What was originally announced as Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Quarantine in 2019 has finally been released as Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction now in 2022.

Featuring characters from Ubisoft’s popular Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, Rainbow Six Extraction is a co-operative shooter that delivers one of 2022’s best first-person shooter experiences thanks to its addictive gameplay loop.

Archaen Threat

The premise behind Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction is quite simple. Players will team up in groups of 3 and attempt to complete procedurally generated objectives (from a select pool) in specific areas based on real life locations.

The twist being that instead of facing off against other human beings, you will be fighting against an alien parasitic race known as Archaeans.

Those of you out there who played Rainbow Six Siege’s “Outbreak” event a few years back will remember the Archaeans were the enemies in that mode.

They’ve made a comeback now in Rainbow Six Extraction and there’s numerous different types that you’ll face off against. Assuming the role of a “REACT” team member you’ll be sent out on missions to defeat the Archaens.

Missions in Rainbow Six Extraction follow a simple formula but enemy positions are different each time thanks to the procedural generation. You and two other squad mates will enter an area which is divided into three different sub-zones.

In each sub-zone, there’ll be one major overarching objective to complete. This can either be destroying Archaean aberrant nests, planting trackers on Archaean nests, rescuing a researcher, eliminating an elite target, gathering biopsy data on targets and more.

Upon completing an objective, you’ll proceed to an airlock and prepare to enter the next sub-zone where your next objective needs to be completed. In each sub-zone there’s also an extraction pad where you can call in an extraction chopper to pull your squad out in case things get too hectic.

And hectic they will be.

Missing in Action

Completing missions in Rainbow Six Extraction will be brutally difficult at first. If you plan on rushing in guns blazing right from the get go, chances are you are going to die. Archaeans are incredibly strong and you’ll be taken down quite quickly if you aren’t prepared.

The first few missions you play in Rainbow Six Extraction will most likely end with your squad being taken out and foamed. Foaming is what happens when an Archean downs you and if you aren’t revived in time (or if it’s your second time being downed), your REACT tech gear will deploy a visibly disgusting brownish yellow foam to coat your character in to protect them.

If you are foamed but your squad mates aren’t, they will be able to carry your foamed body back to an extraction pad and save you. Your operative will then be “Inactive” until they recover enough HP over time.

If, however, all three of you are foamed, the mission ends in failure and your operatives will be marked as “M.I.A”. When an operative is M.I.A, they will need to be rescued from the same area by launching a new mission there. Players will have to complete objectives until they get to the M.I.A operative and pull them free from an Archaen Tree that tries to absorb them.

It’s all very dramatic and seems complicated at first, but after playing the game for a while, the premise sinks in and it works ridiculously well.

The same can be said for the other objectives too. While the learning curve in Rainbow Six Extraction is brutal, once the game clicks, roughly around three to five hours after playing a few missions, it becomes extremely addictive. You’ll want to play more and gain more experience points from completing missions successfully.

REACT Tech

Levelling up your operatives unlocks more weapons and perks for them such as increased movement speed or an enhanced scanning range. Gain enough global exp and you’ll be able to unlock new REACT tech via REACT tokens. Some of the later REACT tech makes the game play out vastly differently to how it would without them.

For example, unlocking claymore mines means that you can play far more strategically and bait enemies into running into your mines. Unlocking wall grenades means you can place shields to defend yourself more easily from Archaens that shoot projectiles against you.

The cycle of completing missions, unlocking new REACT tech, upgrading your operatives and unlocking new areas is immensely rewarding and Ubisoft have really nailed this here.

The game’s first-person shooting controls are also on-point with weapons feeling different. Operatives in Rainbow Six Extraction have suppressors equipped by default on their main weapons, but these can be removed at the cost of being stealthy. Weapons can be further customised with cosmetics and other attachments too.

The same can be said for your operatives themselves with plenty of unlockable cosmetic items being made available. Alas, there is also a cash shop in the game with paid DLC cosmetics being available for purchase but these don’t affect gameplay in any way thankfully.

The arguable best part about the game is the fact that while Rainbow Six Siege needed precision teamwork against other players, Rainbow Six Extraction has a lower barrier for entry since you won’t be facing off against other humans.

Players can also play the game solo, with matchmaking being available, though this is less than ideal. You can also duo the game but a full squad of three is recommended as this is the way the game was intended to be played.

Pure Extract

Getting to grips with the various areas in the game, the different types of Archaens to fight, being tactical/stealthy and weighing up the pros and cons of pushing on further into a sub-zone or extracting immediately after completing an objective makes Rainbow Six Extraction so engaging and rewarding.

Rainbow Six Extraction isn’t without its flaws though. Gamers who lack patience or don’t want to grind through levels to upgrade their characters should look elsewhere.

Rainbow Six Extraction is a timesink and while there are story cutscenes that play out as you level up, the main meat and bones of the story is buried within codex entries which only the hardcore fans will end up reading to be completely honest.

Why Ubisoft didn’t integrate the story into the game a bit more is baffling given the fact that it genuinely does seem interesting and the cutscenes are visually gorgeous. Losing your operatives as they go M.I.A and then having to recover them does also become tedious and repetitive over time.

So too do the missions once you’ve seen and done all the main objective types but thankfully, the procedural generation and levelling up system keeps you coming back.

Once you’ve reached the endgame so to speak, there’s time-limited “Assignments” with varied objectives as well as a “Maelstrom Protocol” mode. Maelstrom Protocol requires a full squad and involves fighting through nine progressively harder sub-zones but rewards you with tonnes of experience points and seasonal cosmetic gear.

Whether or not this will hook players and keep them coming back for more remains to be seen but there’s definitely a lot to enjoy here.

Final Verdict

Rainbow Six Extraction builds upon Rainbow Six Siege’s legacy. While the operatives have been lifted straight from Siege and put into Extraction, the way the game plays out is quite different and remarkably enjoyable.

If you’re looking for a first-person tactical shooter to play with two friends, this game comes highly recommended. It’s also available via Xbox Gamepass for Console and PC at the time of writing this review so if you’re on the fence, give it a try and see for yourself.

You might just end up getting hooked like we did.