For years, ready or not has built a reputation on PC as one of the most hardcore tactical shooters. It’s a throwback to the old but unforgiving SWAT style Sims, but with modern weight and grit. Now, cross-play jumps to the console as is, and despite all possibilities, the leap has paid off.
Here we have a tactical FPS that thrives with tension, careful planning and constant reminders of unopened doors and blind corners being totally relative calm.
This is not a typical spray and play, running to the wall, FPS issue. It’s about making slow progress, calling for orders, desperately hoping that your team will follow them before all hell is released. And when everything goes wrong (and does) the game shines brightest.
Inch Game
Ready-to-ready consists mainly of a series of missions that escalate from convenience store robberies to full-scale raids and rescues. Before each deployment, we’ll explain location details, suspicious profiles, and even immersive 911 call recordings. This is a wise bit of global sales that will naive you due to the mechanisms as well as the anxiety of what you are trying to unfold.
And unfold it. Flashbang clears the road, slams his boots against the door, and within seconds, the routine sweep becomes a panic scramble when the suspect becomes unpredictable. Sometimes they will drop their weapons after a barked command.
Otherwise, if they feel the tide turn, they will begin bolting, reorganizing, or hostage execution. It creates a sense of pressure that the photographer barely captures. It’s tough contrast to most shooters who require players to lob a fragment of their hand rena bullet and fire on moving targets.
Single player or team play
Most come for multiplayer, but the single-player option is worth mentioning. Quick Play allows you to tackle missions with AI teams, but command mode adds a permanent layer of responsibility by being responsible for the happiness of the team. Squads can die, morale can be immersed, and every choice has weight. AI is frustrated and contradictory, so it’s not without problems.
That said, Ready or not is built for collaborative play. Crossplay allows you to crouch across platforms and matchmaking can be a hit or miss depending on who you are paired with, but the right group will transform your mission into something you will never forget.
What matches the game is comparable to the tension that conveys hostage rescue and leads the team to something unknown.
Trade tools
The type of gear plays a major role in shaping how you approach each encounter. Whether you are armed with a complete SWAT toolkit, from mirroring cams from ballistic shields and tasers to mirror violation fees. Fatal and non-fatal options have the advantage that the game will subtly promote control. In fact, the scoring system rewards arrests for murder, turning non-fatal plays into a more rewarding challenge rather than a run-and-gun style.
The console version handles surprisingly well despite the complexity of its PC roots. The radial command wheel gives you access to squad control and does the job, although you can feel sick under pressure.
PS5 players get some extras, such as adaptive trigger feedback and decent graphics options, but performance hiccups (especially when running tactical cams) sometimes break the immersion. The enemy face and ragdoll animation can turn into waxwork territory, but the visuals are also powerful overall.
Stakes and atmosphere
Whether they’re ready or not, it lies in the atmosphere to see whether they’re really good. The mission drips with tension: screams running through the wall, metal booms of gunfire in tight corridors, or the sound of boots slamming the floor above. The environment is often faced with scenes where harsh environmental storytelling is layered and forces reflections as much as responses.
This is not a game that fetishes violence. If anything, it forces you to sit with the discomfort of it.
Difficulty plays a major role in how the game lands. In a casual setting, enemies may be frozen or wrong, making missions more tolerant. Hard, they will put you aside, restrain and hunt you with horrifying strength.
The higher difficulty reveals whether they are ready or not, and constantly reminds players that the horns are safe and the best planning plan rarely lasts for long.
Final Thoughts
Ready is an uncompromising, often brutal tactical shooter who rewards perseverance and punishes recklessness. Around the edges are rough, with clunky AI, occasional technical hiccups and strange waxy NPC stares. But if it works (and usually is), it offers some of the most intense and cooperative experiences seen in shooters today.
This is not about glory or murder. It’s about survival, coordination, and the thrill of just putting it on the other side. Ready is essential for those willing to slow down and accept that systematic pacing. For everyone else, well… the clue is in the name.
4 stars (out of 5)
Highlight: Relentless tension. Deep tactical options. Rewarded non-lethal play; strong atmosphere
Low light: AI dissatisfaction. Technical hiccups; Feeling bad under pressure
Developer: Void Interactive
Publisher: Void Interactive
Platform: PS5, Xbox Series X | S, PC
Available: Now
Reviews conducted on PlayStation 5 use code provided by the publisher.
Highly popular images provided by the publisher.
