Ready or Not

Ready or Not is a game I have wanted for what feels like forever, but I never actually thought we would get. While this is a new game, it is inspired by some of the greats of the past most notably the swat series and the earlier games from the rainbow six franchise. That right there had me invested in this game and now that it is in early access right at the start of this review, I can tell you this more than met my expectations. If you like first-person shooters that require some brain power then this is the game for you!

SWAT Is Who The Cops Call When Things Get Too Tough!

As I write this Ready or Not is still in early access so there is no campaign yet, but from what I understand one is coming later in development. As of right now, what we have is a series of missions to play through. These missions even in the early state that this game is in are quite varied. There are, of course, plenty of bad guys that you need to take down (you get better results if you take them down alive), hostages that you need to save, bombs to be defused, and more. It is great stuff and the stakes always feel like they are super high. The enemy placement, the hostage and bomb locations as well as the map and weapons are always randomized.

Planning The Mission

Ready or Not is not like Call of Duty, this is a more realistic kind of shooter. There is none of this getting shot 20 times and hiding behind a wall for cover for ten seconds until your health refills. This game is all about prepping, you and your squad need to decide what the best course of action is, will you sneak in and take them by surprise or just breach with all guns blazing? Trying to plan your mission is nearly as much fun as actually doing it. When it all goes to plan it is great, but things do not always go to plan. This is when epic shootouts and you having to think and act on the fly come into play. It is truly exciting stuff and while this is a more “realistic” game, it is very easy to pick up and play thanks to the easy to learn controls.

SWAT Is A Family

I have had so much fun playing Ready or Not with my buddies. While we have been laughing it up, there are some really tense moments, especially when you make your first move. I have had the most fun with this game when playing with other people, especially people that I know. I have had good games playing with randoms too, but I do think that the idea of a game like this is that you play it with folks you know. You can play this on your own where you can dish out commands to your AI partners and the AI actually works much better than you would think from a game that is still in early access.

Pros:

• I liked how there was a decent variety to the missions
• For an early access game, it plays very well
• This is a great game to play with your friends
• The AI is actually pretty smart

Cons:

• The campaign has not been added as I write this
• As it is in early access you will probably see the odd bug here and there