RAINBOW SIX: EXTRACTION Review (Xbox One)

STAFF REVIEW of RAINBOW SIX: EXTRACTION (Xbox One)

Monday, February 14, 2022.
by Adam Dileva

I tried to get into Rainbow Six Siege when it was new, but it just never did anything for me. The PvP gameplay simply never resonated with my preferences and I pretty much forgot about it quite quickly. If you ever played the limited mode in Siege, Outbreak, you’ll have a pretty good idea about Rainbow Six Extraction’s premise. Based on a specific mode from Siege, Extraction is now its own dedicated game, focusing on the 1 to 3 player cooperative PvE experience.

Set a few years into the future after the outbreak, The Chimera Parasite has escaped containment and has now infected numerous cities across the United States from San Francisco, New York, Alaska and more. The Parasite has evolved over the years, now known as Archaeans, a much more fearsome and deadly enemy that the REACT (Rainbow Exogenous Analysis and Containment Team) squad is tasked with contaminating. The Rainbow team has always been tasked with some of the most difficult situations imaginable, and their task in Extraction is no different.

At the beginning you’ll have access to a handful of characters, known as Operators, and unlock more as you level up later on. If you’re a big Siege fan, you’ll be happy to know and recognize said Operators, and just like the previous title, each have their own abilities, perks and weapons specific to them and their play style. Assemble a squad of up to three player Operators and take on a cooperative PvE experience against the deadly Archaeans as you try to survive.

Each Operator has their own unique ability, best suited for specific missions, objectives and situations, though that doesn’t mean you’re forced to use them when you don’t want, but you might have a harder time using Doc for example with his healing as opposed to Vigil when a brief moment of invisibility might help you take out an elite foe silently. In no particular order, the Operators currently included and unlockable as you level are as follows, and while they all have somewhat of a back story, it’s not really a focus in Extraction; surviving is.

Doc is your healer with the ability to use his healing stim pistol from afar to heal yourself or friendlies. Finka is the other healer class, able to temporarily boost the team’s shields but also revive downed teammates from a distance. Jager is a pilot who has access to an automated turret, even able to help intercept projectiles within its radius. Rook brings armor plating for his teammates to equip, allowing you to go downed if you fall instead of straight to K.O. IQ returns and is able to detect REACT equipment through walls and obstacles. Fuze is amazing for specific modes, having the ability to place remotely detonable charges on walls and barricades, flooding the room with cluster bombs on the other side before a breach. Tachanka is one of my favorites, able to deploy a mounted LMG whenever you please, great for chokepoints, hordes or against elite enemies.

Sledge returns with his tactical hammer, allowing you to stun enemies and destroy walls and create pathways with ease. Alibi’s ability is interesting, allowing you to place a holographic-like drone that can be used as a decoy to distract enemies. Pulse does just that, setting a pulse that detects almost all objectives, nests and more through walls for the team. Capitao unlocks much later but is able to shoot silent bolts that detonate on impact, able to switch between smoke and venom bolts. Ela is who you want if you want to make use of her sticky proximity mines, great for setting traps and luring enemies into. Smoke lives up to his name, able to throw, well, remotely detonated smoke grenades that will also deal damage to enemies within the smoke cloud.

There’s a few others Operators, but as you can see, they all have their own unique abilities and traits that suit a specific playstyle and group composition. While they will all generally play the same gun-wise for the most part, it’s the synergy between the three players’ abilities that will make a world of difference, especially on the harder difficulty and endgame content. Also, don’t expect to pick one or two Operators and expect to ‘main’ them, as you’re going to need to rotate between almost all of them on a regular basis, as their status changes between matches based on what’s happened to them, such as going MIA (dying), extracting with low health and more. More on this shortly.

18 Operators, 12 Maps, 13 Enemies, 25 Gadgets, and nearly 70 guns feels like it’s got a wealth of content, which it does for a while. I word it that way because it does feel like a grind eventually when you’re trying to get all your Operators to max level 10 and work on your overall level as well. There’s varying difficulty levels as well, and I highly suggest trying to level as many Operators as possible, because if one of your main Operators go MIA and the rest are all low level, you’re going to have a hard time in certain missions taking those Operators in missions.

While there are a dozen different maps, basically every playthrough will differ because of the randomized missions within each. Essentially how it works is that you choose what map you want to play and it will be broken into three different sections (missions). You can then choose how far into missions you want to test your skill and teamwork. Where you’re dropped into the map is the Extraction zone, able to call for an extraction and leave at any point your team wants, though the earlier you leave and extract, the less XP you get, so it’s a tradeoff of risk versus reward. Sometimes retreating and extracting when low on health is the better option of having a teammate ‘dying’ and going MIA, which is a mission type.

Die on a map without being extracted or rescued and your Operator is unusable until they are rescued on the same map later on. The three levels on a map are categorized as tier 1, 2 and 3, generally getting harder on each tier, but the mission types vary and some are much more challenging than others, so it will take practice to learn which missions your team is best suited for and which Operators are the best choices.

While the maps never change, the different mission objectives each time change the variety and keep the experience fresh. The 13 different mission types vary from tracking nests, killing elite targets and more. It will take strategy to learn the best ways to proceed with the different missions and enemy types, as you’re almost always being stalked or hunted by numerous enemies. Nests will spawn enemies out every so often if not taken care of, so you need to have a plan of attack of the best way to proceed. Do you try and take on the next tier of mission when you’re low on health and risk it, or extract and let those Operators rest as you start a new game?

With about a dozen enemy types, you’ll have a lot of repetition with the normal ‘grunt’ types, but once you get high enough to fight the harder Elites and more, they require a lot more caution and strategy to take out. On top of that, on the harder difficulties you’ll also have to deal with mission ‘mutations’. These are basically randomized modifiers such as a dense fog that makes it near impossible to see, armored nests, caustic Sprawl and a handful of others that really make missions challenging. Speaking of Sprawl, the parasite infects everything near it, leaving this black sludge-like substance on the floor, walls and ceiling, slowing you to a crawl if you walk through it. You can see how this can hamper your escape efforts if you’re being chased or need to make a quick retreat. You’re able to shoot the Sprawl to clear a path, but that means you’re using your precious ammo in the process.

For those that sink in the dedication and time into Extraction, the endgame content becomes much more challenging with its Maelstrom Protocol mode. Instead of your normal 3 tiered missions, this mode challenges you with 9, on top of rotating mutations as well. Also, you’re only able to choose from a handful of randomly chosen Operators and you’ll have to deal with the hardest Archaean’s Extraction has to offer, plus you have less time than normal to complete each tier for good measure. This mode is no joke and will take a solid team to be successful with.

Each time you extract you’ll get all of the XP you’ve earned up to that point in the mission(s). Extract early and you won’t get much, finish all three tiers and you’ll get more. The harder the difficulty the more XP you’ll earn.

Each Operator earns their own XP when played, but you also gain an overall level which is where unlocks come into play. Certain cities, Operators and gear unlock at certain level milestones, so you’re almost always given new content to play until you reach max level. Bonus XP will be given if you can complete side objectives, like silent takedowns, shooting weak spots, etc, allowing you to level much quicker. An Operator that goes MIA though doesn’t get their earned XP until they are rescued though, so that should always be a priority for your team.

Operators also earn new weapons and cosmetics as they level up, improving their abilities and perks the more levels they gain. There are over twenty REACT gadgets to unlock as well, mostly different grenade types, claymores and other equipment that any Operator can equip once unlocked. Again, finding that synergy between your team is going to be key, as we made sure someone always have claymores when certain missions were in play.

While available on Xbox Game Pass, if your friend doesn’t currently subscribe they can try out Rainbow Six Extraction with an included Buddy Pass that allows them to play alongside you for 14 days. I can’t emphasize how important it is going to be to have a solid trio to have any success. While you can play solo or with random others online, without key communication, you’re going to have a bad time and have numerous Operators go MIA. Something interesting I found out was when I joined a max level friend and had my Operator go MIA from dying; He had to go and it was only then I noticed that since I wasn’t at the level to play that specific city area yet due to the unlock level, so I basically ‘lost’ that Operator until he was on the next night and could run me through that city to rescue my Operator. I don’t see this being a common problem for many but something to note that you can have Operators go MIA in levels you technically don’t have access to on your own yet.

I’ll admit, not only did I not really enjoy Siege, I fully expected to be underwhelmed with Extraction due to being very similar in gameplay elements. The PvE aspect certainly appeals to me much more but I honestly struggled in the first handful of missions to figure everything out and get a grasp on it all, even after the VR training mission. Once you wrap your head around how all the mechanics and missions work and things start to fall into place, that’s when the fun really begins.

Visually, Extraction is what you’d expect from a Siege spin-off. While I’m sure some parts have been upgraded and improved, both games look very similar aesthetically, but for good reason. Audio is as you’d expect as well, with enemies sounding menacing, weapons sounding impactful and barricades being placed still has that satisfying audio. Since there’s not much story outside of the opening cutscene and in unlocked logs, there’s not much else to note other than Operator one-liners.

Rainbow Six Extraction’s ‘fun’ is almost solely going to be based on if you have a three person squad with some friends and how effective your communication and strategy is. Another reviewer friend that was playing wasn’t enjoying Extraction nearly as much due to playing solo, but once I found two friends and gained out a handful of levels and Operators, it starts to fall into place and the fun begins, even if it does become repetitious later on. As to the longevity, that will depend on if you enjoy Extraction’s very challenging endgame and what content will be released in the future.

**Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction Deluxe Edition was provided by the publisher and reviewed on an Xbox Series X**

Overall: 7.7 / 10
Gameplay: 8.0 / 10
Visuals: 8.0 / 10
Sound: 7.0 / 10

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STAFF REVIEW of RAINBOW SIX: EXTRACTION (Xbox One)

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