To renew player interest in Rainbow Six Siege's second season of its seventh year, Ubisoft dropped a revamped M.U.T.E. Protocol game mode. While the original M.U.T.E. Protocol was a heavily modified version of Secure Area, the new M.U.T.E. Protocol: Flesh and Metal takes cues from both Rainbow Six Siege's Team Deathmatch and other games' modes.
A far cry from Rainbow Six Siege's traditional gameplay, M.U.T.E. Protocol: Flesh and Metal immediately drops players into combat. Gunplay is quick and movement is quicker thanks to the removal of gadgets on an even playing field. Those who partook in Rainbow Six Siege's last event, Rengoku, will feel right at home playing M.U.T.E. Protocol: Flesh and Metal. But while the game mode is pretty straightforward, the systems that make it work are unique.
A Team-Based Gun Game
M.U.T.E. Protocol: Flesh and Metal takes place in a futuristic version of Rainbow Six Siege's Tower Map. Each round takes place on a different floor, with attackers and defenders starting on opposite sides of the map. There are 17 operators to pick from, but they all start with submachine guns and two charges of Oryx's Remah Dash.
Once a match starts, players run around the map looking to eliminate opponents. Defeating an opponent in M.U.T.E. Protocol promotes a player and their equipped weapon. Getting killed, on the other hand, demotes the player and gives them their previous weapon. Players must reach tier 10 to unlock the Golden Hammer: the only weapon capable of destroying the brain case located in the middle of the map.
Power-Ups Help and Hinder M.U.T.E. Protocol: Flesh and Metal
On the surface, M.U.T.E. Protocol: Flesh and Metal works like a traditional gun game mode. Players run around bashing through walls with their Remah Dashes to eliminate enemies as fast as possible. When mixed with Rainbow Six Siege's unique gameplay mechanics, things become more interesting. Players can create holes for unique lines of sight so that they can catch opponents by surprise. Rainbow Six Siege's fast time-to-kill means players can gain and lose ranks quickly, which is an advantage considering players only have 10 weapons to get through. Even Rainbow Six Siege's bad Team Deathmatch spawn locations make it into M.U.T.E. Protocol: Flesh and Metal, an oversight that causes some players to die immediately after respawning.
To offset some of the mode's frustrations, M.U.T.E. Protocol: Flesh and Metal includes two special power-ups. The first replenishes health and grants full health players some extra hit points, making them tankier. The other power-up is more divisive, as it automatically promotes players up a rank. While the promotion power-up can be good for those who are stuck in a cycle of death, it's potentially unbalanced. Considering the spawn locations for both power-ups are static, and their cooldowns are quite low, they can take away the skill-based aspects of the game mode. A player whose accuracy is on point can be overtaken by one who knows where to grab the right power-ups at the right times.
A Sci-Fi Twist and a Hammering Finale
Aside from power-ups, M.U.T.E. Protocol: Flesh and Metal is unique in that it has a sci-fi setting. This setting doesn't add much gameplay-wise apart from the final objective - which is to whack the brain case at the center of the map. Completing this task is harder than it seems, as players who have obtained the Golden Hammer can be seen by enemies and their objective is always in the same spot. This allows the defending team to easily pick off hammer wielders.
This is where M.U.T.E. Protocol: Flesh and Metal's team mechanics come in. Teammates need to protect their Golden Hammer wielders as they make their way to the brain case. This flips the game mode on its head; players who were initially looking out to promote themselves have to work as a team to win in the final stretch. Lower-ranked players can protect their Golden Hammer teammates while those on the cusp of their final promotion can continue hunting. On the enemy side, those looking for a relatively easy kill can camp the brain case and eliminate hammer wielders.
Another interesting part of M.U.T.E. Protocol: Flesh and Metal comes when both teams win one match each. Instead of going for another normal round, the third match takes place on the M.U.T.E. Tower roof. Every player is given one life and a Golden Hammer, tasked with eliminating the enemy team. This is more of a joke conclusion to a peculiar Rainbow Six Siege game mode, but nevertheless it is a great way to let off some steam after ha tense match.
M.U.T.E. Protocol: Flesh and Metal is a fun mode where reaction times and fast movement take precedence over caution. Though the static locations of power-ups can detract from the experience, it is a nice change of pace over Rainbow Six Siege's slower, tactical-based gameplay. It may not be what Rainbow Six Siege players want from Ubisoft considering the game's overall lack of content, but it does give them something to do while the developer works on its next season. The game mode runs from August 2 through 23, so those looking for a unique take on gun game should try it while it's available.
Rainbow Six Siege is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.