Rainbow Six Extraction inherits an incredible amount of content from Rainbow Six Siege, but the two are still quite different. The characters and gameplay mechanics of Siege have been adapted by Extraction for a PvE cooperative shooter, one which is seemingly contributing to the Tom Clancy's brand losing some of its meaningExtraction feels familiar to anyone who has spent a significant amount of time playing Siege, but there is still a wide variety of differences between the two in gameplay details and story.

In early 2015, Rainbow Six Siege launched and took the long-running Tom Clancy's series in a somewhat bold new direction. Instead of a single-player campaign revolving around the fictitious counter-terrorism unit, Siege was almost singularly focused on competitive multiplayer. Seven years later, Siege is a game with a wildly complex meta-game, with 62 Operators all in possession of a unique ability, and a series of intricately designed maps. Siege's lasting success after a tepid launch is a testament to the potential of live service games, and the announcement of Extraction as a direct follow-up was met with some uncertainty.

Related: Rainbow Six Extraction Further Proves Ubisoft Doesn't Know What Fans Want

Though many have likely been hoping Rainbow Six would eventually return to its single-player focus after Siege, the series had seemingly found a new calling as a highly competitive shooter. Siege's long-lasting success made it even odder when the next Rainbow Six title was announced to be Quarantine (the name was later changed to Rainbow Six Extraction), an entire game based on a limited-time Siege game mode called Outbreak. In the lead-up to the game's launch, which included a significant delay, it seemingly hasn't generated much excitement. Many have been questioning the necessity of a game that at a glance seems derivative of Siege and its short-lived game mode, but Extraction manages to set itself apart despite inheriting most of its separate elements.

Rainbow Six Extraction Delivers More Of A Story Than Siege

Extraction uses Siege's characters for a narrative

One of the goals for Ubisoft in developing Rainbow Six Siege was to break into the esports scene. In successfully accomplishing this, Siege abandoned almost any form of narrative. Team Rainbow is a counter-terrorist unit comprised of the world's foremost operatives. Each Operator in Siege has their own backstory, and reason for being recruited by Rainbow, but without a campaign, the game largely has no story. The five versus five showdowns that players take part in are framed in-universe as training simulations, designed to ready Team Rainbow for any number of situations that may be orchestrated by a notorious terrorist cell known as the White Masks. The White Masks are featured in the Training Grounds game mode (formerly called Terrorist Hunt), but that mode is also entirely comprised of self-contained situations with no ongoing storyline.

The parasite story in Rainbow Six Extraction, on the other hand, attempts to take the characters popularized by Siege and inject them into a world-threatening narrative. The Chimera Parasite from Siege's Outbreak has resurfaced, overtaking various areas across the United States in New York, San Fransisco, Alaska, and New Mexico. Team Rainbow has established a new unit to combat the alien invader: Rainbow Exogenous Analysis & Containment Team, also known as REACT. Extraction's story will progress as players complete incursions into the game's various Hot Zones. New York, San Fransisco, Alaska, and New Mexico each have three levels for players to explore, with a variety of objectives aimed at researching and containing the Archæans, as the creatures created by the Chimera Parasite are now known. Rainbow Six Siege has somewhat served as a backstory for Extraction, but the latter's premise has greatly expanded from what the former's Outbreak mode originally encompassed, despite Extraction cutting a single-player campaign rumors.

Rainbow Six Extraction Had To Tweak Siege's Gameplay

Extraction made a lot of tweaks to Siege's gameplay

Rainbow Six Siege built its reputation in part on an incredibly satisfying brand of gunplay. With only one life per round and bullets doing a lot of damage, the stakes are high with stealth, strategy, and the ability to anticipate the opposing team being paramount. More than any other aspect of the game, Siege's gameplay is built around the abilities of its many operators and a large amount of game knowledge is needed to reach the highest ranks. With the game's competitive nature, and a Siege sequel being deemed unnecessary by Ubisoft, the game is constantly re-balanced to ensure as many Operators as possible are viable, and the maps are as fair as can be for both the attacking and defending teams.

Related: Why Ubisoft+ Isn't Coming To Game Pass (But Rainbow Six Extraction Is)

With Extraction taking the same Operators from a competitive shooter to a cooperative shooter, it had to make a number of small changes to how the game works (aside from the obvious overarching changes from shifting sub-genres), but the core elements of Siege which make it satisfying are still present. Just like a headshot will take down an opponent instantly in Siege, each common form of Archæan has a weak spot that will result in tremendous damage when shot. Stealth is also equally as important in Extraction, with suppressors being essential for anyone entering a Hot Zone alone. Many gadgets like smoke or impact grenades and recon drones reprise their roles from Siege, but new ones like the scan mine will help players track Archæans within a certain radius, and the REACT Blade doubles as a high-tech knife and specimen sample taker.

Aside from purpose-built gameplay elements, Extraction's returning Siege Operators had to have their abilities reworked to mesh with the new game type. For the most part, each Operator's gadget does effectively the same thing, just with some slight variation. Lion's EE-ONE-D still detects hostiles that are moving, but it is now in a radius immediately surrounding him and lasts significantly longer. Hibana's X-KAIROS are still used to breach walls, but they detonate almost immediately and can be launched in a fewer number of patterns. Sledge still uses his hammer to smack big holes in walls.

The varying objectives within each Hot Zone mean there are multiple potential uses for each of these abilities, but because there isn't an enemy team with similar abilities, there isn't a figurative chess match that unfolds. A much longer timer on incursions also means that players have the luxury of approaching Rainbow Six Extraction's maps and objectives with methodical stealth, and generally aren't as rushed as they would be during a round of Siege. Rainbow Six Extraction may have borrowed a lot directly from Rainbow Six Siege, but it did a thorough job trying to manipulate all that content for a new purpose.

Next: Rainbow Six Extraction Won't Take Away From Siege, Director Says