Ready or Not has a surprising variety of mission themes, and one of them includes a SWAT raid on a seemingly homicidal internet streamer with an itchy trigger finger. The 23 Megabytes A Second mission sends the LSPD SWAT team to San Uriel Condominiums in order to prevent possible loss of civilian lives.
Ready or Not Controversy Explained
Ready or Not has players assume control of a SWAT member, but the departure of Team17 and a potential school shooter level is causing controversy.
This is the second mission players will unlock in Ready or Not's Commander mode, and it can be difficult to clear perfectly at first. Here's a guide covering the best way to clear this mission as well as the locations of all its soft objectives.
Updated July 25, 2025 by Marc Santos: 23 Megabytes A Second has remained mostly intact following Ready or Not's big launch for consoles and the Los Sueños Stories update, but while the mission was left unchanged, the game's AI received an update that might make success harder to achieve. We've updated this guide to include a dedicated section on how to achieve S-rank for this map, including the best loadouts for 23 Megabytes A Second and one effective strategy that should maximize your odds of getting a perfect score.
Ready or Not 23 Megabytes A Second Walkthrough
There are two possible entry points to the area of operations: the main atrium and the fire escape. Due to the randomized suspect placements per mission, the atrium will likely be a death sentence as gunmen can shoot at players from the second and third floors. The best way to start this mission is to open the gate leading to the fire escape and start clearing the second floor first.
Incidentally, the first door on the right after reaching the second floor leads to a server farm that's usually guarded by a few armed suspects. Check all the rooms, neutralize the suspects, and make sure to have someone watching the door leading out to the atrium. Once the server farm is clear, head back to the fire escape and move on to the third floor.
The next room leads to the condo unit belonging to a woman who appears to be the mother of Michael, the streamer next door and the main suspect of the mission. This already suggests that the report received by the LSPD is fake, though the presence of armed thugs implies something else is going on within the premises. Restrain the mother, and get ready to clear the atrium.
The biggest issue with the atrium is visibility. It's hard to see suspects that are shooting from different floors. This problem is somewhat alleviated by clearing it from above first since players won't have to deal with having the sun in their eyes. Sweep every corner, neutralize and restrain targets, then head back to the third floor.
Post up on the locked door with the graffiti and prepare for a hard breach. Clear the main room with a flashbang, and make sure to keep an eye on every closed door. This is usually where the highest concentration of armed suspects is, and they can catch players off guard easily. Sweep the rooms and arrest Michael, who is usually inside the streaming room. Be careful not to kill him so as not to fail the main objective.
Recommended Loadout
If you want to get an S Rank for missions in Ready or Not, you need to secure all evidence, complete all objectives, and neutralize all suspects without killing them. For this particular mission, we strongly suggest bringing a ballistic shield and arming everyone with beanbag shotguns. Let the shield bearer take point and draw fire from suspects in the atrium while the rest carry on with their respective roles.
Also, we recommend bringing either flashbangs or CS gas. Stinger grenades have more range than flashbangs, and they can fully affect suspects even if they aren't looking directly at the grenade. However, they also have a chance to injure civilians, potentially harming your odds of getting an S Rank. Bring M320 Grenade Launchers loaded with flashbangs or gas so you can clear the atrium from a safe distance.
If you want to use lethal force, bring low-caliber weapons like SMGs with HP ammo and aim for the limbs. This should minimize the risk of suspects dying when shot.
Ready or Not 23 Megabytes A Second Soft Objectives
There are three soft objectives in this map that players can easily miss. Secure the following to get a higher ranking upon completing the mission:
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Ready or Not 23 Megabytes Soft Objectives |
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|---|---|
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Evidence |
Location |
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Illegal Computer Servers |
Second floor server farm |
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Prohibited Photos of Minors |
Third floor - Streaming Room, on the drawers next to the suspect's bed |
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Suspect's PC Setup |
Third floor - Streaming Room |
Ready or Not: 23 Megabytes A Second S-Rank Guide
To get an S-rank on any mission in Ready or Not, you'll need to secure all objectives (including soft objectives) without any casualties, and that includes your team and any suspect/civilian on the level. The guide above should already give you an idea of how to tackle the map, but if you want to get a perfect score, you'll need to hammer down the following points into your strategy and your loadout:
- Non-lethal weapons are essential. Killing a suspect will disqualify you from scoring an S rank. Bean bag shotguns can potentially kill a target, so if you want to be absolutely sure that nobody dies, bring pepperball guns like the VPL-25 and TRPL.
- Pepperball guns do not incur Rules of Engagement penalties. Feel free to shoot anyone who has a gun.
- Bring CS Gas. None of the suspects here wear gas masks, so tear gas will work wonders on them. Don't forget to bring your own gas mask.
- Bring flashbangs. The entrance of the streamer's apartment is a long corridor with a big room at the end. Throw a deep flash toward the room, then fill the apartment with CS gas.
- Always go up the side stairs. Going through the atrium will get you killed.
- Wear heavy steel armor. This will slow you down, but since there isn't much space to navigate in this map, you're better off being able to absorb more hits. Steel plates will block pistol rounds and save you from hits from heavier rifle ammo.
- There is a small hole in the streamer's neighboring apartment. Throw some CS Gas through it to pacify suspects before breaching the room.
- Try playing solo.
Ready or Not
- Released
- December 13, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Void Interactive
- Publisher(s)
- Void Interactive
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 4
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- Genre(s)
- Tactical, FPS
- How Long To Beat
- 16 hours
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
