Rainbow Six Extraction Review – Saved by the gameplay

After two previews of Rainbow Six Extraction, we finally come up to the full review just shy of the game’s launch. Do read about our experiences here and here, for further details and context. All the games’ functions are in place, so let’s chat about that. Incidentally, the in-game purchases are for skins and outfits.

Options themselves are fairly standard with some accessibility customization regarding visuals, but not for controls. It does have an in-game benchmark, which is nice.

TUTORIAL

For people completely unfamiliar with how Rainbow Six Extraction works, the tutorial is done really well to teach you about the mechanics of this game. Considering how you might bring in friends through passes for this PVE experience, I’d say this is quite vital. It comes with sub-objectives to help you practice the methods to deal with certain situations, including stealth kills and destroying nests.

There are three fixed main objectives that will lead you through what you need to know to play the game. The mentioned sub-objectives provide some token rewards, and don’t add to your Operator progress.

SINGLE PLAYER MODE

Extraction is definitely recommended to play with friends, with its core design having 3 player teams after all. Fortunately, you can go solo to practice or get experience while you wait for your buddies to find a spot in their schedule (or if you have none). Depending on how coordinated you are with two other humans, single player might be easier for you due to not requiring, well, coordination.

Granted, the lowered difficulty can also be attributed to changes made to enemy quantity and actual objective requirements, like how you have less targets to worry about and general execution made easier. With how much stuff is locked behind Milestone requirements, clearing the solo content can be your best bet to grind out that experience. A single player mode run with two completed objectives had a 4.3k EXP payout, and factoring in any EXP bonuses, your Operators can zoom past those levels.

However, the actual progression speed remains glacial.

PROGRESSION

As from the preview, your progression comes in the form of your Operator levels, and Milestone / Account levels. The Operator levels haven’t changed from the second preview, but the Milestones have.

Unfortunately, the change isn’t for the better, as the Maelstrom Protocol mode is now unlocked at Milestone 16 (!) rather than the 4 of the preview. I can understand why, since it can be a pretty punishing mode if you don’t know what you’re doing. Still, it shouldn’t be this hard to unlock some new content and / or Operators.

ASSIGNMENTS

This one is the new mode coming with the launch. The way it works is as a weekly challenge mode that will feature different scenarios per week. There will be a variety of scenarios, assuredly to see more updates in the post-launch.

These scenarios have their own ‘rules’, which include friendly fire, minimalist HUD, discarding ammo on reloading a partial clip, and the like. All the while, you will, of course, have to handle the ever encroaching threat of the Archæan.

Much like Maelstrom Protocol, it’ll probably take you a decent chunk of your time to even unlock the prerequisites to join this mode.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

With this review build, Rainbow Six Extraction feels as grindy as it was in the preview, if not more so. Don’t get me wrong: the gameplay is incredibly solid, the randomized missions being part of the fun and the difficulty feeling just right. However, with the major progression being locked behind Milestone levels that’s incredibly slow to raise, it just dampens the fun by that much.

TOTAL SCORE

8 / 10

Rainbow Six Extraction

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Release Date: 2022-01-20

Epic Games Store, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S

The Chimera parasite that caused an Outbreak in New Mexico has suddenly reappeared across the US, deadlier than ever and spreading rapidly. To prepare for any future threat, the Rainbow Exogenous Analysis & Containment Team (REACT), a highly specialized and outfitted organization was created.​ As a hand-selected REACT Operator, it is your mission to confront the mysterious creatures known as the Archæans.

Join Us!