Once ridiculed shooter is now a hit on Steam: “What Rainbow Six Siege should have been”

Ready Or Not was announced back in 2017. Since then, it has drawn attention several times – but rarely in a positive way. The game has been in Early Access since December 18, 2021 and is going through the roof on Steam. The community is celebrating the game, better calling it Rainbow Six Siege. MeinMMO tells you why this is so.

What kind of shooter is that? Ready Or Not is a tactical shooter that is in the same vein as the old Rainbow Six and SWAT games. In particular, the shooter classic SWAT 4, released in 2005, seems to have been a direct inspiration for Ready Or Not.

Although the game is a shooter, you should avoid shooting as much as possible: You are playing a SWAT team that primarily wants to arrest criminals in various missions. If you kill anything that comes before you with excessive force, you will be punished by the game.

That is why there are many tactical options in the game to solve any situation without bloodshed. You can sneak up on opponents, yell at them until they drop your weapon, or incapacitate with non-lethal weapons like tasers.

In the current Early Access there are 6 missions available that you can play alone with AI partners or in co-op. The game should later also be playable in a PvP mode. However, this is currently not available.

Ready Or Not is apparently reinventing itself in Early Access

What do the players say? On Steam, players are excited about Ready Or Not. The game currently has around 5,000 Steam reviews, 96% of which are positive (via Steam). It’s also the most popular new release on Steam right now.

• JakeTheButcher says on Steam: “[Das Spiel ist] what Rainbow Six Siege should have been. ” (via Steam)
• awpticC even goes one step further: “This is not what Rainbow Six could have been, this is better.” (via Steam)
• Foures says, “This is the game we’ve been waiting for since the release of SWAT 4!” (via Steam)

Players weren’t always enthusiastic about the game: This positive response on Steam shows how the game has apparently reinvented itself with the Early Access release.

So far the game was only playable in an alpha, which cost 120 €. In addition, thanks to a strict embargo, the alpha players were not allowed to share gameplay videos. Nevertheless, one kept hearing about serious problems that the developers did not solve.

An officially shared gameplay video from 2019 then greatly disappointed the hopeful fans: What was shown reminded them more of Call of Duty than SWAT (via Gamestar). Therefore, many players were convinced that Ready Or Not was a “scam” (via reddit).

The game seems to have shed this reputation with the release in Early Access.

Why is the game so popular now? As you can see from the communities in Reddit, Steam and YouTube, the fans are especially happy about the gameplay. Since SWAT 4 came out in 2005, gamers haven’t had a real ‘SWAT simulator’ anymore. The “Rainbow Six” games developed in a different direction at the earliest with Rainbow Six Vegas, at the latest with Rainbow Six Siege.

In addition, most shooters these days go in a more action-packed direction. Tactical planning like in the old SWAT and Rainbow Six games can only be found in indie titles like Door Kickers. That’s why tactics fans like YouTuber OperatorDrewski are cheering right now, who says: “The SWAT genre is back!” (via YouTube)

New levels and PvP multiplayer should come within 1 year

Is there already such a thing as a roadmap? There is no concrete roadmap with exact dates. Developer Void Interactive says the game should stay in Early Access for about 12 months. The current status corresponds to an alpha version of the game. The purchase in Early Access also gives access to the beta, which is supposed to start at an unspecified later date.

In these 12 months at least 5 more levels should appear, as well as new weapons and UI improvements. In addition, the PvP multiplayer is to be added.

Have you tried Ready Or Not yet? If so, do you enjoy the ultra-realistic gameplay? Or are these ‘SWAT simulators’ not for you? Let us know in the comments.

If you want to find out what is currently going on in Rainbow Six Siege, we recommend the following article:

The new operator of Rainbow Six Siege can kill attackers instantly, but has a catch