Those who regularly frequent Steam have probably stumbled upon a first-person shooter called Ready or Not at least a handful of times. This game, which was developed by the Ireland-based studio Void Interactive, is one of the most popular titles on the storefront in recent memory. It has more than 180,000 user reviews on Steam, and it's even attained a peak concurrent player count of over 50,000. Looking at the game's screenshots, some may assume that Ready or Not is a Call of Duty-style military FPS, but it's actually a tactical, slow-paced shooter, a far cry from many of the blisteringly fast FPS titles on the market.
Ready or Not was released through Steam's early access program in 2021, but it eventually received a full launch in late 2023. Since its initial debut, the game has only been playable on Windows PCs. However, that's soon about to change. During the recent Twitch Galaxies showcase, Void Interactive revealed that Ready or Not would finally make its way to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in summer 2025, which would coincide with the release of a free new DLC for the game. When Ready or Not is eventually launched on these platforms, it will likely fill a SWAT-shaped hole in many console gamers' hearts.
Ready Or Not: 7 Best Community-Made Maps
Some brilliant maps with the same quality as the official missions!
Ready or Not is Filling the Gap that SWAT Left on Consoles
Ready or Not is Heavily Inspired by the Now-Dormant SWAT Franchise
Ready or Not is a wholly original IP, but it's technically a spiritual successor to Sierra Entertainment's classic SWAT franchise. This series, which also goes by the name Police Quest, puts players into the shoes of a SWAT officer, who is tasked with handling unscrupulous crime scenarios. The early entries in the SWAT franchise were basically just point-and-click adventure games, similar to other Sierra franchises, like King's Quest and Gabriel Knight. However, SWAT eventually evolved into a mature FPS series, which ultimately became the basis of inspiration for Ready or Not.
The Last Few SWAT Installments Were Tactical FPSes Instead of Adventure Games
The first FPS SWAT game was 1999's SWAT 3: Close Quarters Battle. Contrary to its name, SWAT 3 had more in common with the original Rainbow Six games than it did with any of its Police Quest predecessors. That said, the game broke many of the first-person shooter genre's conventions at the time. Rather than being an arcadey, run-and-gun shooter, like DOOM and Duke Nukem, SWAT 3 emphasized realism and proper police protocols. The goal of the game wasn't to kill as many enemies as possible, but instead to end a crime case with as few deaths as possible.
SWAT 3 had a few direct follow-ups, one of them being a 2003 game called SWAT: Global Strike Team. This tactical shooter was developed by Argonaut Games, and it was the first installment in the SWAT series to be released on home consoles, namely the PS2 and Xbox. It, however, wasn't able to match SWAT 3 in terms of quality and was largely met with poor reviews. After SWAT: Global Strike Team's release, Sierra handed off the SWAT franchise to Irrational Games, the now-defunct studio b e hind the original BioShock. In 2005, Irrational released SWAT 4 on Windows PCs, and it received widespread critical acclaim.
Since SWAT isn't Available on Consoles, Ready or Not Will Be a Solid Alternative for PS and Xbox Players
Despite the critical success of SWAT 4, the SWAT franchise died off shortly after its release. Since 2008, there hasn't been a single new game in the franchise. Activision, who is the current owner of the SWAT IP, hasn't expressed any interest in reviving the series or remastering its most acclaimed entries for modern platforms. Although some of the SWAT games are still available for sale on PC storefronts like Steam and GoG, none of them have been ported to modern PlayStation or Xbox systems. Since Ready or Not is pretty much the closest thing that fans will get to a modern-day SWAT game, however, it will probably be a viable-enough alternative for players on consoles.
Ready or Not
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 82 /100 Critics Rec: 82%
- Released
- December 13, 2023
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Void Interactive
- Publisher(s)
- Void Interactive
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 4
- Genre(s)
- Tactical, FPS
