If you are looking for an Experience like SWAT, then Ready or Not is not the game for you. Not only the often mentioned AI problems prevent it from becoming that, but also mission design. Everything is aimed at cheap movie twists and more firefights and action. You are called to a building complex with one suspect? Oh. The intel unit was on vacation and we somehow missed that illegal crypto mining farm who for some reason hired a highly professional PMC for security! There's a shooter in a school? Oh. We somehow forgot to mention they planted bombs in the entire building! You have 1 minute to disarm them!

Unlike in SWAT, in this game you don't feel defeat because a hostage was shot or you weren't able to apprehend a suspect. Defeat comes from cheap and unrealistic twists as well as AI having superhuman reflexes and senses, shooting you the moment they see your little toe. And they are doing that through two walls if they have to. This also makes them very predictable. Because you KNOW: If you see them, they DEFINITELY shoot. There is no negotiation window. You don't even need to try to shout at them. It's useless.

The only way for non-lethal runs is using non-lethal weaponry. But even then crack addicts can take three beanbags to the head while still being able to strafe and fire at you with perfect accuracy. And if you somehow manage to get them to surrender, you have exactly 45 seconds before they definitely pull out a gun again. Seriously: You can count. The AI behavior they demonstrated in all their pre-release and Early-Access videos? You will almost never even see that.

On top of that is the mission design which just throws extreme amounts of John Wicks at you. Compare that to SWAT where you actually had missions with just a single suspect or sometimes two due to randomization. That was way more suspenseful and immersive. And speaking of immersion: It's not really immersive having suspects running out in the open and cars driving directly by your mission area. Where is the perimeter? Where are the snipers? Even the whole Police HQ feels rather useless. You get an optional briefing on a tablet. Why not in a briefing room with your team mates sitting around with you? Or at the scene itself or maybe in the car on the way, because police had to act fast?

Another thing is commanding your team. Unlike in SWAT you can't command them via the helmet camera, making it next to impossible to attack a building from two sides. The only way to do that is by physically walking back and forth between both teams.

They also cut a lot of content from the last Early-Access-Release. Mainly the ability to play different modes on the same map. It also seems like some missions were toned down a bit in terms gore. Nightclub for example.

So even if they fix the AI, the game has a ton of problems to address. And at the moment it feels like a solid foundation which was rushed out way too fast at best. It certainly is not a finished 1.0 release. And at worst the game will always be held back by the mission design.

My recommendation: Play SWAT 4 instead and use the Elite Force Mod.

If you are looking for an Experience like SWAT, then Ready or Not is not the game for you. Not only the often mentioned AI problems prevent it from becoming that, but also mission design. Everything is aimed at cheap movie twists and more firefights and action. You are called to a building complex with one suspect? Oh. The intel unit was on vacation and we somehow missed that illegal crypto mining farm who for some reason hired a highly professional PMC for security! There's a shooter in a school? Oh. We somehow forgot to mention they planted bombs in the entire building! You have 1 minute to disarm them! Unlike in SWAT, in this game you don't feel defeat because a hostage was shot or you weren't able to apprehend a suspect. Defeat comes from cheap and unrealistic twists as well as AI having superhuman reflexes and senses, shooting you the moment they see your little toe. And they are doing that through two walls if they have to. This also makes them very predictable. Because you KNOW: If you see them, they DEFINITELY shoot. There is no negotiation window. You don't even need to try to shout at them. It's useless. The only way for non-lethal runs is using non-lethal weaponry. But even then crack addicts can take three beanbags to the head while still being able to strafe and fire at you with perfect accuracy. And if you somehow manage to get them to surrender, you have exactly 45 seconds before they definitely pull out a gun again. Seriously: You can count. The AI behavior they demonstrated in all their pre-release and Early-Access videos? You will almost never even see that. On top of that is the mission design which just throws extreme amounts of John Wicks at you. Compare that to SWAT where you actually had missions with just a single suspect or sometimes two due to randomization. That was way more suspenseful and immersive. And speaking of immersion: It's not really immersive having suspects running out in the open and cars driving directly by your mission area. Where is the perimeter? Where are the snipers? Even the whole Police HQ feels rather useless. You get an optional briefing on a tablet. Why not in a briefing room with your team mates sitting around with you? Or at the scene itself or maybe in the car on the way, because police had to act fast? Another thing is commanding your team. Unlike in SWAT you can't command them via the helmet camera, making it next to impossible to attack a building from two sides. The only way to do that is by physically walking back and forth between both teams. They also cut a lot of content from the last Early-Access-Release. Mainly the ability to play different modes on the same map. It also seems like some missions were toned down a bit in terms gore. Nightclub for example. So even if they fix the AI, the game has a ton of problems to address. And at the moment it feels like a solid foundation which was rushed out way too fast at best. It certainly is not a finished 1.0 release. And at worst the game will always be held back by the mission design. My recommendation: Play SWAT 4 instead and use the Elite Force Mod.