Rainbow Six Extraction’s MIA Operators Keep Gameplay Fresh

No matter if it’s a fighting game or a shooter, once I find a tried and true method that works, I typically stop experimenting. From finding a loadout I like in Call of Duty to using the same Taka-Arashi combos in Virtua Fighter after decades of play, my playstyle stays the same once I’ve found some success. However, I can’t get into such a groove in Ubisoft’s latest release, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction. And that’s for the better.

The reason for this is due to the game’s MIA operators system, which gives death significance inside this co-op survival shooter. Once an operator dies, they are put out of commission until you save them as part of a mission or just die enough times that the game pities you and gives you extra characters. It’s a brilliant system that I’ve gotten to appreciate as it forces me to change how I play shooters.

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Similar to a game like Overwatch, each operator in Rainbow Six Extraction has their own abilities and weapons that they start with. I first found success as one of the support characters, a healer named Doc that has a special gun that can slightly heal teammates. However, I wound up dying and Doc was locked away and I wouldn’t get to play as him again for another hour or two. With Doc out on sick leave, I was forced to improvise and try the other classes.

Admittedly, this system was annoying at first. Why can’t I just play any character at any time? The added punishment beyond already failing a mission in a very difficult game felt like the game was kicking me while I was down. Characters that take a lot of damage already have to recuperate, so this just felt like yet another harsh system. But after several hours with Extraction, it was clear that these systems were designed for players like me in order to get more out of the game.

While half are locked at first, Extraction features 18 operators in total. After being pushed off of my mains, I quickly found myself greatly enjoying those other playable characters and adapting my playstyle to their individual skills. Whether it was using a tactical hammer to destroy walls in order to create new routes or using decoys to distract the dangerous mutated enemies, I found myself having a blast and touching more of the game’s systems than I normally would in a regular shooter.

Games don’t often push users out of their comfort zones and that can lead to stagnation as many will choose the path of least resistance even if that means getting a worse experience. Extraction pushes back and puts up guard rails so that isn’t as likely to happen. It has a stable of worthy operators and it’s smart to have systems within the game to push players like me into trying them all out and further realize the game’s potential.

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While I’m probably not going to pick up a new main in Virtua Fighter anytime soon as 20-year-old habits are hard to drop, Rainbow Six Extraction has greatly encouraged me to experiment more in other titles. Ubisoft’s brilliant MIA operator system has been a realization that I’ve been missing out and need to get away from simply sticking with what works all the time. After all, as the game has shown through countless deaths, there is still a lot of fun to be had in failure and the process of learning.

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