After an outbreak of a deadly parasite across America, the Rainbow Exogenous Analysis & Containment Team (REACT) has been deployed to study and combat the threat. A multiplayer tactical first person shooter, the game guides players to cooperate to complete objectives and rescue operations as they fight to contain the outbreak against all odds.
“Rainbow Six Extraction” is a challenging shooter that rewards tactical gameplay and is well worth investing the time to learn its intricacies.
The parasite, known in game as the Archaeans, has infested four main locations: New York, San Francisco, Alaska and New Mexico. Each of these hotspots have been quarantined and divided into three subzones, meaning the game has 12 different levels. The gameplay has groups of up to three players engage in incursions within the quarantine zone to complete various randomized objectives. Some of these objectives include intel gathering, search and rescue missions and parasite biopsies. At harder difficulty levels, there are also parasite mutations which alter the levels or enemies in certain ways. The chimera fog mutation, for example, douses the environment in a thick fog, hindering the ability to see far distances and detect enemies.
Each subzone has an objective, and players can evacuate at any time, meaning they can choose to keep exploring or get out if they are in danger. This is something I loved because it made me choose whether or not to risk going deeper into a zone for potentially more intel, or to get out with my earnings while I was safe. This decision felt important because of a unique mechanic surrounding player death.
Operators in “Rainbow Six Extraction” are equipped with special technology within their biohazard suits that trigger when they fall in battle. When a player’s health reaches zero, the tech will trigger, releasing a foam that envelopes the operator to protect them from the parasite and inducing a comatose state. For gameplay purposes, this means whenever I lost all my health, that operator would go missing in action, and I would be locked out from using them. All is not lost, though, because the game allows you to return to the quarantine zone with another operator for a rescue mission to evacuate the missing personnel. While it was quite brutal to lose the ability to play a character, I really enjoyed this mechanic because it heavily incentivized playing safe and smart, and made it feel as if there were actual consequences.
Anyone who is familiar with the game “Rainbow Six Siege” will feel right at home here, but for those unfamiliar with the franchise, it may take some getting used to. With a roster of 18 operators, who are also in the previously mentioned game, it can be a bit overwhelming at first to have to learn how to play them all. Coupled with the vast array of gadgets and tools at the players disposal, it can be hard to find what sort of gear works best for which scenario. The tutorial provides some helpful information, but I would have liked to see a bit more in depth information on the operator abilities.
Whereas most shooter games are fast paced, this game favors a slower and more methodical approach to encounters. Going in guns blazing will lead to a quick death, as the parasite responds aggressively to noise. Instead, I found that taking my time to plan out a stealthy route paid off most of the time. It was enjoyable to send in my recon drone to scan an objective for threats and eliminate high value targets quietly so as to not raise any unwanted attention. There are of course times when I needed to stand my ground and fight, but I believe that the more sneaky moments ended up being more memorable.
There is a narrative to the game that unfolds in a series of unlockable cutscenes, but besides the occasional audio log or codex entry, there isn’t much else to see. The REACT task force is led by three operators who serve as the story tellers, Eliza “Ash” Cohen, Elena “Mira” Alvarez and Jordan “Thermite” Trace. It was nice to finally see these operators from the previous game get some actual personality, but I didn’t find the story to be that compelling. The ending especially left me feeling that the narrative was incomplete –– and purposefully left open-ended to be continued later which was disappointing.
Despite the story not being too engaging, the gameplay ensures the game is still an enjoyable experience. While the difficulty may be a hard selling point to fans of more casual experiences, I do believe that for anyone looking for a challenge, this is an excellent place to find it. With satisfying shooting mechanics coupled with interesting stealth tech, I think this entry in the Rainbow Six franchise is an excellent evolution of the first person shooter genre.
