If that’s a bold claim to make for the pre-alpha demo we went hands on with, that’s because it already feels like OlliOlli World has nailed the “flow state” that it wants to achieve, managing to generate challenge without ever tipping into pad-snapping frustration. That comes from one of the game’s major tweaks, where if you land without pressing X, you’ll no longer bail and end your run. If there’s any worry that might reduce the complexity or rush from conquering a level, then some of the optional challenges squirreled away in levels – such as trying to avoid a gaggle of blue frogs who sit awkwardly at the bottom hills where you want to land – promise to be hard as any personal Everest you’ve conquered in this series.  

All of these feelings come into sharp relief towards the end of the levels that are available in my demo called Branch Heights. The warm russet tree that I’m skating down is filled with new additions and opportunities to try out advanced tricks. From quarter-pipes that change the direction I skate in and give me enough air to try out the new grabs, to billboards that keep combos going by wallriding across them, it’s a medley of all the new systems that create a focused rush of adrenaline as you slip into the ‘zone’, that sense of the outside world blurring into the background as your focus becomes total. But more importantly, it’s because OlliOlli World feels like it wants you to enjoy the game, rather than best it.

Working 9-to-grind

This significant change is something creative director John Ribbins highlights when I ask him about the game’s more welcoming tone. “We did a bit of soul searching when we came back to the series. I think one of the key things that we wanted to change was… in the earlier games, if you did something wrong, we punished you, basically. Whereas this time around, if you do something wrong, maybe we don’t punish you. Maybe we’ll reward you for doing the right thing. So you’re not just going to fall on your face the whole time.”

That reward comes in the form of finding that rhythm and flow through levels, one that has been sharpened thanks to the game’s myriad new additions. Top of the list is the ability to switch lanes, which creates denser levels with more depth – both in the literal and figurative sense. Early on, we play a level in Sunshine Valley where skidding into a different lane gives us a chance to meet Sloshtar, the fortune telling fish. He sets us an objective on a different level before we carry on skating, but it’s an early sign that Roll7 will use these different paths to not only offer differing objects and obstacles to tackle, but ways of broadening how you interact with its world. 

For such a fundamental shift in how OlliOlli has usually played, Co-CEO of Roll7 Simon Bennett explains how it initially came from an idea for a different game: “We were in very sort of early stages on the project, and prototyping a number of different parts of the game. John [Ribbins] had always had this other idea – it was this wacky idea, and I think it was maybe even going to be a mobile thing. It was like: it would be cool if there was a game that basically replicated the way that competition street skating actually works; the tour that runs worldwide and has for years, it runs on exactly the same format. What if you had a game that has OlliOlli-style lines, but then you can switch lanes, and kind of come back on yourself?”

The team went away and started prototyping, with the idea of turning OlliOlli on its head. By allowing you to switch lanes, to skate from right-to-left, the studio would be able to lose the linearity the series had been known for and expand the scope of play. As Simon continues: “We’d already decided that the game was going to be called OlliOlli World, but it was at that point that the word “world” actually had real meaning. Building the characters, building the art and everything, that in itself is a world. But making it actually feel more 3D and giving you more choice for exploration within the world, it’s this key pillar to the title. I think that, for me, that was the bigger shift.”

Decked Out

The visual design of OlliOlli World is also a striking departure of what’s come before. If previous games were 2D, the move to 3D has also brought along an effervescent new art style that feeds into the game’s aim to embrace all types of players. As Simon describes it: “If Pixar made a film about skateboarding, where the entire world was inhabited by people on skateboards that just live and go about their daily business as skaters, that’s the world that OlliOlli World is. That’s what we kind of wanted to build.”

That’s not hyperbole either. In motion, levels are humming with background detail, from the sanguine wave of an octopus’s tentacles in Sunshine Valley to the frequent flutter of giant bees in the forests of Cloverbrook. These are environments you want to manuel right into, a world that is throwing its arms open and inviting you in.

This tone also comes from the cast of characters you’ll be skating through Radlandia with, a diverse bunch who offer you challenges as well as encouragement throughout levels. There’s Dad – not your in-game Dad, just what people call him – who is clad in protective gear and always on hand with some kind words. Joining him is Gnarly Mike, who loves to set you optional challenges, the pithy Suze who always has a camera in hand, and Chiff, the Skate Wizard who is on hand to save your checkpoints through levels (another break from OlliOlli tradition that helps ease in newcomers). 

Roll7 wants to reflect how skateboarding is an inclusive and welcoming sport and show a side of the culture that sometimes isn’t highlighted in other more realistic takes on skating, and that’s why this crew are a friendly bunch. As Co-CEO Thomas Hegarty explains: “That links back to the idea of the part of skateboarding that OlliOlli World is trying to get across. So it’s more about hanging out with your friends. It’s more about trying things out. The crew are kind of there in a supportive way. Having said that, they’ve been through several iterations. At one point, Suze was very cutting and dark, [but] it didn’t quite work. It feels much nicer now that they are more warm and welcoming, and they encourage you as you go on your journey.” 

OlliOlliOlli, oi oi oi

That vibe can also be seen in OlliOlli’s calling card the, as Thomas describes it, “swazzy music” that has set the tone for the series. While skating games are usually associated with punk, rock, and hip-hop, OlliOlli’s soundscape has always been calmer, an electro-chill that you might not necessarily have expected. The reason though, as Simon and John explain to me, is that when developing the first OlliOlli, they did initially plan for a heavy, loud soundtrack, but as Simon says: “Playing a game, especially with OlliOlli 1, that wasn’t actually hugely welcoming – when you layered over the top of that someone screaming at you in French or people just playing really heavy, heavy music, those things weren’t congruous with one another.”

When the team found out that people were playing the game listening to the ‘swazzy’ music that has come to define the series, they decided to make that an official part of the game, which has continued into OlliOlli World. As Thomas explains: “Hopefully when you sit down, and the first track comes on, you want people to relax. Shoulders untense. You get into that zone. And it really does kind of get you into the flow, and it gets you into that Zenlike mode. It really does help. We actually did some music testing recently, and there was one guy who they asked to commentate his whole music testing. One of the first things he said was, “This music is great. It’s really got me into the zone.” I was like, ‘Yes, that’s exactly what we’re trying to do.'” 

All these elements are coming together to create the most absorbing OlliOlli yet. If the game is about getting into that flow state, every tweak has worked in its favor, creating a melody of platforming action that celebrates the skating culture in a way that we rarely, if at all, see in games. The sensation of coasting through these breezy worlds, taking in the immaculate art that already feels perfectly suited to the series, and finding the groove through the lines you discover is exactly the sort of treat we deserve after the past year. OlliOlli might not demand perfection in the way it once did, but you’ll still want to strive for it. 

OlliOlli World is due out this Winter on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Nintendo Switch. 

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We’ve gone through the new Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 trailer, frame by frame, to discover what we can from our latest look at the upcoming Nintendo Switch exclusive. We’ve tried to pick out as much as we can in this Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 gameplay trailer breakdown but, if you reckon we’ve missed something, let us know in the comments below! Otherwise, stay tuned to our E3 2021 guide for all the details on the latest announcements and reveals from this week.

You’ll be exploring the skies above Hyrule

When The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 was announced in 2019, director Eiji Aonuma said that the reason Nintendo was making a continuation, rather than introducing a brand new subtitle to the series, was because he “wanted to revisit that Hyrule again and use that world again” as the backdrop for new gameplay and stories. We got our first look at that in the new Breath of the Wild 2 gameplay reveal. Hyrule itself looks incredibly familiar until, that is, Link gets a little air. There’s a whole new world to explore above the clouds, floating islands that you’ll likely be navigating as you attempt to gear up before an inevitable showdown with what appears to be a mummified (and energized) calamity Ganon. 

Oh, and at least we know why Nintendo has been pushing the The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD for Switch so hard this year…

There may be two sequel time periods

The Legend of Zelda has a history of messing around with timelines and dark mirror worlds, so it’s no surprise to see Breath of the Wild 2 doing the same. If you pay close attention to the new trailer, it’s clear that we’re seeing Link from two different points in time. In the first, we see our intrepid explorer running around Hyrule with his feet on the ground, all while wearing his iconic BotW clothing and ponytail. In the second, Link is sporting a more breathable ensemble and has shaggier hair – although, to be fair, it’s hard to keep hold of a hair-tie while flying through the air. Expect the fallout of Breath of the Wild’s ending, and the opening hours of Breath of the Wild 2, to have some impact on the state of play for Link, Zelda, and whatever remains of Hyrule. 

There are great heights and free-falling 

In Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Link gets to soar through the skies with a nifty paraglider. While we do see this make a comeback in the upcoming sequel, we also see our hero free-falling through the sky. Why or how you’re able to do this remains to be seen, but perhaps there’s a new way to travel around the open-world. Even when Link does appear to use a paraglider, it looks to be from great heights. As the gameplay teaser confirmed, the upcoming adventure has been expanded to include the skies above Hyrule. 

Link’s glider has an upgrade

Check out those two talon-like objects protruding from Link’s glider, which very much weren’t a part of the equipment during the events of the first game. This alteration surely can’t be cosmetic alone, suggesting one of our favourite forms of transportation in Breath of the Wild is about to get an upgrade. Could they increase our glide distance and speed? Or offer something else completely unexpected? I can already hear the Zelda speedrunners going mad at the very prospect of it. 

Link can seemingly teleport through rocks now 

There’s definitely some kind of new power you’ll be able to play around with in the world of Breath of the Wild 2. During the gameplay teaser, we see Link shoot up through a rock via some kind of watery portal, and as if he’s being propelled by his arm. Interestingly, just before this happens, the water seems to go in reverse – the whole thing looks very much like the odd watery way in which Link received updates to his Sheikah slate in the original game, just set in reverse. With the adventure taking us up to the clouds, this new mechanic will no doubt help us reach the sky islands above Hyrule. It’s definitely one of the most intriguing elements of the gameplay that was shown.

The sequel introduces new powers

In the Breath of the Wild 2 gameplay, it’s clear that something is going on with Link’s right arm (that’s his sword-swinging arm in Breath of the Wild). We see corruption wrap around it in the opening beats of the trailer and then, later, it appears that the hero is able to wield the powers of the Sheikah Slate just by pointing his palm out at enemies – he’s using Statis, and there’s no Slate in sight. This will likely have massive implications for Link and how the action unfurls around him throughout the game. We also appear to see his arm bandaged in Sheikah technology, and offer a telling green glow – expect that to be an reoccurring sight as Link finds, unlocks, and upgrades new abilities throughout the adventure. 

Old enemies are teaming up

As if Link’s adventures through Hyrule weren’t troublesome enough, his roster of enemies are now teaming up against him! It appears as though Bokoblins have figured out how to ride, and develop camps atop of the Stone Talus giants that presented mini boss fights during the original game. Link will likely have to take out the Bokoblins shooting at him from the Talus before taking out the giant itself, but we can already imagine having some fun tinkering around with the game’s emergent physics systems to turn this Bokoblin-Talus hybrid against itself.  

We’ll be fighting with fire

As well as implying the prospect of more classic, longform dungeons, the shot of Link fighting an enemy underground also shows him wielding some form of flame shield in combat. This could be a new weapon, Hyrule’s answer to the flamethrower, or it could actually be a new Sheikah Slate ability entirely – it’s hard to distinguish the arm from the power amidst the action of the scene itself to definitively confirm anything at this point. Either way, anyone who’s played around with fire in Breath of the Wild will know the kind of havoc this can cause across the landscape – this new ability will only amplify the carnage. 

There’s a new release date! 

The first glimpse of the upcoming sequel initially came back in 2019. At the time, it only revealed the game was in development, and there was plenty of speculation surrounding when we could expect to see it launch. This latest gameplay teaser closed by officially revealing that Nintendo are aiming to release Breath of the Wild 2 sometime in 2022. While we still don’t have an exact date just yet, it at least confirms a timeframe after many rumors pointed to an expected release this year. 

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Speaking to The Telegraph (opens in new tab) yesterday following Starfield‘s big unveiling at E3 2021, Howard revealed some smaller details about the game. The director describes it as “a bit more hardcore of a role-playing game than we’ve done,” with things likes “choosing your background” enabled for the character creation system. 

“We’re going back to some things that we used to do in games long ago that we felt have really let players express the character they want to be,” Howard continued.

Elsewhere, there are details of how Starfield functions in the minute-to-minute gameplay. “It is a first-person and third-person game, like our other ones,” the director says, referring to how The Elder Scrolls and Fallout games would let the player manually switch between playing in both first and third-person perspectives at any given time.

Howard continues by referencing Starfield’s “large scale goals and storytelling,” while maintaining that gameplay will feel just as rewarding. The Starfield game director also makes sure to mention that the new game isn’t going to ape the feel of Star Wars of Star Trek – Starfield is very much its own thing in tone and style.

Right now, these are pretty much all the gameplay details we have to go on about Starfield. Bethesda previously revealed that the upcoming RPG would use an overhauled game engine, and would feature an entirely overhauled animation system for characters and items. As for how Starfield actually plays though, we’ll have to wait a fair few months more to see it in action for ourselves.

The wait for Starfield isn’t going to be an easy one, and there’s plenty of pressure on Bethesda for its first new IP in 25 years. As revealed yesterday during Xbox’s big E3 2021 showcase, Starfield will launch on November 11, 2022, and will release on PC, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S (as well as Xbox Game Pass on day one), skipping out on PlayStation entirely in the wake of Bethesda’s acquisition by Microsoft. 

If you’re looking to upgrade your gaming setup before Starfield’s arrival, head over to our Prime Day TV deals guide for the best price for 4K visuals.

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The game was announced with a launch date of October 26, 2021 for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PS5, PC, PS4, and Xbox One. 

In development at Eidos Montreal, the game will see you play as Star-Lord, leading the Guardians who are the bickering loveable bunch you imagine them to be, with one stand-out moment seeing them be referred to as the ‘Gardeners of the Galaxy” 

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is a third-person, purely single-player narrative adventure, with a focus on dialogue options and choices, both in the story and within combat. As the leader of the Guardians, Star-Lord will have to make a lot of decisions as to how to deal with various situations, which may cause friction between the Guardians. 

As we saw from a gameplay video, in battle you’ll be able to command the Guardians, choosing one of their specific movesets to unleash on enemies. It seems like some enemies will need to be dealt stagger damage before they can be taken down.  

But, along with Star-Lord’s own combat abilities – including elemental blasters and jet boots – he can also use a music boost for the Guardians for the remainder of the fight. Simply put, fighting along to Joan Jett’s Bad Reputation and Bonnie Tyler’s Holding Out For A Hero should be a compulsory part of any game.  

We also found out from a developer’s video (opens in new tab) also released during the show that it is also not connected to the MCU or the comics, and will be an original story.  Pre-orders of the game will also come with a throwback DLC costume pack as well. If you’re anything like us, you’ll be getting to hold onto the feeling of saving the galaxy this October. Um, if they all get along that is.  

For more information on games announced at E3 2021, head to our hub, or our round-up of the most exciting new games for 2021 and beyond.

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Everything in Harold Halibut, an adventure game set in a crashed spaceship the size of a city, has been made by hand in real life and then scanned into the game. By combining this distinct miniaturesque, stop-motion aesthetic with motion capture, the team at Slow Bros has managed to create one of the most striking and labor-intensive art styles in recent memory. 

There’s more to do than just gawk at the sheer effort that went into everything, mind you. Our main character, Harold, is a scientist on an “ark-like” ship which crashed on an ocean planet while searching for a new home for humanity among the stars. While many residents are content to live out their lives on the enormous and remarkably varied ship, Harold and the lead scientist he follows are still looking for a way to resume their starside journey and give humanity a permanent place to live. Judging from the events of the trailer, a chance encounter with an alien race gives him just the nudge he needs to continue his search. 

“It was very important for us to not only focus on an exciting main storyline, but to create a world full of interesting events and meaningful encounters,” Slow Bros says. “The dialogues don’t only help you progress in the main story, but also help you get to know more about the many characters that inhabit our world.” 

Harold Halibut is a narrative-driven experience with some old-school adventure game vibes, but it involves more than pointing and clicking. The newest trailer showed off a variety of minigames, challenges, and interfaces – all described as “playful interactions” rather than head-scratchingly difficult puzzles. You can keep track of your main and side tasks in a handy, almost Pip Boy-esque journal, which ought to come in handy given how many different characters we’ll meet. 

Harold Halibut is “coming soonish” to PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Xbox One. 

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The new title was featured during the Future Games Show Powered by WD_BLACK and it’s not too far away, being set for an Autumn 2021 release on PC and Nintendo Switch. The game looks to be as visually striking as the developer’s previous work… just a whole lot darker. 

The premise is as simple as this: “A little boy falls asleep to a horrible nightmare. Can you make him happy again?” Judging by the trailer, that might be harder than it sounds. If you are looking for something a little twisted, this should be right up your alley.

The point-and-click adventure will task players with navigating through three worlds, all underscored by a sickening sense of uneasiness. There will be puzzles and obstacles to surpass, but it seems like the hardest part might be contending with the game’s threatening vibe. 

With a title like Happy Game and some of the early visuals, you may be lulled into thinking this will be a light and breezy indie title, but there is much more going on than would first appear. 

As you traverse these worlds, which appear to be on an endless moving wheel, the game will flick from a joyful atmosphere to one that looks like David Lynch decided that he was work wasn’t weird enough already. It’s a striking dichotomy and one that creates a fascinating visual whiplash.

Things really get dark later in the trailer when things in the ‘happy’ world seem to become even more sinister than when it is being overtly dark. Happy Game is bringing ‘something’ to the table, and whatever that ‘something’ is, it’s certainly effective. 

For as much as you might see impaled characters in the darker world of Happy Game, the most nightmarish stuff comes when you see the decapitated bodies and smiley faces becoming stuck on your head in the light world. Truly uncomfortable stuff, but if you’re one for something a little horrifying, you can wishlist the game on Steam now.

If you would perhaps like to traverse some less threatening worlds, why not check out our list of the best feel good games!

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Developer Mundfish teased an E3 appearance for Atomic Heart just last week, with a studio representative affirming that at this point the game has “almost everything they wanted,” but we were still somewhat surprised to see it at the combined Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase. It’s nice to know that Atomic Heart will launch on Xbox Game Pass, though. It’s shaping up to be exactly the kind of wild, experimental game that’s more easily sampled through Game Pass. 

Naturally, Atomic Heart’s Xbox announcement trailer also brought us some more weird robots to gawk at, as well as the armed grandma that Mundfish teased last week. I don’t care what anyone says, in the hands of any grandma, a ladle is a lethal weapon. 

The trailer opens with yet more confirmation that, yes, this world is filled with extremely weird robots that want to kill you. From there, it’s right into a new take on the usual nonsense: music fit for a Russian street festival, androids coming at us live from the depths of the uncanny valley, and a concerning mix of suspended liquids and what seem to be time bubbles. However, this trailer does at least feature our two lead characters more prominently than usual. We couldn’t tell you who they are or what exactly they’re trying to do, or why that woman has wiggly wires attached to her temples, but hey, it’s something. 

The more we see of Atomic Heart, the less certain we are of what it’s about. Mundfish has outlined a heady mix of Russian landscapes, AI disasters, and the occasional evil clown. It is, put simply, all over the place – the place being an alternate Soviet Union… maybe.

One thing’s for sure: Atomic Heart is some kind of first-person open-world game with a mix of shooting and melee combat. It’s also quite the looker, and not just because of its unique aesthetic. Atomic Heart has become one of the go-to poster children for new graphics tech, and Mundfish regularly drops raytraced gameplay as well as lavish 4K showcases. 

Atomic Heart doesn’t have a release date just yet, but we do know that it’s coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC. 

Games like Atomic Heart are crying out for a cutting-edge TV. With these Prime Day TV deals, you might be able to snag one for yourself. 

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Announced during today’s Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase during the busy E3 2021 week, Sea of Thieves has been revealed to be partnering with Disney to introduce a number of characters from Pirates of the Caribbean including Captain Jack Sparrow, Davy Jones, and more.  

The new story is titled ‘A Pirate’s Life’ and will find players embarking on a brand new journey that will also be free to all players as part of the game’s Season 3 update that lands on June 22. There will be 5 Tall Tales to embark on throughout the seas and will find players sailing alongside Jack Sparrow himself as they visit new locations and battle new enemies.

Some of these new enemies are Sirens lurking in the oceans, Phantoms, and Ocean Crawlers. More details on what to expect from Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life will be revealed nearer the time, for now, the official website shows off the developer’s excitement to collaborate with Disney.

 Sea of Thieves has recently started a new progression system along with a seasonal update structure. Season 2 of the game launched back in April, and the upcoming Season 3 Pirates of the Caribbean-themed crossover will be the game’s biggest update since its anniversary update.

Sea of Thieves is also optimized for the new Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles that launched last year. While Xbox wishes it “had more supply,” those who do have the console are able to experience games that have been optimized for the console, making use of raytracing, high frames per second, and Quick Resume. There was also an FPS boost to over 70 Xbox One games last month.

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Ubisoft revealed the game’s second expansion during today’s Ubisoft Forward E3 2021 showcase. As a recent DLC leak suggested, the Siege of Paris will take Eivor to the city of Francia to make friends and enemies as they see fit. 

Today’s reveal was light on details but did confirm that the Siege of Paris will feature “black box infiltration missions” that give players a general objective without any limitations on how they accomplish it. New abilities and equipment are also on the way, and ahead of the Siege of Paris, one-handed swords will be added to Assassin’s Creed Valhalla “in the coming weeks.”

The Siege of Paris will be Valhalla’s second major DLC, and Ubisoft says it won’t be the last. “For the first time on an Assassin’s Creed title, we’ll be supporting the game well into its second year,” senior community developer Karen Lee said at Ubisoft Forward. “While this year will be a very active year for the game, we’re already working on more expansions for next year. Something tells me that Eivor is not done with Odin yet.” 

A brief teaser for an upcoming expansion rounded out Valhalla’s time at the showcase, with a molten runic gate pointing to more mythological shenanigans to come. We’ve been to England, Ireland, and soon France, but perhaps Valhalla’s next expansion will take us out of the countryside and into the realm of the gods?

Ubisoft’s showcase gave us new details on the Far Cry 6 Season Pass, which will bring back some fan-favorite villains as playable characters, as well as extended official gameplay footage to go with the Rainbow Six Extraction release date. Check out our ongoing E3 2021 roundup to catch up on all the other big news from this year’s scattered but stacked event.

With these Prime Day TV deals, you may find a cheap way to upgrade your viewing experience just in time for all these new games. 

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Your squad of three Operators aren’t supposed to hunker down for weeks with a Netflix subscription and an endless supply of snacks. Their mission is to enter Rainbow Six Extraction’s alien-infested zones, complete their assigned tasks, and get the hell out of dodge before things start to turn sideways. 

And believe me, having now spent a significant amount of time exploring those zones for myself, I can assure you that no one would want to spend a single minute of quarantine within them, even if it meant getting to enjoy a two week holiday in Seychelles. 

“We wanted a name that better reflected where the game had gotten to,” says game designer Alicia Fortier of the project’s new moniker. “The aim was to make something that is riffing off of the Rainbow Six universe, but in a completely new angle than what people are used to.”

Name of the game

Read more

Battlefield 2042 preview: 128 players and multiplayer mayhem like you’ve never seen it before

Set several years after the events of Siege’s competitive showdowns, Rainbow Six Extraction imagines a future where aliens have superseded terrorists as enemy number one for Team Rainbow. A parasitic extra-terrestrial force known as the Archæans have spread across the planet, and it’s up to our team of elite Operators to put an end to the outbreak. 

You’ll do so by heading into their nests and completing up to three randomly assigned objectives of escalating difficulty, which can range from luring an Elite enemy back to base for research purposes, to destroying their bioorganic infrastructure with some well-placed C4. After completing each objective, however, you’ll need to make a decision to either to begin the next, or exfiltrate out of the zone with your life still intact. That choice folds a risk-reward dimension into play that echoes a similar structure to Call of Duty’s recent Zombies modes, especially as both health, ammo, and Operator abilities are far from infinite, with only a few opportunities to resupply between objectives. 

One of the more interesting variants on those objectives borrows ideas from an unlikely source in the form of the XCOM series. Should your Operator fall in the quarantine zone, and your teammates fail to haul your body back to the exil point, they’ll become Missing in Action, and you won’t be able to play as them again until you rescue them from the map in which they were downed. This rescue mission will take the form of an objective all of its own, as you attempt to pry the Operators comatose body from an eldritch Archæan tree before their life source is drained completely. 

While Extraction won’t ever kill your Operators permanently, as can be the case in XCOM, this more lasting penalty for failure raises the stakes of each mission, encouraging more cautious, considered, co-operative runs amongst squads, where every life really does count. Fortier does explain, however, that an in-game failsafe assures you’ll always have someone to play as, so as to prevent losing all of your Operators until there’s no one left to save them.

“The Missing in Action system is really crucial to creating that sense of tension within the game,” she continues. “We wanted to make sure that this was the sort of co-op game that still felt fair, but you feel like there’s a risk, as though you’re putting it all on the line, and whether you succeed or not is deserved based on the actions you took in the match. It’s something that was really important to our game loop. But we had to be really mindful about how we implemented it.”

And the more Operators you have at your disposal, the better, as team composition in Extraction is as critical as it is in Siege. A number of familiar faces, such as Sledge and Hibana, are still enlisted in Extraction’s future timeline, but Ubisoft Montreal has also introduced new Operators specifically designed around the game’s co-op, PvE focus. “It’s a good introduction to the Rainbow Six universe,” says Fortier of Extraction’s cast of super skilled soldiers, “but it’s also a great attraction for existing Siege players.” 

No room for error

For those teams that do make it to the third and final objective in Extraction’s levels, don’t expect a cakewalk. Ubisoft Montreal has intentionally designed a shooter that places a premium on survival, as opposed to power fantasies. Take Sprawl; a calcifying slime which coats the floors, walls, and ceilings of environments in real time, slowing any players and buffing any Archæans who come into contact with it. Players can shoot at the Sprawl to push back against its spread and carve out paths for themselves, but it doesn’t take long for entire rooms to be covered in the stuff if you’re not careful, creating hellish situations where you’re not sure whether to shoot at the goo beneath your feet, or the hordes running headfirst towards your friends. 

“We designed Sprawl to be a really dynamic system,” explains Fortier. “It considers where the enemies are going to be spawning, it reacts when it’s shot, and it has implications on gameplay for both your squad and the AI. Working on the Sprawl has opened a million doors that are way more complicated than you first expect, especially in a game that has destruction, but our tech team really worked hard to carry that through and bring it to the best level of experience.”

Ubisoft Montreal hopes to be able to support Rainbow Six Extraction with new content and updates well beyond its launch day later this year. While my hands-on makes it hard to know whether the game holds the same degree of replay value as its Siege counterpart, the ongoing legacy of that live service proves that Ubisoft knows what it’s doing when it comes to giving Team Rainbow plenty of new things to do. 

Fortier isn’t able to give specifics of what that might look like for Extraction, as the team is simply focused on preparing Extraction for launch in the not-too-distant future. After almost two years of radio silence, she says, the team at Ubisoft Montreal couldn’t be more excited to finally show what it’s been cooking up: “We’re lucky enough to have a group of players who are really, really excited for this new experience; people who are very much hungry for a co-op. PvE Rainbow Six game. We’re very happy to be able to deliver this to that audience.”

For more, check out our breakdown of the Battlefield 2042 maps available at launch, or watch our review of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart below. 

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