Ubisoft just offered up the first in-depth look at gameplay footage from Rainbow Six Extraction during their E3 showcase. The video followed three Operators delving into a contaminated research facility and showed off some gadgets and mechanics players can look forward to in Rainbow Six Extraction.
Originally titled Rainbow Six Quarantine, the game adds some elements of an RPG dungeon crawl to the co-op shooter’s level design, breaking areas into increasingly dangerous sub-zones. Still, squad-based tactical combat remains the core of Rainbow Six Extraction’s gameplay.
The demo opens with three of Extraction’s Operators dropping into the Orpheus Research Center in Alaska. Players can choose to play missions solo or with friends, but the latter makes it a little easier to face down the alien hordes. The parasitic Archaeans have completely taken over when the team arrives, but the demo shows how tact, teamwork, and a few sci-fi gadgets can turn the tide of battle.
Extraction’s Archaeans come in all shapes and sizes, from the humanoid Grunts to hulking Smashers. The aliens’ true strength is in numbers, and the demo shows that Operators are well-advised to use stealth and precise headshots whenever possible. Alerting individual Archaeans can wake the whole hive. It will send a host of creatures after the team and expand the Sprawl across more of the floor. This blanket of black tendrils spreads from nearby nests and makes Archaeans faster while slowing Operators down.
But the Operators have an advantage of their own in the form of a variety of gadgets called REACT Tech. These include a small camera drone use to scout ahead and more advanced gear like sensors and holographic decoys. Players unlock new REACT Tech by collecting Intel, which usually involves completing objectives like planting devices in nests or killing specific enemies with melee attacks. Extraction also sees a return of the destructible environments from Rainbow Six Siege. At one point in the demo, an Operator breaks down a wall to flank a large Archaean that’s bottlenecking the team. Later, the squad barricades doors and lays mines to funnel hostile creatures into a trap.
Each sub-zone is separated by an airlock where Operators can rest, resupply, and decide if they want to keep pressing on. The gameplay video climaxes when the Operators assault the facility’s third and most dangerous level. An operative goes down during the boss fight and enters stasis. The video’s narrator explains that the rest of the squad will have to fight to get them back. Sadly, the video only teases the rescue mechanic featured in Rainbow Six Extraction’s cinematic trailer.
Rainbow Six Extraction launches on September 22, 2021 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
