Ready or Not (video game)

Much of Ready or Not's gameplay consists of close-quarters combat, where the player is required to clear rooms of hostiles.

In Ready or Not, the player takes the role of player character "Judge", 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.[2] 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.

Development began in June 2016 and a reveal trailer was released on YouTube on May 3, 2017.[4] An alpha version of the game was made available on August 19, 2019[5] for owners of the Supporter Edition under a non-disclosure agreement. Select YouTubers were invited to a PvP test in April 2020 and were allowed to publish footage.[6] A partnership with Team17 to publish the game under their label was announced on March 22, 2021.[7] The game released to Steam Early Access on December 17, 2021.[8]

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.[15][16]

Ross Vernon of GameTyrant praised the game, stating it was "on track to becoming something great upon final release".[2] Christian Schwarz of GameStar praised the gameplay and atmosphere, but noted it was "still a long way" from reaching the prestige of the SWAT series.[16] Andres Berumen of FPS Champion highlighted the game's immersion and extensive customization and loadout options for an early access game, but criticized the game's "glitchy and illogical" AI and lack of a tutorial.[3]

Rick Lane, writing for NME, praised the atmosphere and similarities to SWAT 4, but noted 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 subject matter unless "it is willing to ask the questions that SWAT 4 never did".[17]

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.[18]

• Official website