainbow Six Siege Spetsnaz

Look, I don't want to indulge in any stereotyping here, even for funsies. But I have to cock an eyebrow at this video for the Russian Spetsnaz, the fifth and final Rainbow Six Siege special forces team to be introduced—and the only one of them to bring a mounted machine gun to a hostage rescue.

Sure, these may not be the most well-considered kidnapping schemes ever, but who brings a mounted, drum-fed machine gun to a delicate crime scene? And especially one in which the object is, presumably, to get the civilians out alive and intact? The RP-46 is probably great at what it does, but what it does is chew holes in large numbers of people at up to 800 meters. What possible use could something like that be in somebody's living room?

Anyway, never mind me. Also in the squad is Glaz, a sniper; Kapkan, who sets tripwire bombs; and Fuze, who mounts a cluster grenade launcher on floors or walls that literally tosses explosives in multiple directions. To put things in perspective, he, and not the guy with the bombs or the machine gun that needs its own folding table, is the one who comes with the collateral damage warning. Call me crazy, but if I was ever taken hostage in Mother Russia and these fellows showed up to save me, I'd probably say thanks but I'll take my chances talking it out with the kidnappers.

Rainbow Six Siege is coming on December 1.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.