There are some fun elements, and some merits that need to be recognized; however, whilst fun, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction is just not enough.
The Tom Clancy name is the synonym of the genre the author helped create, the technothriller, in which gritty realism surrounding war, terrorism, espionage, and special operations is the norm. Since its partnership with Ubisoft, the French-based studio has been able to live up to the legacy of Tom Clancy and its properties, always prioritizing the technothriller principles of keeping things rooted in reality, no matter how much is at stake. That is until Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction came out.
Somehow, transporting the operators of a game such as Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, one of the most important competitive games nowadays, based on the tactics and operations of teams like SWAT, feels a bit off, unnatural, and contrary to the original vision Tom Clancy had for the Rain Bow Six series. Is it a fun experience? Yes, for a while. Let us see why and how much this reinvention of the formula misses the mark or just nails it in terms of exciting cooperative gameplay.
First, some context, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction is a spin-off from Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, but more specifically, a spin-off from a limited-time event called Outbreak, from which a lot of elements are taken almost verbatim. The premise is slightly modified and, now in Extraction, the Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six operatives are deployed in teams of three to fight off the invasion of a parasitic species called the Archaeans, a new version of the Outbreak’s chimera parasite. To combat the alien menace, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Exogenous Analysis & Containment Team or REACT is deployed and, this is where the fun begins.
There is something truly delightful in transporting the superb gunplay Ubisoft achieved in Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, usually very fast-paced, because of the competitive P2P nature of the game, into a more nuanced, tactical, stealthy, and slow setting. There is a sense of enjoyment and tactical dynamism that facing off against witty and lightning-quick human enemies just will not provide. There is, of course, a lot of merit and fun in trying to think and react in the heat of battle, and that’s one of Siege’s strongest points.
But Extraction’s approach to the arsenal of weapons and gadgets at your disposal makes it feel like a truly tactical game in which you must advance slowly, steadily, and quietly. Always checking every corner, and opting for the silent kill most times, because not doing so could create a snowball effect and end the mission in a failure. The game presents 4 main settings, with 3 levels each, for a total of 12 different levels, which would sound like a lot but, unfortunately, this is where the game starts to stagnate. No matter the level, most of them are built with a similar circular layout and feel somewhat soul-less, quite generic, and, after some time put into the game, kind of repetitive.
The fact that each playthrough consists of three randomized objectives, but is always taken from the same pool of general objectives, does not help, as it remarks just how repetitive the game can become after a while. Now for the generic part of the game. Not only are the premise and the levels kind of forgettable, but the designs and archetypes of the Archaeans themselves can also be cataloged as generic. There is no memorable enemy design, as with the locust horde, from Gears of War or the Covenant species of Halo. There is a bit of traceable gigerian (HR Giger, the visual artist that creates the Xenomorph) inspiration, a la Species; however, the enemies just look bland in comparison to others that came before.
This, mixed with the repetitive core gameplay makes for an experience that will get very old very fast. In about 12 hours in, you will probably feel you have seen and tasted everything Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction has to offer. There is, however, a silver lining, the cooperative aspect of the gamer, and playing with friends. A cooperative PVE must comply with a certain level of difficulty and sense of urgency for it to be successful. In this sense, Extraction nails some of it and misses the mark in some other respects. For instance, the enemies’ AI is just not that good.
It is relatively easy to score stealth kills that seem just so cheap, stealth detection just doesn’t work as one might expect, and enemies are just dumb and easy to fool. However, one mistake is enough to destroy a perfect run, and easily be overrun by enemies. This is where the sense of urgency comes into play. As, when your operative is MIA, your teammates have the option to extract you, and save you to fight another day. However, if you are not saved, your operative will be captured by the Archaeans, and taken out of the roster for subsequent playthroughs.
You and your team will need to go back to where the operative was MIA and rescue them so you can play with them again. And, even then, the operative will be incapacitated for a while. This mechanic is excellent and does provide some drama to the experience. Also, to provide a push your luck element to the mix, you and your team will be able to decide whether to cash your XP and be extracted after completing your objective or keep pushing forward, risking it all for a larger reward.
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction is a spin-off and feels like one, but not in the good sense. A lot of people liked the original Outbreak special event, so much that Ubisoft listened and created a whole game centered around it. However, the game feels rushed, and not enough fleshed out to become its own thing. It feels just like Outbreak was spread way too thin, and overstayed its welcome as a full game, with a $40 price tag, when it could have easily just been a DLC for Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six siege.
There are some fun elements to the game, and some merits that need to be recognized; however, whilst fun, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction is just not enough. Other than Windows PC, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S. To be released on Steam, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Google Stadia too. The original game of this series Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege was nominated for the Best On-Going Games of 2021 under GamesCreed’s GOTY 2021.
