Ubisoft kicked off its Ubisoft Forward E3 showcase with an in-depth look at the next major installment of the flagship tactical shooting franchise, Rainbow Six Extraction. The long-running squad-based shooter is based on Tom Clancy's novels, and has been historically rooted in military engagements between operators and terrorists, or other realistic special forces action. Extraction, formerly known as Rainbow Six Quarantine, is unquestionably an exercise in science fiction featuring ever-evolving, parasitic, alien antagonists known as the Archaen.
Extraction's gameplay features roguelike elements, a genre that depends on enemy variety, ever-changing levels, and dungeon-like traps. Switching to an extraterrestrial enemy gives developers a much larger bandwidth of potential threats to work with, which is essential given the outstanding quality of recent titles like Hades and Returnal. Furthermore, this new sci-fi bend could also attract an entirely new demographic of players not normally interested in military shooters. There is no question that the change-up is a gambit, however. Tom Clancy fans drawn to real-world military heroics may be put off by the shift in tone and theme.
Only time will tell whether this new direction is a misfire, bullseye, or something in between. Until release, it is worth taking an in-depth look at the sci-fi elements coming to shake up Rainbow Six, and discussing what they mean for the franchise's core gameplay.
An Alien Threat in Rainbow Six Extraction
The Archaens are the biggest gamechanger in Extraction, radically changing the nature of the threat that operators will be facing. Instead of other special forces or terrorists, enemies include "Fast Zombie"-like Grunts, projectile spitting Spikers, the suicide-bombing Breacher, tall, shapeshifting foes known as Tormenters, and an entity ominously dubbed Apex, who appears to levitate with the assistance of tentacle-like roots.
The developer promised that these units account for only a handful of the foes that operators will face in the full title, and also alluded to various mutations. It is unclear if these are variants of the aforementioned units, or entirely new enemies, but both the designers and in-game dialogue emphasized the ever-evolving nature of the Archaen.
To that point, in addition to these new enemy units, the Archaens produce a veiny, black, tar-like substance called the Sprawl that is reminiscent of StarCraft's Zerg Creep. The Sprawl will quicken Archaen enemies while slowing operators, which again, makes sense from a sci-fi perspective, but seems like another fantastical addition to the typically grounded franchise. Furthermore, the Sprawl seems to detect and react to the presence of enemies, and retracts when fired upon.
Again, having a variety of enemies makes sense for a title that will feature roguelike-elements, but it is a sharp departure from fighting human opponents, even when said humans vary by class and loadout. Operators will likely need to adopt an entirely different playstyle to overcome these enemies, though staple features of Rainbow Six Siege, such as destructible walls, flanking tactics, and use of cover are alive and well, as evidenced by the gameplay preview.
Future Tech in Rainbow Six Extraction
Rainbow Six has never been a low-tech franchise, and Ubisoft assured viewers that operators would maintain the special equipment and abilities that have defined their playstyles throughout the series. But to date, the tools available to players have been based on real-world military technology, or reasonable extrapolations thereof. This time around, players will be fighting sci-fi foes with sci-fi weaponry. As players progress through the game, they will unlock a variety of upgrades and new equipment that are specifically tailored to combating Archaen.
Some of these tools appear to be mission objective-specific, with the squad shooting trackers into nests in an Archaen hive. Others are tactical tools like a light detecting bio-luminescent weak points on Archaen targets, or wheeled, remote recon drones. Admittedly, these tools are not too far afield from existing tools available to players in Siege, but the promise of upgrades — another crucial element of roguelike games — could transform these tools into some truly outlandish tech.
From what Ubisoft has shown so far, however, those who are worried that Rainbow Six will be turning into Halo or Doom need not fret. The trailer exclusively showcased weapons based on good, old-fashioned ballistics, blades, and ordinance. Tonally, it also seems unlikely that Ubisoft will be incorporating outrageous sci-fi armaments like lightsabers or phasers. Given the truly adaptive and broad spectrum nature of the threat however, nothing is impossible. Given the hive-like quality of Archaen bases, flamethrowers, or even Tesla coils seem like they could come in handy.
Surviving Against All Odds
The most fantastic aspect of Rainbow Six Extraction may be the titular extractions, specifically. When operators are downed in missions, they are abducted by the alien parasites, and another squad must extract them with a rescue mission before they are playable again. The Ubisoft Forward trailer shows these fallen commandos caked in crusts of yellow fungus and nets of the Sprawl's sinuous, black goo.
Any number of sci-fi justifications can be made to explain how these operatives manage to survive the ordeal — the Archaens may be studying them, or using their genetic material to create new evolutions, or trying to invade their minds — but in Siege and other, prior Rainbow Six titles, these soldiers would likely be extremely dead.
Despite these radical changes, it does not seem like Rainbow Six Extraction will turn into War of the Worlds, or XCOM. The Archaens seem to pose a distinctly biological threat to humanity, with no evidence of tripods, star-fighters, or machinery of any kind.
It is also worth noting, Ubisoft is not turning its back on the Rainbow Six Siege community, as Ubisoft Community Developer Richard Stanford noted that players who own both titles would receive exclusive unlocks in each game. Veterans should be comforted to know that Rainbow Six is not completely abandoning its military realism, and the new, sci-fi centric Extraction could open up the genre to a whole new audience of shooting fans.
Rainbow Six Extraction is scheduled to release on September 16th for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
