Ready or Not
Developer(s)VOID Interactive
Publisher(s)VOID Interactive
EngineUnreal Engine 4
Platform(s)
Release
  • December 13, 2023
Genre(s)First-person shooter, tactical shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Ready or Not is a tactical first-person shooter developed and published by Ireland-based VOID Interactive and released for Microsoft Windows. Ready or Not follows the operations of a police SWAT team in the fictional city of Los Sueños, California, in the midst of a crime wave.

Ready or Not was released through Steam early access on December 17, 2021, before it was officially released on December 13, 2023.[1] The game was well-received for its atmosphere and gameplay and has been considered a spiritual successor to the similar SWAT series by Sierra Entertainment, but has also been criticized for its tone and the handling of its subject matter.

Gameplay

An in-game screenshot of a SWAT team preparing to breach a room in close-quarters combat.

In Ready or Not, the player takes the role of player character David "Judge" Beaumont,[2] the leader of a police tactical unit pitted against criminals. As a tactical shooter, realism is a central pillar of gameplay, with both players and enemies being killed in only a few shots; therefore, tactical strategies and careful planning are emphasized.

The player is given a wide selection of rifles, submachine guns, shotguns, and handguns to choose from, with extensive customization options for sights, rail attachments, suppressors, and other attachments. Equipment such as stun grenades, stinger grenades, fiberscopes, ballistic shields, and breaching devices are key items available for the player and their team to equip and use.[3] As the player is part of a police unit, apprehending suspects alive is greatly encouraged; therefore, a variety of less-lethal weapons such as tasers, riot guns, and pepper spray are available as alternatives to lethal force, and players are awarded more points for arresting suspects instead of killing them. However, unlike SWAT 3 and SWAT 4, less-lethal weapons such as beanbag shotguns and pepperball guns have the chance of either incapacitating or killing suspects and civilians alike.

Players are also encouraged to handcuff downed suspects as they can either be incapacitated or will fake their death in order to ambush the player. Ready Or Not recommends players to fire at the suspect's center of mass when using lethal force.[4]

Fire discipline becomes especially essential to completing missions, as players who shoot restrained suspects, civilians, or AI team members will be engaged by police as punishment for violating those rules and ethics within the universe of the game.[5]

Modes

Ready or Not's missions feature five game modes that vary in difficulty, with different rules of engagement (such as only killing a suspect if they are attempting to kill the player or others) that have penalties for violating them.

Depending on the context, each mission can fall into one or more game modes. Thank You, Come Again and A Lethal Obsession fall into the "Barricaded Suspects" section, where suspects must be dealt with, hostages must be secured, and evidence must be collected, while following the RoE. Valley of The Dolls and Buy Cheap, Buy Twice fall into "Raid", essentially Barricaded Suspects without RoE penalties. Neon Tomb falls into "Active Shooter", where one or more suspects actively targeting civilians must be stopped. Relapse and Elephant falls into both "Bomb Threat", where bombs must be located and defused within a time limit and Active Shooter. Sins of The Father falls into "Hostage Rescue", where hostages must be saved from criminals who will attempt to execute them upon detecting police presence.[6][7]

Missions are available in singleplayer with AI teammates, or cooperatively with up to 10 players through online multiplayer. A competitive player versus player mode is planned for sometime after the 1.0 release.

Development

Development began in June 2016 and a reveal trailer was released on YouTube on May 3, 2017.[8] An alpha version of the game was made available on August 19, 2019[9] for owners of the Supporter Edition under a non-disclosure agreement. Supporters and select YouTubers were invited to a PvP test in April 2020 and were allowed to publish footage.[10][11] The game was released on Steam Early Access on December 17, 2021.[12]

At The Game Awards 2023, VOID Interactive announced that the 1.0 version was released on December 13, 2023.[1] The full release includes a mission dealing with swatting and illegal crypto mining.[13] The 1.0 release also addresses overhauls to the effectiveness of less-lethal equipment, mental health in law enforcement, inter-agency cooperation, and officer personality traits.[14][2] Similar to SWAT 3, Ready Or Not 's 1.0 release will include sophisticated AI that performs actions such as restraining suspects and taking cover autonomously rather than relying on player input.[15] [16]

Publishing issues

A partnership with Team17 to publish the game under their label was announced on March 22, 2021.[17] On December 20, 2021, VOID Interactive announced that their partnership with Team17 had ended and that they would no longer be publishing the game. Speculation suggested that this was due to the developers teasing a school shooting level on Reddit one day prior,[18] although this was denied by VOID.[19]

On June 16, 2022, Ready or Not was delisted from Steam after a takedown request was issued against the game for trademark infringement relating to a level set in a nightclub.[20][21] Though media reports suggested it was connected to the level's release date—June 12, the anniversary of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting[22] (VOID did not comment on why this date was chosen)—it was noted that the name of the in-game nightclub, "Pryzm", was also the name of a British nightclub chain owned by Rekom UK.[20][21][23] The game returned to Steam on June 18 with the infringing elements removed.[20][21][23]

Reception

Ready or Not was the best selling game on Steam in the week after its release and has been described as a spiritual successor to the SWAT series and early Rainbow Six games.[24][25]

Rick Lane, writing for NME, praised the game's atmosphere and similarities to SWAT 4, but said he felt uncomfortable with the game's "propaganda"-like depiction of law enforcement, especially in the wake of the George Floyd protests, and opined VOID Interactive would be unable to effectively handle the game's touchy subject matter unless "it is willing to ask the questions that SWAT 4 never did".[26]

Ethan Gach, writing an early review for Kotaku, called Ready or Not a "tactical horror game" and "an unsettling SWAT fantasy", praising its atmosphere but also criticizing it as tasteless due to insensitivity towards police brutality and jarring tonal shifts between crude humor and dark drama. Gach also unfavorably highlighted apparent references to alt-right memes such as redpill and the use of "Jogger" as a racist euphemism (in reference to Ahmaud Arbery). VOID responded to Gach's review, denying any connection to extremism, claiming the alleged dog whistles were coincidental, and stating they would remove the references in question.[27]

Ready or Not currently has a score of 80 on Metacritic, indicating "generally favourable reviews".

References

  1. 1 2 Macgregor, Jody (December 8, 2023). "Controversial SWAT team FPS Ready or Not announces a December release date, promising 'an intense gaming experience, that challenges you on the world you know'". PC Gamer. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Vol.63 - Ready or Not Development Briefing- Commander Mode and Narrative". Steam. VOID Interactive. November 3, 2023. Archived from the original on November 3, 2023. How your team conducts itself in a mission and the scenarios they encounter can lead to a psychological effect on your officers that is critical to address to ensure proper effectiveness in the field. Your officers will receive check-ins with a Mental Health Unit attached to your team who relays the outcomes in their respective files. If an officer's mental status becomes unbearable it may even lead them to quit, or worse.
  3. ↑ Vernon, Ross (December 4, 2022). "READY OR NOT First Impression: Unprecedented SWAT Tactics". GameTyrant. Archived from the original on March 29, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  4. ↑ Ready or Not - Blood and Gore Improvements (Adam Update) (Archive)
  5. ↑ Ready or Not Update 1.0 Dev Vlog. December 11, 2023. VOID Interactive. Game Rant. YouTube
  6. ↑ Berumen, Andres (May 26, 2022). "Detailed Ready or Not Review (Early Access)". FPS Champion. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  7. ↑ Rivera, Anthony (December 14, 2023). "Ready or Not Update 1.0 Patch Notes Revealed". FPS Champion. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  8. ↑ Burns, Ben (May 5, 2017). "Tactical FPS Ready Or Not announced via gritty teaser trailer". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  9. ↑ VOID Interactive (August 19, 2019). "READY OR NOT SUPPORTER ALPHA AVAILABLE NOW TO PLAY. ALPHA IS LIVE UNTIL JUST BEFORE OUR BETA IN 2020". Twitter. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  10. ↑ Rogue-9 (April 29, 2020). "Ready or Not (Alpha) Loadout Options". Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ↑ All Guns and Equipment! - Ready Or Not Alpha (Archive)
  12. ↑ Chris J, Capel (December 18, 2021). "Rainbow Six and SWAT heir Ready or Not is out now in early access". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on March 31, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  13. ↑ READY OR NOT: Streamer. VOID Interactive. June 29, 2023. Archived from the original on June 29, 2023. Retrieved June 29, 2023 – via YouTube. Introducing Streamer, our ambitious upcoming map that will be available with the arrival of the 1.0 release.
  14. ↑ "Vol.61 - Ready or Not Development Briefing: Police Trailer Units, Less Lethal QOL Overhauls, Blocking Volumes, Farm Level Overhaul, and VFX improvements". Steam. VOID Interactive. October 6, 2023. [Internal gameplay] found that pepper spray was sometimes too powerful for use against armed suspects in combat contexts. Now, instead of a full stun, suspects who are affected with pepper spray will cover their eyes, experience an accuracy reduction, and have a morale drop. In this blinded state they are still capable of shooting the player up close.
  15. ↑ "Vol.64 - Ready or Not Development Briefing- SWAT AI Overhaul". Steam. VOID Interactive. November 17, 2023. Archived from the original on November 18, 2023. [Y]ou have over almost every tactical facet of your SWAT AI officers, you should also know that they are tactical professionals, effectively fully functional on an autonomous level as well. They don't require constant commands or handholding. They will make callouts, move, prioritize contacts in a room in accordance with your orders, lean around corners, stay alert to openings, make arrests, check hiding places, and more based on their own astute tactical awareness.
  16. ↑ Tal Blevins (November 30, 1999). "SWAT 3: Close Quarters Battle". IGN.
  17. ↑ Nelva, Giuseppe (March 22, 2021). "Squad-Based Tactical Shooter Ready or Not Will Launch Under Team17's Label". Twinfinite. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  18. ↑ Jeremy, Winslow (December 22, 2021). "Game Loses Publisher Days After Devs Remind Fans About Apparent School Shooting Level". Kotaku. Archived from the original on March 15, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  19. ↑ Chalk, Andy (December 24, 2021). "Ready or Not studio says planned 'school shooting' level did not cause split with publisher". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on April 27, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  20. 1 2 3 Bankhurst, Adam (June 19, 2022). "Ready or Not Back on Steam Following a Takedown Request Concerning Trademark Infringement". IGN. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  21. 1 2 3 Smith, Graham (June 18, 2022). "Ready Or Not is back on Steam after being removed for alleged trademark infringement, devs say". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  22. ↑ "Ready or Not pulled from Steam after adding nightclub shooting level". GamesIndustry.biz. June 20, 2022. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  23. 1 2 "'Ready Or Not' Was Not Pulled Due To Nightclub Shooting Map, Says Developers". GAMINGbible. June 18, 2022. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  24. ↑ Bailey, Dustin (December 27, 2021). "The best-selling game of the Steam Winter Sale isn't on sale". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on March 23, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  25. ↑ Schwarz, Christian (January 21, 2022). "Ready or Not im Test: Der Taktik-Shooter ist SWAT (noch) nicht würdig" [Ready or Not in the test: The tactical shooter is not (yet) worthy of the big SWAT]. GameStar (in German). Archived from the original on March 17, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  26. ↑ Lane, Rick (January 5, 2022). "'Ready Or Not' is a well-made tactical FPS that I feel uncomfortable playing". NME. Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  27. ↑ Gach, Ethan (January 6, 2022). "Controversial Steam Best Seller Ready Or Not Is An Unsettling SWAT Fantasy". Kotaku. Archived from the original on April 27, 2023. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
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