Cold Iron Studios' Aliens: Fireteam Elite is now set for an August 24 release date, and following right behind it is Ubisoft's Rainbow Six Extraction on September 16. Both will offer players co-op shooter experiences with alien antagonists, but each differs in its approach to the formula.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite has been in development since 2018, with Cold Iron Studios being acquired four times throughout the process (after already being bought once before). The events of the game take place 23 years after the ending of the Alien movie trilogy. Players battle a new threat of Xenomorphs and Weyland-Yutani Synthetic enemies with an array of weapons. This will add new storylines to the Alien universe, much like Alien: Isolation did with Amanda Ripley.
Rainbow Six Extraction is a significant departure for its series, as recent Rainbow Six titles carry a reputation for focusing on tactical PvP shooting. The game centers around an organization called REACT (Rainbow Exogenous Analysis & Containment Team), made up of trained Rainbow Six operators to take on an unknown alien parasite disrupting the world. Players will travel into containment zones to battle a variety of Archaen enemies and face the threat of losing crew members if they fail.
R6 Extraction & Aliens: Fireteam's Gameplay & Setting Differences
While Rainbow Six Extraction and Aliens: Fireteam Elite both fall in the co-op shooter genre and implement alien enemies, there are a few key differences that help distinguish each from its counterpart. One such difference is the games' settings: Rainbow Six Extraction sees players battling Archaens in a current-day timeline across four regions of the United States, whereas Aliens: Fireteam Elite sees players battle the Xenomorph threat in the confines of space, playing as a Colonel Marine newly stationed aboard the UAS Endeavor in the year 2202.
Rainbow Six Extraction and Aliens: Fireteam Elite also have distinct approaches to gameplay, as each co-op shooter handles character selection and customization differently. Fireteam Elite allows players to choose from five different classes for their personal marine - Gunner, Technician, Demolisher, Recon, and Doc - and implements a Perk Board that allows for modification and improvement of each class' abilities. Extraction instead includes 18 hero characters to choose from, many already introduced as Rainbow Six Siege operators. Each individual has their own unique abilities and gear, which can be improved through a progression system instead of dedicated perks.
The two games also approach co-op shooting from completely different angles. In the first-person Rainbow Six Extraction, each map has procedurally-generated challenges that contribute to gameplay variety, and these can be tackled as a group or completely alone, with no NPCs to assist. Aliens: Fireteam Elite has a third-person perspective and four pre-made campaigns reminiscent of Left 4 Dead. Players can choose to tackle these with up to two other friends or solo, in which case NPCs will assist the player through each mission. Challenge Cards can be activated to change the approach to each mission, offering a new experience for every playthrough.
While Rainbow Six Extraction and Aliens: Fireteam Elite are quite similar on the surface, each of these distinctions could make for drastically different games. Especially given the fact that one is an entry in the long-established Alien franchise and the other has potential for broader appeal, the two seem unlikely to interfere with one another's success, despite their close release dates.