Ready or Not Review – I’M ADDICTED

Coming from a guy who’s played about 10 minutes of Call of Duty, you’d think I’d not give a foam finger about this game. But nooooo! Ready or Not is an absolute pulse-pounding thriller wrapped in careful, methodical execution.

“This is TOC, Get Ready to Rock”

From the moment you breach a door to the second you call in “Suspect down!” Ready or Not keeps you on edge in all the best ways. The game isn’t here to handhold or throw power fantasies your way like a 360° no-scope master. Instead, it’s an unforgiving love letter to realism and planning as a first responder, where door wedges become your very best friend. This isn’t just another shooty bang-bang—it’s a tactical sim where every corner could mean death, and every choice has consequences. Didn’t fully search the room before you tied someone? Dead. Forgot to check for traps? Dead. Dropped some sweet beats? You’re Zedd.

If you wanna run and gun, go play something else because Ready or Not will slap that mindset straight outta your skull. You gotta play it smart with your teammates, nice and slow—most of the time—using all the tools. Like popping a Mirrorgun to check under a door, planting some C4 to blast through said door, then following up with a cheeky grenade or gas if you really wanna ruin a dude’s day.

Although, even when you get the upper hand, the suspects don’t always play fair. They’ll seem to drop and place their weapons down mid-surrender, but then they’ll pick ‘em back up like a crafty little jabroni and—nope! Not on my watch. Even though you won’t get the elusive S Rank for killing suspects instead of restraining them, I personally find it much more satisfying to go all Team America on them.

Take Thy Time

However, since most mission objectives involve stopping all threats and rescuing each civilian, it can be a royal pain to scout the entire map looking for that one door you haven’t opened to rescue the last remaining civ. It only happened a couple of times for me, though it was excruciating when it did.

That said, the amount of customisation you have over squadmates and loadouts is wild. From choosing each and every one of your five officers’ guns, deployables, armour types, headgear, outfits and traits that can make a noticeable difference in gameplay. You’ll find yourself tinkering away for 10-15 minutes or so between missions, especially since each scenario calls for different loadouts and strategies. Meanwhile, your four squadmates (controlled by real people or surprisingly solid AI) rely on coordination and quality callouts to survive. Securing, stacking and moving; it’s a whole dance with a whole laundry list of commands. And when it works, you’ll think “That was bloody brilliant!” Mind you, the squad AI sometimes needs a day and a half to get in position and breach, which can totally stuff your tactics if they take too long, but this rarely ever happened.

If one of your teammates dies in single-player, they’ll be permanently removed from the squad. In turn, the other members who survived that mission will often require therapy, which will automatically remove them from the next few outings. And since each officer has their own specific trait that unlocks over time, you’ll want to make sure your favourites are well taken care of. Pro-tip, just quickly reset the game if things go off the track. Thank me later. Firm handshakes all round.

Fear’s the Name, Danger’s the Game

But before you skedaddle into battle, it’s best to read through the mission briefing. It gives you a good overview to plan things out and study the map, while also letting players listen to 911 calls that are honestly quite confronting to hear. Many missions are based on real-world events, and having to tackle these head-on only adds to the overarching sense of dread. School shootings, drug dens, child trafficking—gonna have to send myself to therapy. Even with all the censorship changes from Ready or Not’s developer, VOID Interactive that everyone’s raving about online, it’s still harrowing to witness these horrible scenes take place. However, I would prefer more traditional cutscenes and spoken dialogue related to our team. As there’s this sense of detachment having a rotating squad of generic-looking dudes with little connection to the game’s events. Maybe that’s just me.

Visually, Ready or Not nails the bleak, high-stakes world of SWAT operations. Lighting is minimal, interiors are gritty and cluttered, and there’s a grounded realism to every environment. While it doesn’t feature the best graphics ever, Ready or Not looks and runs great on the PS5’s Performance and Quality modes, both with online crossplay and off. Even though character models will randomly have an epileptic fit for no particular reason (especially in multiplayer) it won’t yank ya out of the experience, usually.

The sound design though? Chef’s kiss. Every subtle creak, blood-curdling scream or distant gunshot heightens the immersion tenfold. You’ll instinctively start checking corners in real life after a few hours, trust me. Probably not healthy, not gonna lie. But definitely worth it for the adrenaline rush.

Decision

Ready or Not isn’t for the faint of heart—or the impatient. Though if you’re after one of the most intense, rewarding tactical shooters on the market, then this game’s a no-brainer. Sure, it still has the occasional rough edge here and there, but the overall package is top-tier. Grab your squad, stack up and don’t forget to yell “Hands up!”

By Anthony Culinas – Reviewed on PS5

Excellent

Like SWAT 4 got jacked on protein powder and PTSD, Ready or Not is absolutely essential for tactical shooter fans.

This game was reviewed using a download code provided by 505 Games. The Beta Network uses affiliate partnerships, however, this does not influence reviews or any other content published. The Beta Network may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links that are on the website.