Rainbow Six Extraction has a fantastic foundation.
The foundation of this game is strong, and the developers should be proud of what they accomplished. Rainbow Six Extraction has its own identity and feel despite borrowing most (if not everything) from Rainbow Six Siege.
As of this review, you can go out on missions in four locations (as of this review), complete assignments, and do the Maelstrom Protocol (ranked) game mode. You will earn cosmetics, tech, and new operators as you play.
Assignments
An assignment takes place on any map and is of critical difficulty. Each assignment will be different, and they cycle every five days. Kick the Anthill has been my favorite thus far, but the game has not been out long enough to see what is planned for this game mode.
Assignments give you a generous amount of XP; I was able to get multiple operators to level 10 from Kick the Anthill: This is both a good and “bad” thing. Once an operator gets to level 10, the XP they earn is no longer useful.
Maelstrom Protocol
Maelstrom is a fun but disappointing ranked experience that feels like last minute. In this game mode, you can move up to diamond class by completing a string of objectives that increase in difficulty as you play.
The XP is worth it, but the problem comes from the cosmetics. As you play, you earn a helmet that is put on a timer; you will have to achieve the same rank to get this helmet again at the end of the cycle. The helmet is not the only incentive to play; you can earn a small amount of premium currency from participating in the ranked mode.
However, I have the same complaint about using level 10’s in this mode. A level 10 earning XP feels useless, and since the roster is limited, you will have a couple of them on your roster.
The Story
You will travel from location to location, gathering intel about the threat. You will earn tech points, operators, and new locations to play in as you progress. The story is nothing spectacular, and I found it tedious to follow, aside from reading a couple of codex entries.
The lore provided in the codex is one of my favorite parts of the game! Though I wish they would explain a little more about what is going on. There is a lot of reading you have to do if you want to understand everything.
Character Advancement and Customization
Most of the character advancement feels the same. You’re going to get speed boosts, armor boosts, and new weapons across all characters. Characters began to feel different within their abilities. Getting an operator to rank ten should give them the boost they need to compete.
You can change the characters’ headgear to match their body gear or mix and match: I appreciate this because I can make my operators look however I want. You can also give some guns a new skin, and the skins are cross-compatible with all firearms. If you have a skin for one gun, you will have it for all guns that can wear a skin.
Depending on your preference, some of the best operator outfits in the game are unlocked by completing story content, and others can be bought from the store.
Final Thoughts
You are given a healthy number of mutations to fight, they all do something different, and each presents its own challenge. Since the game just came out, I think the selection of “special infected” is at a reasonable amount.
You can play this game your way; if you want to go in loud, you’re going to have trouble especially depending on the mission type. However, if that is something you want to do it will work for most missions below the two highest difficulties.
The operator health mechanic is something I thought would get in the way and make the game feel like a chore. Honestly? It works fine. You are encouraged to change operators and try new things while you go out on missions.
The tech is okay, and honestly, I wish more thought would’ve gone into what tech will be used. Some of it is clearly more useful. The tech you take will also depend on what your teammates have, so I guess you can mix and match as you please.
The operators all feel the same for the most part. Some of them have more armor, and some have what I consider to be better abilities. Some operators get a better selection of weapons, but that will depend on your preference. You can pick who you like and level them up as you please.
Scoring
Rainbow Six Extraction earns a solid 7/10 for what we got on release. I am not taking into account what is coming.
Score Breakdown
- Solid amount of operators to choose from, and although I do not like them all, there appears to be something for everyone. I wish each operator felt more unique during their advancement.
- The game offers you a good amount of information through the codex. However, I wish we could have gotten more cutscenes or something explaining what is happening. There is a lot of reading in this game, and most people won’t take the time out to do it.
- A healthy selection of missions and with two extra game modes, you will always have something to try while you play the game. None of these game modes offer special, permanent rewards for playing. The ranked helmet is on a timer. You always get XP but that starts to feel like a waste if you’re playing a level 10 and have all the tech.
- The game is fun, you do not need advancement, and you can unlock skins just from playing the game. Doing the “story mode” will give you new lore to read in the codex.
- The “special infected” are cool, and some of them present a major challenge. Apparently, you can watch YouTube videos on them, but upon further discussion, I think these videos should be in the codex.
- You can feel the care put into this game, even if it’s supposed to be a spin-off or something. Each map feels unique, even the ones I hate playing on. I also appreciate that you have to think about how you approach an objective. However, I do find it odd that the map is not on your screen while you play. They could add it to the screen and present fog of war to keep the surprise of the map.
- The content that they have provided feels solid enough, however parts of the game still feel unfinished. The story also feels like it was cut in a couple of areas but the last cutscene you get provides a solid jumping point for future content.
Rainbow Six extraction is a fun game with friends that will keep you wanting more. Stealth gameplay is rewarded with a healthy amount of XP, and the variety of game modes will give you something to do each time you load the game. However, everything appears to come to a standstill once you hit level 10 on your operators: This is only a problem for people who want constant progression. The future of this game looks bright if support is continued! Once you run out of things to progress on, play anyway. The gameplay loop is solid, and I look forward to what comes next.
Titanium Gaming 