Ready Or Not - edgy tactical SWAT FPS with school shooting level

[Tyranicon]

Coming into this blind, only thing I heard is that this is like SWAT. Is the singleplayer worth a buy right now? Probably never going to touch multiplayer.

Steam reviews are overwhelmingly positive, if that says anything.

 

[cretin]

Coming into this blind, only thing I heard is that this is like SWAT. Is the singleplayer worth a buy right now? Probably never going to touch multiplayer.

Steam reviews are overwhelmingly positive, if that says anything.

I'm going to wait a bit. I've come to learn that anyone into the "tactical FPS" genre will accept any steaming pile of shit as long as it has lean keys and weapon modding. Ground Branch is also overwhelmingly positive, and while it does hold a lot of promise, its nowhere near an actually interesting game yet.

 

[Gumsmith]

Coming into this blind, only thing I heard is that this is like SWAT. Is the singleplayer worth a buy right now? Probably never going to touch multiplayer.

Steam reviews are overwhelmingly positive, if that says anything.

It's fresh in early access so you just know that there's barely any content and nothing works quite right. No harm in waiting six months I say.

 

[Tyranicon]

So against my better judgement, I went ahead and got the game. Played a few of the locations with a few different scenarios.

TL;DR: not bad. Lacks content and options since it's in EA.

Here are some first impressions, singleplayer only.

Pros:

• Gunplay is pretty good, not too many complaints there
• Ballistics trend towards the realistic side
• Sound design is excellent
• Even in EA, seems to be a very polished tactical FPS
• Relatively little jank (sometimes bots will get caught on furniture)
• Good-ish map design
• Smart-ish enemy AI (got god-tier aim tho)
• Randomly placed enemies give locations good-ish replayability
• Quick command menu is effective
• Game is intuitive, easy to learn
• Good gear customization options

Cons:

• (I think?) Locations lack any kind of customization besides scenarios, not all scenarios are available for all locations (need bot density, no hostage options, etc)
• Awful placeholder dialogue from hostage/civ NPCs (is there an option to mute them?)
• Enemy placement is very artificial (spread out across the map, usually found one at a time and very few groups)
• AI is sometimes dumb as hell (enemy AI don't react to noise that well, sometimes won't see the player behind windows, etc)
• Enemy AI does not move around too much, prefer to stay in their spawn rooms
• Friendly squad AI is very robotic (will only follow your orders and shoot enemies in range, don't expect anything else)
• AI seems to have a distaste for taking cover
• Gear and weapons have minimal description about their effectiveness. Personally, don't like the current optics selection
• No frag grenade option? (not useful in this type of game, but I'd like the option)

Neutral:

• Maps can be very large and maze-like (some will like this, some won't) leading to long mission times
• Hunting for small-ass rooms with a hostage/enemy in it seems to take up 40% of mission time
• Friendly AI do not restrain/shoot fleeing enemy AI, letting you do all the legwork
• AI has very, very good aim.
• Singleplayer difficulty for anyone who's used to the genre is... easy to medium.
• 5 6 locations and two test levels, not sure when more content is coming.

 

[Tyranicon]

Tried multiplayer, it's bare bones as hell without server lists or anything. Voice chat also seems to be buggy.

But... decided to start solo-ing maps without the camerastick (which is basically cheat mode right now) or AI squaddies. Just slowly going room to room with my Glock 19.

Wow, that is some intense shit. Highly recommended, probably the best tactical FPS experience I've had in a while.

 

[RNGsus]

• Good-ish map design
• Smart-ish enemy AI (got god-tier aim tho)

-ish? Would you fucking commit to a description?

 

[Tyranicon]

• Good-ish map design
• Smart-ish enemy AI (got god-tier aim tho)

-ish? Would you fucking commit to a description?

I only had ~2 hours of playtime when I wrote those first impressions and I didn't want to present my opinions as some kind of comprehensive review.

Even now, at ~6 hours, "good-ish" is probably what I would use. Above-average quality for both map design and AI, but nothing stellar. In particular, maps have a lot of nooks and crannies that you think enemies may take advantage of, but they don't. Even with randomly-placed enemies, the maps get stale pretty quick (there are different entry points for most maps, but walking/running speed is sooo slooow you won't want to waddle around the side to the other door).

Enemy AI is also decent in that it's functional, but most of the challenge comes from the fact that they are god-tier aimbots that will shoot you through walls, rather than any kind of real tactical challenge.

Additionally, TTK is also absurdly fast. Now I know some people may say "oh, but it's realistic," but it's really not. You hear agonal breathing, but there's no dying stage - both you and enemies die instantly no matter where you're shot.

It would be a bitch to program and animate, but people don't die instantly unless they're hit in kill switches like the brain or spine. They keep moving and they keep being a threat.

Meanwhile in this game, every single 9mm hits like a fucking truck. If some guy even so much as looks at you with a Tec-9, you're dead. I think the damage values need to be twerked a bit.

 

[cretin]

Additionally, TTK is also absurdly fast. Now I know some people may say "oh, but it's realistic," but it's really not. You hear agonal breathing, but there's no dying stage - both you and enemies die instantly no matter where you're shot.

This is a long running issue in "tactical" FPSs. Since the classic days. It's lead to this sort of meta perception where people get angry if a "realistic" shooter actually goes for realism, as opposed to what the players perceive as realism and that entrenched ideal. Something I want to write about at some point, because it's very interesting to me how this came about. Tarkov for example is about the only shooter i can ever think of that actually simulates armor as it really exists, and it pissed a lot of people off - especially "veterans" of tactical gaming - and people continue to insist that if a boolet hits you in your plate, you fall over, piss and shid and fard and black out despite ample amounts of real world evidence to the contrary and even high school level physics being able to disprove any such notions about a 7 gram bullet having enough energy to bowl a 200lb man over.

 

[CyberModuled]

Well this certainly increases the chances of that school shooter mission still being a thing.

 

[Curratum]

Team 17 published Hell Let Loose and HLL is an embarrassment, so I guess that's not a bad thing, maybe, hopefully.

 

[Tyranicon]

Well this certainly increases the chances of that school shooter mission still being a thing.

I hope so. They already have "active shooter" as a scenario and all they really need is a school map. I would assume that lots of LEOs train for school shootings in this day and age.

If there's a possible concession, the map will probably take place in a university/college rather than grade school. 'Cause the media would make a ruckus if there's child NPC models being used and the moral guardians would come out.

 

[ADL]

I would assume that lots of LEOs train for school shootings in this day and age.

 

[randir14]

A PVP school shooting level would be cool. One person as the shooter and the other team as the cops, who have to take the kid out before he racks up a high body count. Back in the SWAT 2 days I used the level editor to create a school shooting scenario at my high school.

 

[ADL]

If you're playing this, use this AI mod until they patch it themselves. This is a gamechanger.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2689677038

Speaking of mods, this one is shaping up good and they got AI pathfinding working.

 

[Gumsmith]

If you're playing this, use this AI mod until they patch it themselves. This is a gamechanger.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2689677038
...
Speaking of mods, this one is shaping up good and they got AI pathfinding working.
...

Very nice.

 

[ADL]

tl;dr - school level still happening

 

[randir14]

I was waiting to see if they'd bitch out or not. So I bought it just now.

 

[what am i doing]

Is the singleplayer worth a buy right now? Probably never going to touch multiplayer.

No. Game costs $40, there are five working missions, one crash-to-desktop mission, and two unfinished missions, currently. There just isn't that much content. The content that is there is good, but what's present right now isn't worth it.

Speaking of multiplayer just for the thread in general - I found it very buggy and prone to not loading, and also not very enjoyable if you get a team that doesn't work together or communicate, but if you do get people who communicate and work together, it's really fun.

 

[Gumsmith]

Bold decision to make such a level, much

Speaking of multiplayer just for the thread in general - I found it very buggy and prone to not loading, and also not very enjoyable if you get a team that doesn't work together or communicate, but if you do get people who communicate and work together, it's really fun.

How many people do you need to play multiplayer? Do you need a full squad or can you do it with just 2 players?

 

[what am i doing]

By the way, for anyone annoyed with how slow the movement is, the action "lower weapon" is basically a run button, as you move faster while your weapon is lowered, so you may want to bind that to Left Shift and bind whatever was there to something else.

Bold decision to make such a level, much

Speaking of multiplayer just for the thread in general - I found it very buggy and prone to not loading, and also not very enjoyable if you get a team that doesn't work together or communicate, but if you do get people who communicate and work together, it's really fun.

How many people do you need to play multiplayer? Do you need a full squad or can you do it with just 2 players?

A two or three man team is basically the ideal for clearing a room. Any more than that and there's not enough space and people are stuck waiting outside or coming in after it's already cleared, so with four or five players the squad will usually split apart anyways. The only issue you might run into is on bomb disposal mode, as it might take too long to defuse them all (they go off eventually).

Two players lets you get good equipment variety ie you can give one person a riot shield to enter uncertain areas while the other person then is able to bring an optiwand so you can still check doors. Being able to check doors with the wand is nice of course because it lets you use C2 to break in and stun enemies without worrying about killing civilians.

 

[Gumsmith]

Ah cool. I was worried about there being some kind of hard limit like having to have 4 players or you can't play multiplayer at all. If it's variable that's all good.

 

[ADL]

 

[Tyranicon]

Kotaku put out a retard article for this game. Not linking it, but if you really want to give them a click, you can google it.

Here's some choice quotes from the article:

a violent political fantasy with no capacity for self-interrogation.

Ready or Not’s realism is effective enough to disturb but too shallow not to descend into farce, or worse, Blue Lives Matter cosplay with fascist overtones and alt-right dog whistles.

Then there’s the law and order ideology that frames the rest of the game. America is on the brink. Crime is at an all-time high. It can’t be fixed, only subdued. The game trains you to fear everyone you meet, not as commentary but as wish-fulfillment, and with seemingly no awareness of the nation’s recent reckoning with an epidemic of police killings.

strong-man cop worship (there are no female police in the game yet)

I swear, even cops in goddamn video games are getting canceled.

 

[Ghulgothas]

Spoiler

 

[Tyranicon]

Eh, I don't feel like legitimizing Kotaku of all places with an official response is a good idea.

At most, probably something like "lol people read Kotaku?" will suffice. But I'm sure this is better for optics.

Some game journos are a parasitic burden on the games industry, and offer nothing of value.