Image via Ubisoft
Editor's Note: This is a review in progress based around 10 hours of play time.
Who is this for?
That question was the single, solitary, overarching question on my mind coming into every advertisement, press release, and my own advanced review of Rainbow Six Extraction. Who was this game made for? What segment of the existing Rainbow Six Siege colloquial community will be enticed to play this? What segment of non-Siege players is targeted? Do the mechanics favor those already invested in Siege, or do they cast a wider net? Every question returns to one, central, overarching question. Who, exactly, is Rainbow Six Extraction for?
The question of whether Rainbow Six Extraction is good or not is answered by your personal likes and dislikes. If you're like me, and you enjoy PVP and tactical shooters, you might not enjoy Extraction as much as someone who is very much into PVE shooters will.
Not every game has to be for everyone. In fact, it's better that a game is targeted at a core audience. An attempt to appeal to everyone will inevitably end up appealing to no one.
So is Rainbow Six Extraction for me, a Siege player?
I spent around 10 hours playing Rainbow Six Extraction. It is not my preferred type of game, nor will it ever be. I enjoyed myself regardless.
The mechanics hearken back to what some call the halcyon days of Siege. There's no opportunity to play "aggressively," like how current Siege is played in the Ranked playlist. Not at least preparing or taking your advance slowly will get you killed and your operator taken by the alien enemy, the Archaens, posthaste.
Oh yeah, there's the enemy to describe. If you're a "TOM CLANCY IS ROLLING IN HIS GRAVE" bleater, you will be sorely disappointed. The plot centers on four PVE "locations" with varying events in each level for players to progress through — and yes, the "zombies" have been transformed into an alien parasite threat that Team Rainbow has to combat. If you're a Rainbow Six purist, the art style and plot will upset you, as the art style and plot of Siege have been upsetting you for four years. Nothing has changed in the art direction.
Source: Gadget 360
However, if you're an old Rainbow Six purist, the mechanics might be to your liking. There are lots of utilizing the slower pace to move purposefully through the map. For those concerned with the mechanics of Siege that cross over, the weapons' flashlights highlight enemies through walls, which lead to easy soft destruction penetration kills. The sprawling, creeping weblike goop the aliens secrete slows players down, like barbed wire. There's an emphasis on silencers, which is unlike how Siege plays, but it's more in line with how the "Rainbow Six Online Purist Complainers" think Siege should be played.
There are overtures to the "Rainbow Six Ranked Maniac" in the mechanics too. Quick leaning is back, and quick ADSing is back as well. If you're looking to Beaulo Peek an Archaean, you can do that. You can wallbang, too: but the feel is cheapened by your flashlight, which can highlight enemies through soft walls. It's similar to Siege, but different, the level of effort and game knowledge you have to use to get the Siege-esque wallbangs is dramatically decreased in Extraction.
Only one element of the game sticks out as poor overall: trying to play the game solo is a nightmare. I'm not speaking about solo queuing, which is a different beast entirely. I'm talking about trying to do a run solo. You can argue that the game wasn't meant to be played this way, and that's mostly correct, but it'll still be an issue for some players.
There's another element that doesn't feel great — the difficulties are very whiplash-y. If you're at the lowest difficulty, get ready to be able to crouchwalk through the entire map, headshotting enemies through walls and bursting nests with ease. On the higher difficulties, stealth is going to require a significant amount of coordination. However, the higher difficulties are clearly the way the game was meant to be played. These are the levels where planning, familiarity with gadgets and mechanics, and aim are all rewarded... Much like Siege itself, it clearly takes time to get into, but it's rewarding when it's learned.
Sort of...
The overtures towards the existing Siege community are apparent. However, if you aren't an avid Siege enjoyer, the game is for you too. All the elements of the PVE shooter stuff people who enjoy those types of games love are there. There's robust endgame content with in-game rewards war doing well, so there's something to work for after the game is released. The elements of how the gadgets interplay and how you can work with your teammates are solid and will make sense for non-Siege players. You don't need to play, have knowledge of, or even enjoy Siege to play Extraction.
There's a tension here.
The game needs to tie into the Rainbow Six universe Ubisoft is building in order to have some gameplay consistency. That means there needs to be some kind of draw to Siege players. The overtures towards the endemic community are apparent.
However, you cannot bank on PVP players sinking dozens, hundreds, thousands of hours into a PVE game the same way a PVE player will. There needs to be some kind of overture towards PVE players.
Mixing these two formats is a difficult job, but one done admirably, if uninspiringly. Will Rainbow Six Extraction be the next big gaming phenomenon? Probably not. Is it a solid game, with solid gameplay, that makes an earnest appeal to multiple communities at once somehow work in a functioning game? Yes.
Rainbow Six Extraction is not for you and you alone, Siege player, no matter what kind of Siege player you are.
That doesn't mean it isn't a solid game, worthy of the benefit of the doubt. The effort put into taking this game from the PR disaster it launched as into something playable is par for the course for modern-day Rainbow Six universe titles — Siege launched in a similar way.
There's a trope for video game reviews, a very common one. It goes like "it has a little something for everyone."
It's true in this case, but it's not completely positive. By forcing several core Siege mechanics, Extraction might feel clunky to experienced PVE players. Siege players could feel either bored or overwhelmed by the drastically different difficulties or PVE mechanics.
Because it appeals to everyone, it runs the risk of appealing to no one.
For what it's worth, for my first seven hours: I had fun. It remains to be seen whether the game remains fun over a long period of time and becomes a lasting tentpole in the Rainbow Six Extended Universe. It's an abject miracle that it's in the state it's in, but that doesn't mean it's in a great state.