Ready or Not Review

In the current flood of run-and-gun shooters that practically throw you into a bullet-riddled rave, Ready or Not stands tall as a tactical anomaly, choosing restraint over reckless abandon. Developed and published by VOID Interactive, this SWAT simulator pulls no punches in its attempt to recreate the nerve-racking tension of breaching a room where behind every door could lie an armed suspect, a trembling hostage, or both. It’s not about who shoots first, but who thinks first.

Arriving on PS5 after its long-awaited PC debut, Ready or Not doesn’t cater to the faint of heart or the impatient thumb-tapper. Instead, it invites you into a world where slow is smooth and smooth is fast, where planning, precision, and panic control are more lethal than firepower alone. If you’ve ever wanted to feel the weight of every command, every trigger pull, and every entry gone sideways, VOID Interactive has something… special… for you.

The game doesn’t shy away from gritty realism. In fact, it doubles down on the kind of moral ambiguity and psychological toll that rarely surfaces in tactical shooters. It presents a hauntingly familiar vision of modern urban decay, full of domestic terror cells, human traffickers, drug rings, and the occasional moral grey area that’ll have you second-guessing your orders.

While it may lack the over-the-top polish of Hollywood-esque shooters, Ready or Not gains its edge through immersion and its uncompromising commitment to authentic SWAT operations. If you came for a power fantasy, prepare to be humbled. If you came for a hard-boiled, gloves-off, methodical experience where tactics trump reflexes, congratulations, you just breached the right door.

Beneath the Badge, Beyond the Breach

Ready or Not drops players into the volatile streets of Los Sueños, a fictional American city suffering from a rapid descent into lawlessness. Think of it as a spiritual sibling to Heat, Sicario, and Zero Dark Thirty, all rolled into one bullet-riddled powder keg of urban sprawl and bureaucratic decay. You don’t play a superhero with a one-liner arsenal, instead, you’re a SWAT commander with the weight of morality, law, and real-world consequences pressing against your trigger finger.

Unlike most shooters that offer a clear-cut “good vs. evil” narrative, Ready or Not trades black-and-white storytelling for shades of gray so murky, you might need night vision just to find your conscience. Each mission isn’t just a shootout, it’s a procedural drama with high stakes and minimal margin for error. Whether you’re raiding a suburban house concealing a child trafficking ring or clearing out a cult compound, the game demands more than gunplay, it demands judgment.

Storytelling here isn’t delivered in neatly packaged cutscenes. Instead, it’s fed through contextual cues, environmental storytelling, and briefing documents that lay bare the horrors of Los Sueños. The city isn’t just a backdrop, it’s a character in itself. One that breathes corruption, cries for help, and retaliates when you least expect it. While some players may crave more cinematic presentation, Ready or Not‘s understated delivery works in its favor, amplifying immersion rather than interrupting it.

Your SWAT unit isn’t composed of caricatures either. The emotional burden of failed missions, the trauma of seeing civilian casualties, and the ethical weight of your decisions bleed into the squad’s dynamic. Over time, you start to feel responsible not just for success, but for survival, yours and theirs. In a game filled with hostile NPCs, dark corners, and sudden death, the story isn’t just what happens, it’s what you let happen.

Tactical Ballet in Kevlar Boots

Ready or Not doesn’t just simulate a SWAT experience, it demands that you think, act, and adapt like a real-life tactical operator. This isn’t your run-and-gun playground. There are no grenade jumps, no killstreaks, and definitely no bullet-sponge enemies. Every operation begins with a briefing, where you’ll choose your squad loadout, analyze mission parameters, and consider non-lethal alternatives (because sometimes pepper spray is more powerful than a .45).

Each mission is a puzzle box filled with unknowns: armed suspects, innocent civilians, booby traps, and locked doors that hide death or salvation. The core gameplay revolves around tight, methodical room-clearing, stacking up with your AI or co-op teammates, using tactical gear like mirror guns to peek under doors, tossing in flashbangs, and issuing commands before the shooting starts. The controls are dense but intentional, offering precise tools like door wedges, tactical ladders, and command menus that would make Rainbow Six veterans weep with joy.

The ballistics system is punishingly realistic. A single shot to the torso might down you or your suspect, while stray bullets ricochet, penetrate drywall, or hit unintended targets. Every engagement feels tense, with the wrong move often leading to mission failure or internal affairs breathing down your neck. You can’t just shoot first and ask questions later, every discharge is recorded, judged, and potentially career-ending if you breach ROE (Rules of Engagement). Think before you click.

But perhaps the real brilliance of Ready or Not lies in how it balances its systems. The AI is reactive but not omniscient. The suspects might surrender, ambush, or pretend to comply only to grab a gun when your back is turned. Civilians panic, run, or get in the way. It’s chaos, but it’s believable chaos, controlled only through proper planning and crisp execution. The more you play, the more you start thinking like a tactician rather than a trigger-happy gamer. And that’s exactly the point.

Brothers in Breach: The Multiplayer Mindset

If the single-player experience in Ready or Not feels like a tense police procedural, then its multiplayer transforms it into a heart-pounding squad drama with a healthy dose of yelling into your mic. Up to five players can team up via co-op, cross-platform included, which makes this tactical fantasy highly accessible, no matter your platform of choice.

But make no mistake: this isn’t your average PvE multiplayer game where coordination is optional and failure is shrugged off. Here, communication is your most powerful weapon. Every successful breach or hostage rescue depends on teammates clearly calling out angles, stacking properly, and executing plans like a real unit. Entering a room guns blazing with no comms will usually earn you a quick trip to the mission fail screen, or worse, a court martial in the form of the game’s detailed scoring and review system.

What really gives Ready or Not staying power is how procedural and endlessly variable its missions are. Suspect placements change, traps are randomized, and enemy behavior shifts with each replay. This ensures that even familiar maps remain unpredictable, which keeps players engaged long after they’ve memorized every corner of Los Sueños’ crime-ridden buildings. Add in difficulty modifiers like permadeath, limited gear, or stricter rules of engagement, and you’ve got a roguelike twist to your tactical outings.

There’s also a thriving modding and roleplay community on PC, and we expect some of that energy to flow into the console space too, especially with console voice chat now being more integrated than ever. Whether you’re methodically clearing rooms with your buddies or playing the strong, silent lone wolf, Ready or Not’s multiplayer is where its systems truly shine. Like a well-rehearsed SWAT team breach, it just hits different with friends.

Tactical Realism, Visual Precision: Graphics and Sound

From the moment you step into the streets of Los Sueños, it’s clear that Ready or Not wears its gritty realism like tactical body armor. The visuals aren’t about dazzling spectacle or neon explosions, instead, they channel the grimy, muted aesthetic of a true crime documentary. Environments are tightly constructed and steeped in tension, whether you’re breaching a suburban drug den, navigating an opulent hostage-held embassy, or sweeping through claustrophobic tenement halls.

Lighting does much of the heavy lifting here. Flashlights slice through darkness with realistic beam diffusion, and night vision offers both tactical clarity and cinematic eeriness. Texture fidelity is impressive too, walls show damage from errant gunfire, blood stains remain as grim reminders of failed diplomacy, and reflective surfaces can betray a suspect’s hiding place. It’s all tuned to sell the illusion of unpredictability and danger without ever shouting for attention.

Sound design, however, is where Ready or Not truly flexes. This is one of the few shooters where your ears are just as vital as your sights. Suspect footsteps echo on wood versus tile, muffled screams and radio chatter build unease, and distant gunshots can clue you into emerging threats. Gunfire itself is meaty, punchy, and convincingly localized, making firefights feel as dangerous as they should be. Breaching a door isn’t just a moment of action, it’s a thunderous punctuation in an otherwise nerve-shredding silence.

Voice acting is serviceable, leaning more into utilitarian delivery than dramatic flair, which fits the simulation tone. Commands are barked crisply, while suspects alternate between panicked compliance and chilling aggression. Combine this with environmental audio cues like flickering fluorescents or dripping pipes, and you have a soundscape built to rattle your nerves.

Ready or Not doesn’t aim to be pretty, it aims to be convincing, and in doing so, creates one of the most immersive sensory experiences in tactical shooters to date.

Final Verdict: To Serve and Protect, or Perish Trying

Ready or Not isn’t just another tactical shooter, it’s an unrelenting, heart-pounding exercise in precision, patience, and pressure. It doesn’t sugarcoat the challenges of real-world SWAT operations, nor does it pander to the run-and-gun crowd. It instead carves out a demanding niche, delivering a simulation-style experience that rewards restraint as much as reaction time. For those craving a tactical sandbox with consequences that matter, this is the gold standard.

The game thrives on its uncompromising dedication to authenticity. From its punishing AI to the physical weight of its breaching mechanics, every mission feels like a masterclass in tension and split-second judgment. But that same realism can alienate players looking for instant gratification. This isn’t a game you pick up and dominate, it’s one you train in, and one that trains you right back.

Yet beneath its high-stress exterior lies a compelling system of choices. Will you play as the by-the-book commander preserving every life, or the hardened realist prioritizing team survival? With morally complex storylines and real-world inspired missions, Ready or Not doesn’t just ask you to shoot, it demands you think.

It’s not perfect, of course. Occasional bugs, AI hiccups, and a UI that still needs refinement hold it back from absolute greatness. But these issues pale in comparison to the raw intensity and satisfaction the game provides when it all clicks and your team sweeps a compound like a well-oiled machine.

We prepared this review with a digital copy of the Ready or Not for the PS5 version provided by VOID Interactive.