Skip to main content

Ready or Not

Ready or Not is not only a near-perfect video game, but one that advances the medium in a way that no game has before.
84%Game Brain Score
story, gameplay
optimization, stability
89% User Score Based on 170,012 reviews
Critic Score 77%Based on 7 reviews

Platforms

PCXbox Game PassCloudXbox Cloud GamingXboxNVIDIA GeForce NOWWindows
Buy Nowfrom $9.57
Buy NowGet on Steam $49.99Buy NowGet on Xbox Games Store

About

"Ready or Not" is a tactical first-person shooter game set in the city of Los Sueños, where players take on the role of a SWAT team member responding to high-risk criminal activities such as hostage situations and bomb threats. The game emphasizes realism, strategy, and teamwork in its gameplay, with a focus on citizens' struggles in a city marked by wealth disparity and criminal underworld exploitation.

Genres & Tags
Play Modes
Ready or Not screenshot
Ready or Not screenshot
Ready or Not screenshot
Ready or Not screenshot
Skip User Reviews

89%
Audience ScoreBased on 170,012 reviews
story2.4k positive mentions
optimization1.6k negative mentions
  • story
    18,036 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story aspect of "Ready or Not" is characterized by its dark and gritty themes, often tackling sensitive real-world issues such as mass shootings, drug trafficking, and child exploitation. While the game employs environmental storytelling to convey its narrative, many players feel that the overarching plot is weak and lacks depth, with missions often feeling repetitive and disconnected from a cohesive storyline. The absence of a quick restart option after mission failures further frustrates players, as it disrupts the flow of gameplay and detracts from the immersive experience.

    • “The game's lore is just enough to make you attached to the reasons your character started in the LSPD in the first place, but not so much that you're trying to piece together a long and convoluted story.”
    • “The environmental storytelling is top-notch and honestly has me paying more attention to the scenery and environment than the knife-wielding maniac charging me in a meth-infested cave in the dark.”
    • “The attention to detail, atmosphere, and environmental storytelling more than make up for the few issues at launch here.”
    • “The story is disappointing, with interesting concepts and characters being dropped after single missions, so you can spend more time fighting an unambiguously evil and ultimately soulless illicit pornography distribution ring.”
    • “The missions are very similar to each other, with barricaded suspects for almost every mission, but the environments and types of suspects help keep the game interesting.”
    • “The game could have a little more in-depth storytelling and gameplay.”
  • gameplay
    10,310 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of "Ready or Not" has received mixed reviews, with many praising its tactical depth, realism, and immersive mechanics reminiscent of classic SWAT games. Players appreciate the intense, methodical gameplay that requires strategic planning and teamwork, but some criticize the AI behavior, performance issues, and repetitive mission structures that can detract from the overall experience. While the game shows great potential and has a dedicated modding community, it still faces challenges in optimization and content variety, leading to a somewhat uneven gameplay experience.

    • “Ready or not is an exceptional game that delivers fantastic gameplay and heart-pounding action.”
    • “The gameplay is outstanding.”
    • “The gameplay mechanics of Ready or Not are deep and rewarding.”
    • “This used to be good when it first came out now it's an unhinged mess of unrelated junk with poor mechanics.”
    • “The mission profiles also aren't very diversified - basically every mission turns into a search & kill/subdue type gameplay.”
    • “It feels less like you're playing a SWAT sim and more like you're playing a game of chance where if you lose you're stuck watching your teammate do everything alone because there's no respawn mechanic or way to heal injuries!”
  • graphics
    7,080 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics in "Ready or Not" have received widespread acclaim for their stunning realism and attention to detail, with many players noting that the visuals significantly enhance the immersive experience of the game. However, there are consistent reports of performance issues, including frame rate drops and stuttering, even on high-end systems, which detracts from the overall experience. While the graphics are often praised as top-notch, the game's optimization remains a concern, leading to mixed feelings among players regarding its performance.

    • “Gameplay, audio, and visuals all do this game justice.”
    • “Game is fantastic; honestly, it has the best graphics that I've seen in a game like this.”
    • “The graphics are stunning, with detailed environments and realistic lighting that contribute to the overall immersion.”
    • “Game is good in terms of gameplay, however, the smoothness is terrible no matter how much graphics settings I change, they don't fix any of it.”
    • “Graphics are either very good or very poor due to engine rendering issues, especially with clothing and hair looking like 2009 jank.”
    • “The graphics are really a disappointment in what I expected considering I have a 3070 and the game looks like it has this disgusting gloss over the character models or major clipping issues with equipment.”
  • optimization
    5,444 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The optimization of "Ready or Not" has received overwhelmingly negative feedback from players, particularly following the transition to Unreal Engine 5 and the 1.0 release. Many users report significant performance issues, including frequent stuttering, frame rate drops, and crashes, even on high-end systems, which detracts from the overall gameplay experience. While some players have noted improvements in specific areas, the consensus is that the game remains poorly optimized and requires substantial work to address these ongoing performance problems.

    • “It's well optimized for AMD on DX11.”
    • “The devs have come a long way to make the game better and more optimized.”
    • “The game runs smoothly for the most part, with few performance issues, ensuring that players can focus on the task at hand without being distracted by technical hiccups.”
    • “This game is badly optimized; I have played many more intensive games than this, but still, they run very smoothly.”
    • “Game is not ready for a 1.0 release; everything feels unfinished, buggy, and unoptimized. Kinda fun with friends, but a $50 price tag really is not worth it.”
    • “Game crashes constantly regardless of your PC's specs; optimization is horrific, and if you can survive the endless loading screens, you'll crash in mission throwing a flashbang or reloading.”
  • stability
    2,816 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The stability of "Ready or Not" has been a significant concern among players, with many reporting frequent crashes, freezes, and various bugs that disrupt gameplay. While some users have noted improvements in performance and stability over time, the game is still considered quite buggy, particularly in its AI behavior and mission execution. Overall, players recommend waiting for further updates and patches before fully committing to the game, as its current state can lead to frustrating experiences.

    • “By far this is the best tactical shooter I've ever played, this game isn't buggy nor have I had any issues with performance.”
    • “The game runs great, absolutely gorgeous, and high adrenaline throughout the entire mission.”
    • “For an early access game, it is well built with little to no glitches, and any that are there you hardly notice.”
    • “So I just got this game. I'm running a Ryzen 5 5800X, RTX 3080 Ti, and 32 GB of RAM, but I'm running into issues even at low settings where the game just completely crashes out of nowhere or freezes every 5 minutes. I have no idea if it's just my PC having trouble running the game or if it's the game itself. If anyone has any idea what's going on, please leave a comment.”
    • “It just freezes and I have to force quit the game with Task Manager, and sometimes that doesn't even work.”
    • “Game is not ready for a 1.0 release; everything feels unfinished, buggy, and unoptimized. Kinda fun with friends, but a $50 price tag really is not worth it.”
  • atmosphere
    1,450 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere in "Ready or Not" is widely praised for its immersive and intense qualities, effectively combining detailed environments, realistic sound design, and a gripping narrative that evokes a sense of tension and urgency. Players appreciate the game's ability to create a dark, gritty ambiance that enhances the tactical gameplay, making each mission feel unique and engaging. While some critiques mention inconsistencies in AI behavior and a lack of variety in certain maps, the overall consensus highlights the game's atmospheric storytelling and its success in capturing the essence of high-stakes SWAT operations.

    • “The music stands out, especially in how it enhances the atmosphere, with beautifully crafted soundscapes during combat and, more importantly, during quieter moments.”
    • “Immersive atmosphere: the game’s detailed environments and atmospheric design create a tense and immersive experience.”
    • “The atmosphere, environment, storytelling, and gunplay are all excellent.”
    • “It feels clunky to control, and the atmosphere doesn't make up for it much.”
    • “The framerate has been degraded, the AI is untuned, the atmosphere is that of a militaristic cover operation barely funded by the CIA rather than a SWAT unit of Los Sueños.”
    • “These problems rob the game of its atmosphere, which is a damn shame given the team's dedication to environmental storytelling.”
  • replayability
    1,374 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's replayability has received mixed reviews, with many players noting a significant decline in replay value since the transition to version 1.0, primarily due to the removal of various mission types and customization options that previously enhanced replayability. While some players appreciate the dynamic nature of enemy placements and the potential for varied approaches in missions, others feel that the limited content and repetitive objectives diminish long-term engagement. Overall, the game offers a fun experience, especially in multiplayer, but many users express a desire for more diverse content and features to sustain replayability.

    • “This game has a replayability like no other.”
    • “The gameplay is intense, the maps provide plenty of replayability, consistent updates keep the game relatively fresh (especially the 1.0 update now) and the various customization allows you to make your operator what you want him to be.”
    • “The different ways you can approach any situation makes the game very replayable.”
    • “Though the AI behavior changes on a given map for each mission, the replayability of each mission is limited.”
    • “With the release of 1.0, the devs took away the ability to choose which mission type you can play, basically making a non-replayable linear mess.”
    • “The severe lack of replayability is baffling, as the early access included several types of calls for each map, ranging from barricaded suspects, hostages, bomb threats, active shooters, and such.”
  • humor
    1,298 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in "Ready or Not" is a mix of dark comedy and unintentional hilarity, often stemming from the game's realistic yet chaotic scenarios involving civilians and AI. Players frequently report laughing at absurd situations, such as friendly fire incidents and the unpredictable behavior of both teammates and enemies, which can lead to comical outcomes. While the game can be intense, it shines in multiplayer settings where friends can share in the laughter, making it a fun experience despite its serious themes.

    • “Ready or not is like trying to defuse a bomb with a rubber chicken—frustratingly difficult but somehow insanely fun when you're laughing with friends about it.”
    • “I remember my friend trying to open a door his first time playing and he literally got wall-banged by a suspect with a sawed-off double barrel through the door he was occupying; hilarious.”
    • “It's a rollercoaster of emotions that will have you laughing one moment and pulling your hair out the next.”
    • “Is this the part where I'm supposed to give another insipid, unfunny, 'joke' review like most of the positive ones I see?”
    • “Notice how 90% of the positive reviews are stupid unfunny memes, this is a game made for bitter COD and RB6 Siege fans who have never played a proper SWAT shooter and want to feel more 'hardcore' than others.”
    • “It's not funny, you know.”
  • grinding
    846 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it excessively tedious and time-consuming, particularly when searching for civilians or completing objectives. While some enjoy the challenge of grinding for high ranks or cosmetics, others feel that the repetitive nature of the tasks and the need for meticulous micromanagement detracts from the overall experience. Overall, players suggest that the game could benefit from improvements to reduce the grind and enhance gameplay flow.

    • “No grinding, just pure tactical fun.”
    • “No grinding for unlocks, no microtransactions, no bs, and the constant updates and improvements promise this already-great game will likely just naturally evolve into something legendary.”
    • “No season pass, no grinding for skins or equipment or weapons or abilities or operators or *anything*.”
    • “Enemies just don't surrender, teammates die all the time, and overall it has become more of a shooter than a 'SWAT experience'. The gameplay is repetitive, and grinding for an S rank is often sheer impossible.”
    • “It can be very tedious to try and find all of the civilians and suspects.”
    • “Walking around a map for a good 20 minutes trying to find the last civilian or suspect gets tedious, especially as you have checked and double-checked every room, even fired off a few rounds to try and get a reaction and still nothing.”
  • music
    726 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is widely praised for its ability to enhance the atmosphere, with dynamic soundscapes that adapt to the intensity of gameplay, creating a gripping experience during both combat and quieter moments. Many players appreciate the soundtrack's blend of ambient tracks and action pieces, which effectively build tension and immersion, although some have noted issues with audio mixing and the timing of music cues. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's emotional and immersive qualities.

    • “The music stands out, especially in how it enhances the atmosphere, with beautifully crafted soundscapes during combat and, more importantly, during quieter moments.”
    • “The soundtrack is unexpectedly good.”
    • “The dynamic soundtrack is superb, it perfectly matches the emotions and energy of each moment.”
    • “The music makes it so loud, you need to shout at your teammates.”
    • “The soundtrack is a downgrade compared to the 5 tracks that were available in early access surprisingly, the 'lore' is dogwater, so really this game doesn't have much going on for it... except the gunplay.”
    • “The early access soundtrack was miles better than what we have in the 1.0 release.”
  • monetization
    394 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization model of the game has drawn mixed reactions from players, with many expressing frustration over perceived cash grab tactics, particularly following the release of DLCs and the game's transition to version 1.0. While some players appreciate the absence of microtransactions and in-game purchases, others criticize the developers for prioritizing profit over fixing existing bugs and issues, leading to a feeling of being misled about the game's readiness. Overall, the sentiment leans towards disappointment regarding the game's monetization practices and the lack of promised features.

    • “No microtransactions, no BS.”
    • “More importantly, they have been polishing the game without adding in-game purchases, stores, battle passes, DLC, or any other greedy cash grab like all these other modern games.”
    • “This game brings to mind the old days, when video games shipped complete, had fun replayable missions, 0 microtransactions, and excellent co-op.”
    • “What was promised outside of early access is still not there, but they released the '1.0' just so they can cash grab with DLCs.”
    • “The recent 'update/DLC' is honestly just a cash grab as they haven't fixed many of the glaring issues that have plagued the game.”
    • “Their 1.0 was a cash grab and they're already talking about paid DLCs while core game mechanics are still broken and/or missing.”
  • emotional
    230 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The emotional aspect of "Ready or Not" is profoundly impactful, with players reporting a range of intense feelings from joy to heartbreak throughout their gameplay experiences. Many users highlight the game's ability to evoke genuine emotional responses, such as crying during pivotal moments or feeling deeply connected to the characters and scenarios, particularly in high-stress situations involving loss or moral dilemmas. The immersive storytelling and realistic portrayal of law enforcement challenges contribute to a rollercoaster of emotions, making it a standout experience in the tactical shooter genre.

    • “The game truly offers an immersive experience that takes you on an emotional journey.”
    • “On one mission I was raiding a crack house and one of my officers died in front of me and it emotionally scarred me.”
    • “This game gets dark, (in both tone and lighting), and the devs are not afraid to shy away from touching on 'sensitive matters'.”
    • “Mwiii removed content, gave us a poor boring story that no one was really asking for, along with making it a 'full release' over just an update or DLC in order to get way more money out of newer fans' pockets.”
  • character development
    32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in the game is largely criticized for being minimal, with most players noting that it only occurs at the very end of the game, leaving a lack of meaningful narrative or character arcs throughout. While the character designs for enemies are appreciated, the absence of distinct characters and deeper AI interactions detracts from the overall experience. Many reviewers express a desire for more substantial character development and customization options to enhance engagement.

    • “Honestly proud of the boys, great character development.”
    • “The mechanics and graphics are good, but if they could add better character designs and better customization, it would be great.”
    • “All in all a good experience, but I would just like to see a bit more development in how the AI handles, some character development, and some more realistic situations.”
    • “The major shortcomings of the game for me is that there are no characters, or character development in the game, and a limited AI (though I think this is slowly improving), which could take this tactical engagement to the next level.”
    • “The character development is near to none, with the only amount of character development taking place in the very end of the game level-wise.”
    • “We get barely any character development or story; only actual meaningful dialogue is on the final mission for one container.”
Skip Critic Reviews

77%Critics’ scoreBased on 7 critic reviews
Skip Game Offers

Buy Ready or Not

13h Median play time
1226h Average play time
6-39h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 508 analyzed playthroughs
Skip Videos

Videos

Skip Games Like Ready or Not

Games Like Ready or Not

Zero Hour

Zero Hour

Action
Police Stories Image
81%4.2kreviews

Police Stories

2019Tactical Shooter
Nintendo SwitchLinuxPC+7
Six Days in Fallujah Image
85%9.9kreviews

Six Days in Fallujah

2023Survival Shooter
PCCloudNVIDIA GeForce NOW+1
SCP: 5K Image
This game contains adult content
80%9.4kreviews

SCP: 5K

2022Strategy
PCWindows
GROUND BRANCH Image
89%28.1kreviews

GROUND BRANCH

2018Tactical Shooter
PCWindows
Skip Game News