A new entry in the Rainbow Six franchise has been unveiled that combines the franchise’s tactical shooter gameplay with turn-based combat and team management. Stepping into the shoes of Paul Bishop, players will lead Team Rainbow as they take on the Keres Legion and uncover a new conspiracy. We’ve not been able to go hands-on with the game yet, but we get a little peek at what we can expect.
The Rainbow Six franchise spans almost 30 years and about a dozen titles. The first game was developed alongside the drafting of the 1998 novel written by Tom Clancy, releasing just a few weeks after the book was published. The lore in the Rainbow Six universe runs deep, which has been tirelessly pieced together by YouTuber Kudos over the last several years. Rainbow Six Siege has spanned nearly 11 years, expanding the story further and even reintroducing characters from past games, which all came to a harrowing turn towards the end of Year 10.
Rainbow, the organization that was started with the goal of uniting several nations to fight international terrorism, has been on a wild ride since it was founded in the late 1990s. They have faced betrayals and heavy losses, and towards the end of Rainbow Six Siege’s Year 10, the organization was disbanded by the Global Security Alliance Council (GSAC) after a series of events led to questions about Rainbow’s effectiveness. However, this decision was later overturned, and Team Rainbow was reactivated just two years later after the GSAC realized they were ill-equipped to face the Keres Legion, who were ultimately behind Rainbow’s destabilization with the help of ex-Rainbow operative Gerald “Deimos” Morris, who was long thought to be dead.
Rainbow Six Tactics takes place somewhere in between the events of Operation High Stakes (Y10S3) and Operation System Override (Y11S2). The short-lived Dual Front mode also served as a sort of bridge between these seasons, acting as part of the battlefield Rainbow had to fight across to rescue Dokkaebi and eventually take down Phobos as their final mission. With Rainbow now reinstated, Bishop and the remaining operators will take the fight directly to Keres.
Missions will unfold in three phases, starting with a reconnaissance phase where players control a drone that allows them to see enemy positions, caches, and other important information about the mission area. After that is a planning phase in which attack points, operator positioning, gadgets, and targets are selected. Once everything is prepared, the action phase is executed where players will see a synchronized assault on the objective playing out in real time. Between missions, everyone regroups at the headquarters for some operational management and to prepare for the next mission.
This is the first single player campaign in the franchise since Rainbow Six Vegas 2 back in 2008, which is also where we were first introduced to Paul Bishop, who was leading Bravo Team at the time. He would later be promoted to Deputy Director following the events of that game. In Rainbow Six Tactics, we get to see Bishop in action for the first time as Rainbow Six, the director of Team Rainbow.
While a tactics-style game isn't exactly what I was hoping for as a next iteration for Rainbow Six, I have to say that this one does look interesting. The core elements of the franchise are present and appear to integrate well with the turn-based tactics gameplay. While we haven't seen the full roster of operators, we can see Ash, Glaz, Sledge, Montagne, Doc, Nokk, and a couple others in the trailer. The game will feature no monetization outside the purchase price, which is refreshing in this era of microtransactions, though I am curious to see if there will be additional operators, maps, and missions added in later updates.
More will be unveiled down the road, and the game can be wishlisted now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series systems, and PC, for a 2027 release. Unfortunately, there is no word on if the game will come to Nintendo Switch 2, though I think it would be a perfect fit for handheld platforms. We'll keep you updated on further developments for Rainbow Six Tactics and the rest of the Rainbow-verse.
