Rainbow Six Extraction’s new Missing in Action feature sounds like something that could completely change the way the shooter franchise has been played. With the dedicated fanbase the Rainbow Six series has developed, many players have grown used to the progression and operator system, especially with how it has been used in Rainbow Six Siege. While the new game will use operators from Siege, gameplay is focused on cooperative play and elimination of the biohazard Archaen threats.
With Rainbow Six Extraction’s operator system, while players will have access to Siege operators to fight Archaens, that access can be lost. As revealed at Ubisoft Forward, players can go M.I.A. and need rescuing, with huge potential consequences. With each sub-zone having different sections with growing difficulty, even the best players will likely die and, as a result, conduct rescue missions to retrieve their M.I.A. operator.
The M.I.A. feature also sounds like a way to combat the problem of mains that some people have. A lot of gamers have experienced the frustration of a toxic teammate that rage quits or refuses to put in any effort when they can not play a specific character or operator. With the M.I.A. feature, players will be forced to develop their skills with multiple different operators in Rainbow Six Extraction. This will hopefully result in more diverse team builds and fewer players becoming entirely reliant on just one operator’s loadout.
Rainbow Six Extraction's Difficulty
Based on the difficulty that many players had with the Outbreak event in Rainbow Six Siege, it feels likely that Extraction will provide a serious challenge for players. Honestly, it feels safe to say that whatever difficulty expectations that fans have for Rainbow Six Extraction, they might be underestimating the game. The three-person team setup will reduce the amount of help available and the environments look designed to benefit the aggressive Archaens more than the stealthy operators.
This may force situations where allowing one teammate to die means that only one operator must be recovered. It is a bit of a grim thought, but when forced to choose between the safety of oneself and the teammate still up versus the one down, many players may pick survival over a fight, something that looks like it happened in the Rainbow Six Extraction gameplay video.
To some, this might feel like a negative approach, but it can be spun in a positive light. Stealthy and tactical team play will still be important, but it may also encourage teams to stick together after a mission and go back in to recover the downed operator. This would, once again, push the idea of mastering more than one character.
With only a few months until release, it is exciting to think about how this new feature will affect gameplay and what situations it will lead to. The Outbreak event was a great way to test players' skills, but Extraction looks like a difficult step up from what was experienced. With the M.I.A. feature, Rainbow Six Extraction might just dominate the zombie-style shooter genre this fall.
Rainbow Six Extraction launches on September 22, 2021 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.