Ready or Not Cheats, Secrets, & Tips for PC

The debut title from Ireland-based studio VOID Interactive, Ready or Not, is a tense and realistic tactical first-person shooter released for PC. Originally launching into Early Access in December 2021, the title would hit its full 1.0 launch 2 years later in December 2023. During the game’s Early Access period, considerable fan feedback would help contribute to shaping the final product, complete with input from real-world law enforcement.

Though the game would generate some controversy due to the realistic and violent nature of its missions (including several levels featuring active shooter scenarios), the title has been subject to a considerable positive reception. VOID Interactive has since released two DLC campaigns, with promises of future balance tweaks and patches coming to help address the game’s AI.

Ready or Not Premise

While Ready or Not doesn’t feature a linear story, paying close attention to the missions and their objectives (as well as keeping a keen eye out for some clear environmental storytelling) communicates a loosely connected narrative. The game takes place in the fictional city of Los Sueňos, California, modeled after the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Players take on the role of the Los Sueňos Police Department SWAT team as they deploy to various situations around the city, some of which connect to one another and develop an overarching narrative involving exploited children, drug cartels, and terrorist cells, both domestic and foreign.

In terms of its gameplay, Ready or Not is a first-person tactical shooter that takes heavy inspiration from Irrational Games’ SWAT 4 and other landmark titles in the genre. In the single-player mode, players will gradually work their way through more than a dozen missions modeled after real-life events that require first responder tactical teams, carefully mitigating casualties and subduing all suspects per the rules of engagement for each scenario. Movement and shooting in Ready or Not are noticeably slower and more methodical than standard first-person shooters, which incentivizes the player to take things slowly and be observant as they clear each location room by room.

Ready or Not also includes a cooperative multiplayer mode in which human players comprise the members of a 5-person SWAT team squad, with the mission locations and objectives remaining the same as they are in single-player.

Ready or Not Main Characters

The main character in Ready or Not is the player, who takes on the role of the Los Sueňos Police Department’s SWAT team commander, David “Judge” Beaumont. Joining Beaumont is a rotating cast of supporting officers in his squad that accompany him on missions during the game’s single-player campaign. The same missions are also playable in co-op in the game’s multiplayer mode, with human players taking over the randomly generated officer personalities. Main characters in Ready or Not include:

• David Beaumont: The protagonist and player character in Ready or Not‘s single-player mode, David “Judge” Beaumont is a member of the Los Sueňos Police Department’s D Platoon, where he leads the unit’s SWAT team.

Games in the Ready or Not Series

The success of VOID Interactive’s Ready or Not continues to grow following the game’s 1.0 release, which builds upon the title’s success during its initial 2-year Early Access window. Not only is VOID continually improving the game with patches, mod support, tweaks to the AI behavior and difficulty balance, and more, but it has also added two DLC campaigns that flesh out the experience. The success of iReady or Not on PC has now paved the way for the title to finally come to console later this year, with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions coming soon. Games in the Ready or Not series include:

• Ready or Not (PC, 2023)
• Ready or Not: Home Invasion (PC, 2024)
• Ready or Not: Dark Waters (PC, 2024)
• Ready or Not (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, 2025)

Ready or Not Cheats, Secrets, & Tips

There are several cheats that players can use in Ready or Not. In addition to the game’s built-in console commands that players can access with an easy-to-find and install mod, Ready or Not also features several applicable cheat mods that players can use with various third-party cheat engine software. Ready or Not does not have an official anti-cheat running during its cooperative multiplayer mode, but it’s still a good idea to only use cheats in single-player unless playing in a lobby with friends who all agree to use cheats.

Ready or Not Console Commands

The developers of Ready or Not, VOID Interactive, have surprisingly left in several available console commands that players can activate to adjust certain in-game parameters. While most of these are not “cheats” in the traditional sense, they do allow the player to go in and adjust the game to their liking.

To use any of the following console commands, players will first need to download and install the In Game Menu mod over at NexusMods. Once installed, follow the instructions for how to open the menu using either controller or keyboard, then enter any of the following console commands to enable their corresponding effect.

Ready or Not Cheat Engine Mods

Players using third-party cheat engine software can apply several different cheat mods to Ready or Not that will make the game significantly easier. One such trainer file can be found here and contains the following cheat options.

NOTE: Make sure to only use these mods in Single-Player to avoid negative consequences.

Player Mods

• Infinite Health
• Adjust Running Speed

Game Mods

• Adjust FOV
• Unlock All Doors

Inventory Mods

• Infinite Chem Lights

Enemy Mods

• Drop Enemy Weapons
• Make Enemies Surrender

Teleport Mods

• Teleport to NPC

Weapon Mods

• Refill Magazine
• Refill Grenades
• No Reload
• Damage Multiplier
• Adjust Rate of Fire
• Enable Rate of Fire
• No ADS Recoil
• Armor Piercing Bullets

Ready or Not Tips

The tactical shooter gameplay of Ready or Not can require some adjustment if you’re not familiar with the genre. Additionally, the game presents a very realistic and tense approximation of how a real-world law enforcement tactical team operates, complete with some fairly strict rules of engagement (RoE). In the game’s single-player mode, several tips will come in handy for success, many of which will also translate to the game’s cooperative multiplayer mode to help you and your teammates emerge victorious from any of Ready or Not‘s toughest levels.

How to Earn S Rank in Single-Player Missions

The key to earning S Rank in Ready or Not is maximizing your end-of-mission score, which requires you to do a handful of things, regardless of the scenario. To more easily understand how S Rank works, it’s first important to know the game terminology at play in Ready or Not.

Key Terms

• Targets: Any NPCs in the map other than the player and their squad (AI or human). We can further break this down into Suspects and Civilians
  • Suspects: Suspects are hostile AI NPCs that the player must subdue and arrest as part of each scenario.
  • Civilians: Civilians are non-hostile AI NPCs that the player must keep out of harm’s way. However, they also need to be restrained/arrested to prevent erratic movements as they try to reach safety, including accidentally killing the player or a squad member.
• Rules of Engagement: The rules laid out ahead of each scenario that dictate both the mission objectives and the parameters to achieve them. The RoE will have to explicitly allow the use of deadly force for the player to not receive a penalty for using lethal weapons against a suspect and killing them.
• Evidence: Evidence will be found throughout a mission map as well as dropped by Suspects. After Incapacitating and Arresting Suspects, the player or their squad needs to secure Evidence and report it to HQ.
• Incapacitated: A Suspect can become “Incapacitated” using either verbal commands, lethal weapons, or non-lethal weapons. As long as the Suspect is wounded but not completely dead, it does not count as deadly force. Once a Suspect is Incapacitated, they can be Arrested.
• Arrested: An Arrested Suspect or Civilian is one who is no longer at play in the scenario map. They are secured by restraints and count toward the end of mission score for successful arrests of all mission Targets.

Use Door Wedges

One of the most valuable tools in the player’s arsenal in Ready or Not is the door wedge. Especially in larger maps, it’s vital for the squad to protect their flank and prevent sneak attacks from unpredictable Suspects. After clearing a room, place a door wedge to prevent any enemy Suspects from getting the drop on the squad, which is the easiest and most surefire way to prevent any unnecessary squad deaths during a mission.

Have Your Squad Search for Evidence

Once all Targets have been dealt with, players will receive a notification that they have completed the “Bring Order to Chaos” objective. This is your cue to have your squad clean up the area and look for any remaining Evidence, which you can easily have them do using the “Search and Secure” command. This command only becomes available after unlocking “Bring Order to Chaos”, and it will save you plenty of time in tracking down every weapon that a Suspect has dropped. However, you will still need to personally secure all mission-specific evidence that is part of the objective list.

Clear the Map With Purpose and Use Chem Lights

Some of the missions in Ready or Not take place in some impressively large spaces, making the act of clearing out the entire map a time-consuming process. To save yourself some headaches and not get turned around, go into a map with a plan for moving from room to room, level by level, and drop chem lights as you go. You only have 10 chem lights, meaning you’ll need to use them strategically, but being able to spot an area you’ve already cleared can be a lifesaver as you work to complete all the mission’s objectives.

Go Slow, Move Quietly

This one almost goes without saying, but Ready or Not is a very different kind of shooter from games like Call of Duty. The slower and more methodical you are, the less likely you are to make mistakes. Walk slowly and try to avoid making noise, crouch when near Suspects to not draw attention, and make regular use of the Mirror Gun to peek under doors and around corners. Similarly, utilize your squad’s AI when playing single-player, having them move in a formation that makes sense for the area’s size and commanding them to breach and clear each room while you sit back and run the operation as its commander.

Use Non-Lethal Primary, Lethal Secondary Loadouts

In most scenarios, you will not have the prior authorization to use deadly force as part of each mission’s RoE. As such, it’s vital to take along a non-lethal weapon and equip your squad members with them as well. While you can subdue/incapacitate Suspects using lethal weapons, too much damage will cause them to die, which can turn your squad against you and trigger a mission failure. To avoid this, bring along one primary weapon that is a reliable non-lethal option, and a lethal sidearm as your secondary. The best non-lethal primary is the bean-bag shotgun, which can still outright kill a Suspect if you’re not careful where you aim it. Its damage and effectiveness at close range make it easier to incapacitate Suspects without killing them.

Bring the Right Armor for the Job

Armor is absolutely essential to survival in Ready or Not, especially with how deadly accurate Suspects can be. As a general rule of thumb, Light Armor allows for more mobility at the cost of some survivability, while Heavy Armor is the opposite. However, you also need to consider what kind of plates your armor will carry. Most players will opt for either Ceramic or Steel, with the former providing 100% damage reduction at the cost of being breakable, while the latter offers less damage protection but cannot break. In situations where mobility isn’t essential, heavy armor with steel plates can save the day.

Team Composition is Key

Each of your fellow officers on your squad has a unique ability that they bring into combat. But what Ready or Not doesn’t explicitly tell you is that these abilities stack, meaning you can greatly increase their effectiveness by having two officers in your squad with the same ability. Pay attention to the abilities of your fellow officers, and replay easier missions to unlock them early on so that you can get the full benefit of using them as Ready or Not ramps up in difficulty.

Ready or Not Achievements

Complete the following in-game tasks to unlock the corresponding achievement on Steam.

Ready or Not Cheat FAQs

Does Ready or Not have cheats?

Like most PC games, Ready or Not has both built-in console commands and cheat-like mods that players can enable with third-party cheat engine software. However, it is advised to only use console commands or cheat engine mods when playing in single-player, as using these advantages online could result in players receiving a ban from the game’s servers. While Ready or Not does not have anti-cheat, the game’s active community is dedicated to reporting players who use cheats to have an unfair advantage that spoils the game’s difficulty balance.

Why is Ready or Not so controversial?

The subject matter of Ready or Not is one of the main elements of the game that has generated its fair share of controversy, with the title presenting a realistic and gritty portrayal of the realities of working as a first responder. Not only is Ready or Not violent, but it’s also bleak in its portrayal of 21st-century crime and the stresses that law enforcement has to deal with when engaging criminals. The most controversial missions in Ready or Not take inspiration from real-world tragedies and give the player an inside view into how law enforcement would have addressed these situations. Aside from its subject matter, though, Ready or Not initially received some criticism for a perceived bias toward law enforcement, but that sentiment was quickly proven to be mostly false after players got their hands on the game.

How do I get S Rank on missions in Ready or Not?

Earning an S Rank in Ready or Not‘s different scenarios mostly boils down to a few key criteria. Most importantly, you will need to make sure that all Targets are dealt with, which includes both Suspects and Civilians. Civilians need to be secured while Suspects need to be subdued and then arrested. After, you will need to make sure to secure all evidence at the scene and complete any and all soft objectives specific to each level. Another key element is that you and your squad must survive, and you cannot use lethal force against Suspects without prior authorization.

How long to beat Ready or Not?

The single-player mode of Ready or Not sees players attempting each of the game’s scenarios with an AI-controlled team in hopes of achieving the coveted S Rank on each mission. Most players will be able to at least clear each mission in the single-player mode in about 15-17 hours, but achieving S Rank on each mission will take much longer. To fully complete Ready or Not, earning every achievement and S Rank on each single-player story scenario, players can expect to spend 50-55 hours. Once complete, you still have the ability to replay missions in either single or multiplayer as many times as you like, providing potentially hundreds of hours of gameplay.

The image featured at the top of this post is ©Ready or Not key art.