Rainbow Six Extraction review: Slimy sci-fi shooter oozes excitement

After a string of explanatory cut-scenes and a pacy set of tutorial levels, you'll be dropped into the game proper with a number of maps and operators to choose from. As you progress, you'll unlock more places to explore and people to bring with you, with a number of familiar faces from the franchise's past ending up in your roster of operators.

We're pleased to report that the core gameplay loop is really fun. To progress through the game's various stages, you'll need to undertake a number of missions in each area, earning XP that will allow you to unlock the next wave of content. You can play the game solo if you wish, but it feels like the online co-op (which allows you to team up with other players in groups of two or three) is much more what the game was designed for. That's where it really shines.

One winning attribute of this game is that each mission (or each 'incursion' as the game itself calls them) is different, with objectives being procedurally generated and moved to different spots on the map every time you visit a location. This really helps to keep things fresh.

Each map is split into three areas, and each area will have its own major objective - these include things like taking down a key asset, collecting a scientific sample, activating a bomb, rescuing a hostage or protecting an important location. Whichever map you're playing in, generally, you'll get the easiest objective first and the hardest one last.

The three areas on each map are separated by air locks - once you choose to move on, you can't go back to the previous area without quitting to the main menu and starting again, which forces you to think twice before blindly pushing forward. Rather than going into the next area, you could also ask for an extraction, banking your XP instead of pushing your luck with the next stage of the mission (if you're particularly low on health, and/or playing on your own, you might find this option quite tempting).

Plus, in a particularly thrilling twist, if you fail a mission, the operator you used for that incursion will remain trapped in that map, encased in alien goo and waiting for rescue. Next time you load up that map, you'll have to play as a different operator, and freeing your previous operator from the clutches of your enemies will be one of your key objectives. This is a really exciting idea that you can imagine other games trying to emulate - as you try to drag your fallen comrade out from their alien trappings, there's nothing to stop Archaeans from attacking you, which makes for some truly tense moments.

All of these elements combine to make the overall gameplay loop rather compelling and exciting - even if you need quite a bit more XP to unlock the next stage of the game, you know that each mission will be different, and you can always use a different operator to mix things up as well - they each have a different core ability to try out, some of which are really fun (holographic decoys) while others are more practical (health packs). It's an easy game to get sucked into for 'just one more mission', which, of course, turns into two or three and then before you know it you've missed your planned bedtime.

It helps that the graphics and the overall design gel together really nicely. The Archaeans look genuinely creepy as they shamble about each unique map, and they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes - just as each of your operators has its own quirks, there are alternate versions of the Archaeans which have different tricks up their sleeves, from clouds of poison gas to painful projectiles that you'll want to watch out for. You'll need to plot out your moves if you want to succeed.

The maps are just the right size, too - big enough to get slightly lost in, but not so massive that you'll go for ages without encountering some excitement. And these aren't just generic arenas, either. They're well-thought-out areas with plenty of verticality and personality baked in (an early mission takes place near the ruins of the Statue of Liberty, for example, and there's a decent amount of hiding places to utilise and lore to find about the place).

As for the gameplay itself, Rainbow Six Extraction feels really nice on the sticks - the gunplay will be easy for seasoned first-person-shooter fans to pick up, but there's enough freshness in the gadgets and quirks in the mission types to give you some new challenges.

We'd particularly recommend trying to stay stealthy when you can, because the Archaeans are quick to call in all their mates if you spook them. So don't go in all-guns-blazing, and remember to make the most of the excellent sound design that means you can normally hear an enemy before they see you.

Read more on Rainbow Six Extraction:

• Rainbow Six Extraction crossplay - can you play with pals on other platforms?
• Rainbow Six Extraction single-player - how to play solo
• Rainbow Six Extraction release date - all the key details
• Rainbow Six Extraction PC requirements
• Rainbow Six Extraction Buddy Pass - free trial explained
• Rainbow Six Extraction achievements & trophies list

All in all, there's lots to like here, even though some players might have preferred a more tailor-made single-player campaign (as opposed to just playing the co-op missions on your own, which can get very hard). And on the flip-side of that, seasoned groups of multiplayer Rainbow Six Siege fans may wish there was more to challenge their squad.

After taking on other groups of players in previous R6 games, you could argue that the Archaeans are easy pickings for experienced players, especially once you know what to expect from each of the different objectives and enemy types. If you just fancy shooting some aliens and having a good time, though, this is the game for you.

Rainbow Six Extraction launches on 20th January 2022 with cross-platform multiplayer for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC, Google Stadia and Amazon Luna. We reviewed on Xbox Series X.

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