Ready or Not is one of the most realistic SWAT simulators out there. If you are a fan of Rainbow Six Siege minus the ‘out of this world’ gadgets, you are in for a fun time. Group up with friends and take on various missions with changing objectives and enemies. With a hefty arsenal, a balanced ranking system that will scrutinize every move you make, and more, Ready or Not is easily one of the games you can pick up with friends who want a more ‘down to Earth’ version of Tom Clancy’s popular tactical FPS title.
Presenation & Gameplay
As a multiplayer centric game, there is a ‘campaign’ here in the sense that you can do them with bots but the real fun comes from doing them with friends.
The presentation is moderately decent for a game of this offering, I did however have a few texture pop-in issues happen on my PS5 Pro on some levels - trees and bushes would pop-in as soon as I turned my camera but otherwise performance is at a solid 60FPS on Performance mode and 30FPS in Fiedelity.
For most of the game you will be indoors and the level details are good for the job, but there is nothing here that makes the game stand out in terms of detail. The quality of the levels is great and does have a decent presentation with set design and more.
Gameplay wise, its very diverse. The biggest adjustment you will have to get used to is the lack of sprinting, but instead you can lower your weapon to increase your walking speed.
The game has a real emphasis on realism. Similar to the realism difficulty in some COD games, you can get shot at certain parts of your body and that can impact your ability to aim or shoot. You can also heal yourself to mitigate that, but ultimately death is permanent in this game until the level is finished.
The game also does not follow the conventional rule of holding your hand while you play. You will have to listen and read the mission briefing to know where to go and what to do in a level otherwise you will be aimlessly roaming for quiet the while wondering what your next course of action should be. There is no objective marker to guide you, and sleeping through the briefing can also tell you important information so you can prepare your loadout accordingly.
Overall the level of detail and realism in this game is unmatched, but it is one of those games that rewards you for committing to it. Once you get better and take on higher difficulties for more XP and rewards, you will enjoy the experience much more with friends. As a completely PvE focused experience it is one of the more enjoyable games I have played in a while.
The game also has a cross-play feature that lets you play with friends on PC and Xbox Series consoles so you can have your friends on PC dust off their copy of the game and play it with them as well.
Conclusion
Ready or Not is a fun and memorable game to play with friends. I absolutely encourage anyone with an active friend group who have been waiting for the console release of this game to give this a try and play it. You will not regret your choice and with crossplay across all platforms the game is absolutely worth the price.
Decent visuals, diverse gameplay, and other features easily make Ready or Not a strong recommendation from me.
