Why Ready or Not is So Hard to Put Down

It’s interesting to look back on the history of tactical shooters and wonder, “What happened?” This isn’t to say that the genre has died out – there have been titles which offer realistic gunplay with an emphasis on tactics over blindly rushing in. Assessing the environment and any threats takes priority over much else. However, it’s interesting how major publishers have effectively avoided such titles.

Sure, Ghost Recon Wildlands and Breakpoint became enjoyable experiences given enough time, but they’re still a departure from what made Ghost Recon and Advance Warfighter so memorable. Even Rainbow Six, which has a long and illustrious history, has been relegated to the competitive shooter space with Siege. For many, “tactical shooter” is seemingly synonymous with Call of Duty. The weapons are based on real-world firearms; there’s gun mounting, flashbangs, and double-time – what more could you want?

And despite other studios embracing more realistic depictions of warzones, there’s been a distinct lack of anything akin to  SWAT. Almost nothing has come close to SWAT 4 – simulating the rush you get from breaching and clearing rooms, unsure of what lies ahead. That is, until Ready or Not came along.

Originally released in December 2023 for PC after about two years in early access, it’s now available for Xbox Series X/S and PS5. It arrives alongside some extensive DLC and a new update – Los Suenos Stories – which adds new missions, weapons, and much more. Maybe it’s due to the lack of something similar in the console space, but regardless, Ready or Not has turned out to be a delightfully addictive experience.

You’re the commander of D Platoon, the LSPD’s tactical squad sent to deal with “high-risk” situations. While it starts simply enough with players responding to a gas station robbery, the story dives into the city’s depravity. As I’ve noted in our review of the PS5 version, piecing together the lore between missions can reveal some unsettling details. The fact that it’s all rooted in the real world makes it all the more disturbing, but for better or worse, it adds to the immersion and brutality.

That brutality is reflected in the gameplay. Ready or Not is about playing carefully and approaching situations calmly because so much can potentially go wrong. A surrendering suspect can suddenly pop up and put a few rounds in you or your squadmates with a secondary weapon. Civilians can easily get caught in the crossfire and die. Even how you ultimately open a door can have numerous ramifications on the success of the mission and the health of your squad. If a single person dies, it can further demoralize the survivors, leading to high stress levels and potential dropouts. Managing their stress and ensuring everyone gets out alive can unlock powerful perks that are shared among the squad. Once again, choices and consequences.

Initially, the general gameplay loop becomes pretty familiar. “Bring order to chaos,” which means arresting or taking out any suspects and rescuing all the civilians. You’ll have additional objectives and even a soft objective, but for the most part, you must deal with hostiles and ensure the safety of everyone else. Pretty straightforward.

Achieving this is an entirely different matter, given the range of situations and approaches. Ordering compliance won’t always guarantee that a suspect lays down their weapon, especially if they have a hostage. Restraining a civilian could lead to getting flanked by other hostiles laying in wait. Equipping a silencer can increase your gun’s profile, making it easier for enemies to spot you. Heck, being near a window when suspects happen to be looking outside of it can result in the deaths of hostages.

That unpredictability usually means having to adjust on the fly, especially since enemy placements change on each mission playthrough. However, developer Void Interactive deserves credit for offering a wide range of different environments and potential disasters waiting to happen. One such mission involved clearing a building and then having to make our way over to another via a shoddily constructed wooden walkway. A dark attic seemed as ripe for trouble as making our way down a staircase overlooking the hall. Standing guard as my team made their way down, watching for threats and covering angles from up high, felt tense.

You may be adept at dealing with armed robbers and manic junkies wielding knives, leading to a venerable stomping at the hands of the cartel. As one mission leads to another, you’ll encounter better-armed and more dangerous suspects who are about as keen on surviving as they are on killing you.

It can get challenging, even when you master tactics like freeleaning or using the Mirrorgun to survey what’s around corners and locked doors. But once again, it adds to the realism and immersion. And even if the core gameplay can feel the same between missions, you’re not focused on killing as many suspects as possible but also on ensuring the survival of civilians. That mission grade can drop from a potential A+ to a D quickly if even one civilian dies or you kill a key suspect. This encourages looking into other tactics. The beanbag shotgun for non-lethal shots to the body. Flashbanging occupied rooms instead of simply funneling in. Peeking doors slowly rather than kicking through and alerting everyone aside.

You’ll slowly learn that these kinds of tactics can often lead to more success than simply winging it. But if you want to gather four other players and make things up as you go along? Go ahead. Some of my most hilarious moments in co-op stemmed from watching a squadmate blow themselves up because of a door trap or a single suspect killing three without breaking a sweat, leading to the remaining two to complete the mission.

However, if you’re skilled enough, it’s possible to complete all missions completely solo, relying only on a silenced pistol. Ready or Not asks you to adhere to its various rules and regulations, which are all based on real-world tactics, but mastering them feels all the more rewarding. That feeling of power, as you seamlessly de-escalate situations before they can truly get out of control, quickly moving to the next room and ultimately clearing missions while firing as few shots as possible, is a different kind of gratification.

Chasing that same high by replaying missions and obtaining the highest score on the highest difficulty, perhaps eventually embarking on Iron Man Mode, may not be for everyone, and that’s perfectly fine. It’s the fact that such feats require fully mastering the fundamentals – which are deceptively easy to pick up – that keeps one coming back. Something may go wrong, but it rarely feels like a variable out of your control. And if it happens regardless, as frustrating as it can be, it’s also exciting since you have numerous tools to tackle it and perhaps emerge victorious.

Honestly, I didn’t expect Ready or Not to really enamor or captivate me, and yet here we are. Judging by the positive response to the console versions – check the ratings on both Xbox and PlayStation Stores – it seems that others have responded in kind. It may not herald another golden age of SWAT-inspired titles, but at the very least, I’m keen to answer the call and bring order to chaos as many times as it takes.