Ready or Not Beginner’s Guide: How to Clear Rooms and Arrest Suspects Safely

The safest way to clear rooms in Ready or Not is to slow the encounter down: study the briefing and floor plan, gather information before crossing a threshold, control doors with wedges, use a coordinated breach and flashbang, and let suspects surrender whenever the rules of engagement allow it. Your squad’s commands, angles and restraint matter more than rushing for fast kills. Arresting compliant or incapacitated suspects also produces better scores than simply incapacitating them.

What makes Ready or Not different from a conventional shooter

Ready or Not is built around deliberate SWAT tactics rather than speed-running gunfights. VOID Interactive describes it as an intense tactical first-person shooter in which SWAT units defuse hostile situations. The practical objective is to protect civilians and officers, secure the scene, apprehend threats and preserve evidence. A room can be technically “clear” while the team is still vulnerable to a second doorway, a hidden suspect or an unsecured weapon.

#	Preview	Product	Price
1		Ready or Not - Day 1 Edition – PlayStation 5	$49.99	Buy on Amazon
2		METAL GEAR SOLID Δ: SNAKE EATER TACTICAL ED – PS5	$37.49	Buy on Amazon
3		007 First Light - Specialist Edition - PlayStation 5	$69.99	Buy on Amazon
4		Atomfall - PlayStation 5	$39.99	Buy on Amazon

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

That changes the order of priorities. Information comes before movement; movement comes before shooting; and shooting is only one possible response. A good entry gives you known angles, a protected rear and a plan for what the squad will do if a suspect surrenders, runs or attacks.

• Information: identify the layout, doors, likely civilian locations and possible approach routes.
• Control: decide which doors stay closed, which route the squad will use and who covers each angle.
• Communication: issue one clear command at a time and verify that the AI officers are doing what you intended.
• Restraint: use commands, less-lethal tools and arrests whenever the situation permits, while responding immediately to an actual lethal threat.

Prepare before deployment

Read the briefing and inspect the tactical tablet

Open the tactical tablet before you move. It contains the mission information, objectives, intelligence and floor plan. Listen to the briefing, then identify what the mission actually requires: for example, rescuing civilians, finding suspects, collecting evidence or locating a particular item. Those objectives determine how aggressively you can move and what must be checked before you report the scene secure.

#1 Best Overall

Ready or Not - Day 1 Edition – PlayStation 5

• Take Command: Ready or Not delivers an immersive SWAT experience. Equip your team with authentic weapons and gear, deploy into high-stakes, real-world inspired missions to secure locations concealing unknown criminal threats and potential civilians.
• The Weight of the Badge: Shoulder the weight of being a SWAT commander entrusted with confronting Los Sueňos’ criminal corruption and stopping it from overwhelming the city’s citizens. Every tactical decision matters, every outcome is yours to bear.
• True Tactical Gameplay: Ready or Not is a true tactical shooter. Every mission is a high-stakes, life-or-death operation. Strategically forge your squad of elite SWAT officers, equip them with the right weapons and gear for the mission, position your team to tactically breach criminal strongholds and quickly identify and neutralize threats in tense, life threatening scenarios.
• Your Mission is the Story: Ready or Not confronts you with a raw, unflinching mirror of real-world crime, exposing the horrors of human trafficking, drug running, illegal arms dealing, militant extremism, and terrorism through interwoven storylines that span multiple missions.
• Cross-Comradery: Team up with friends to stem the tide of crime infesting the city. Enhanced with crossplay, Ready or Not supports up to five players in a co-operative tactical experience on all platforms. Communicate effectively to increase your tactical precision, watch your squad’s back, and successfully complete your mission.

$49.99

Buy on Amazon

Use the floor plan to mark the first approach and likely danger points mentally. Look for rooms connected by multiple doors, long hallways that can expose the entire stack and routes that allow a suspect to circle behind you. You do not need a perfect map. You need a first route, a fallback route and an idea of where a wedge can prevent an unexpected flank.

Choose a loadout for time and information

A beginner loadout should create decision time, not merely carry the largest magazine. Compare equipment across four practical categories:

A safe room-clearing procedure

1. Build the stack without crowding the threshold

Bring the squad to the first door and let the officers form up. Keep the team close enough to support one another but do not push every officer into the doorway. A packed threshold gives a suspect several targets at once and makes it difficult for your officers to see around one another.

Before opening the door, check the visible angle, the wall beside the frame and any nearby doorway. Treat the threshold as a danger area rather than a line to sprint across. If the door is already open, do not assume the room is safe: an open door can expose a second angle while hiding a suspect behind the frame.

2. Decide whether the door should open

Every door is a tactical problem. Check whether it is locked, trapped, wedged, partially open or likely to be used by someone behind you. If you cannot cover a door after entry, place a wedge before moving on. A wedge prevents that door from opening or being kicked and protects the team from a flank. Use wedges to contain movement, not simply to fill every available doorway; leave your planned route usable.

When several doors connect to the same space, choose one as the entry and control the others. That gives the squad a predictable threat direction and stops suspects from turning the room into a crossfire from multiple exits.

3. Gather information at the threshold

Use the mirror gun or a cautious visual check when the situation allows. Look for feet, weapons, shadows, civilians and doors inside the room. Scan the nearest corner first, then the deeper angle that could engage the stack as it crosses. Do not expose your whole body to discover what a small information advantage could reveal.

If you see a civilian or a suspect who is not attacking, keep the weapon ready but do not fire merely because the person is present. Your next action should be a command, a controlled breach or a less-lethal option, depending on the room and the objective.

Rank #2

Sale

METAL GEAR SOLID Δ: SNAKE EATER TACTICAL ED – PS5

• The story, characters, voice acting, gameplay, and music that made the original a sensation return, remade for modern consoles
• This evolutionary leap breathes new life into every cutscene, and rebuilds every corner of the world
• Incredible new graphics bring the wild growth of the jungles, forests, and swamps to life in exquisite detail
• Characters are rendered in fine detail so that facial wrinkles, pores, & separate eye & iris movements are visible, allowing for rich animations
• Any injuries to his actual body will leave their mark permanently, telling a story of each player's unique journey

$37.49

Buy on Amazon

4. Breach with a purpose

Use the squad command system to order an officer or team to breach, throw a flashbang and clear while you hold a complementary angle. Epic’s beginner guidance specifically recommends flashbangs for disorienting suspects before entry. A flashbang is most useful when the team can exploit the brief disruption immediately; throwing one and then waiting outside gives the suspect time to recover.

Before issuing the breach command, decide where you will stand. Hold an angle the AI team is not covering, watch a second door or cover the hallway behind the entry. Avoid standing directly in the officers’ line of fire. Once the command is complete, follow the team through only after the first angles are being addressed.

5. Cross the room one angle at a time

Move from the threshold toward cover while checking corners in a consistent order. The closest unseen corner is usually the first problem; the far corner and any interior doorway are the next. Do not turn your back on an unchecked door simply because the center of the room looks empty.

Keep your muzzle and camera at the height where a suspect can appear, but do not swing wildly across teammates. If an officer is already covering an angle, take the next one. This division of responsibility is safer than having every member stare at the same doorway.

6. Split Red and Blue teams only when you can maintain cross-coverage

Dividing the squad can clear two approaches faster, but it removes the protection of a single concentrated stack. Split Red and Blue only when you can monitor both routes and know how the teams will support each other. Epic recommends cycling through officer viewpoints when using separate teams so you can verify each approach rather than trusting that an unseen AI group is safe.

Switch viewpoints after each major command: confirm that the breach happened, check whether a suspect is compliant, and look for an unguarded doorway. If you cannot keep track of both groups, reunite them and clear from one controlled direction.

7. Secure the room before moving on

Once the visible threats are handled, search deliberately. Check civilians, dropped weapons, evidence locations and doors that could connect to the next area. A room is not complete merely because no one is shooting. Restrain compliant or incapacitated suspects, collect weapons and evidence when it is safe, and leave a wedge behind if the route could be used to attack your rear.

When to arrest a suspect

Use commands before force when the suspect is not an immediate lethal threat

When a suspect is compliant, give the surrender or hands-up command and allow time for the animation to finish. Approach with your weapon controlled, restrain the suspect and confirm that the person is secured before searching or moving past. If a suspect is incapacitated but alive, secure the person rather than treating the body as proof that the area is safe.

Rank #3

007 First Light - Specialist Edition - PlayStation 5

• ONLY AT AMAZON - SPECIALIST EDITION
• EARN THE NUMBER - Discover a new James Bond origin story, and the events that led a young maverick to become the best MI6 agent.
• A THRILLING ESPIONAGE ADVENTURE - Embark on missions in breathtaking locations, drive iconic vehicles, and dive into a cinematic adventure in pursuit of a rogue agent who’s always one step ahead.
• SPYING, YOUR WAY - Go silent or go loud. Whether fighting with fists or firepower, using gadgets to infiltrate, or bluffing your way past guards, the approach is entirely up to you.

$69.99

Buy on Amazon

Arresting a suspect gives more points than merely incapacitating one, according to the Ready or Not Wiki. The highest rank requires arresting all suspects with nonlethal methods. That makes restraint a core objective, not an optional bonus for cautious players.

Recognize the boundary between restraint and survival

Nonlethal play does not mean exposing yourself to a gun. If a suspect presents an immediate lethal threat, respond under the mission’s rules of engagement. A weapon being visible, a suspect aiming at an officer or an active attack requires a faster decision than a person who is standing still or beginning to surrender. The game’s official description emphasizes tactical precision and the safety of civilians and squad members; a high score is never a reason to ignore an active threat.

After a shooting, stop and reassess. Check the suspect, secure the weapon, look for a second attacker and treat any civilians before you resume the search. This prevents a successful first engagement from turning into a failure caused by a hidden threat.

Commanding the AI squad

Give commands in a short, repeatable sequence

1. Position: bring the squad to the correct door and assign the entry side.
2. Control: wedge doors that could open behind the team and keep one officer watching the rear route.
3. Prepare: order the breach team to ready the door and choose whether a flashbang or another crowd-control tool is appropriate.
4. Execute: command the breach, throw and clear action, then move into the complementary angle you selected.
5. Verify: cycle through officer viewpoints and confirm that the room, hallway and alternate door are covered.
6. Secure: order arrests, collect evidence and reposition the squad before opening the next route.

Issuing several contradictory commands at once can leave officers stacked in the wrong place or waiting while you assume they have entered. Use one sequence, observe the result and then issue the next command. The command interface is most powerful when it lets the AI perform the dangerous first action while you cover the gap it cannot see.

Use viewpoints as a safety check, not as decoration

Switching to an officer’s viewpoint shows whether an AI teammate actually has the angle you expected. It can reveal a blocked doorway, an officer facing the wrong direction or a second team that has stopped short of the objective. This is especially important after splitting Red and Blue. If either team loses contact with the other, stop advancing and restore a covered formation.

Common beginner failures and their fixes

Gear choices that help you avoid unnecessary deaths

Information tools

A mirror gun and clear visibility let you answer the most important question before entry: what can hurt the stack immediately? Use the information to choose the breach side, identify civilians and decide whether the door should remain closed. Information is valuable even when it does not reveal a suspect, because an empty first angle lets the team focus on the next one without guessing.

Wedges and breach control

Door wedges are a beginner’s force multiplier. Place one on a door that could expose the team’s rear or connect the cleared room to an uncleared route. Keep the number of wedges available in mind; use them to shape the fight rather than sealing every door. Breach tools are most effective when paired with a plan for the first two seconds after the door opens.

Flashbangs and other crowd-control tools

Flashbangs are the clearest starting point because they can disorient suspects before an entry. CS gas and stingers may also fit particular situations, but their usefulness depends on the room, civilians and your ability to exploit the effect. Crowd control is not a substitute for checking the threshold: it buys an opportunity, and the squad still has to clear safely.

Rank #4

Atomfall - PlayStation 5

• Player Driven Mystery: Unravel a tapestry of interwoven narratives through exploration, conversation, investigation, and combat, where every choice you make has consequences.
• Explore this Green and Unpleasant Land: The picturesque British countryside, with rolling green hills, lush valleys, and rural villages belie the dangers that await you.
• Search, Scavage, Survive: You’ll need to scavenge for supplies, craft weapons and items, and fight desperately to make it our alive!
• “Basic Supply Bundle” - Supplies are scarce in the quarantine zone. Improve your chances for survival with additional items to find, including an exclusive melee weapon to help you in those brutal close-quarters engagements. o Exclusive Melee Weapon Variant o Additional Loot Caches o Item Recipe

$39.99

Buy on Amazon

Weapons and compliance risk

Choose a weapon you can keep on target while identifying a suspect’s behavior. A larger magazine does not solve poor angles, and greater stopping power increases the consequence of firing at someone who might surrender. The best beginner setup is the one that leaves you enough time to issue a command, recognize a lethal action and protect the squad from a second angle.

Co-op, PS5 and PC requirements

PS5 co-op and crossplay

The PlayStation listing gives the PS5 release date as July 15, 2025. It supports up to five-player co-op with crossplay, so a full group can divide responsibilities without relying entirely on AI officers. Agree on roles before deployment: one player can lead the stack, another can watch the rear, and others can handle breaching, less-lethal tools, evidence and arrests. Human teammates still need the same discipline; opening separate routes without communication creates more danger, not less.

PC minimum requirements

VOID Interactive’s published minimum PC specification is:

These are minimum requirements, not a guarantee of a particular frame rate or image-quality setting. If performance is poor, compare your processor, memory, graphics card, DirectX support and free storage with those figures first. Tactical play depends on seeing doorways and reacting to movement, so unstable performance can affect decision-making even when the game technically launches.

How to practice without wasting a mission

1. Use the tablet to identify one simple route and one door that could threaten your rear.
2. Run the first approach with the squad together; practice checking the threshold and placing a wedge.
3. Repeat the entry with a flashbang and an AI breach command, holding a different complementary angle each time.
4. Practice issuing a surrender command, restraining the suspect and securing the weapon before searching.
5. Only after the sequence feels consistent, split Red and Blue and cycle through their viewpoints.

This progression teaches the game’s central loop: plan, gather information, control movement, enter with support, arrest when possible and verify the scene before advancing.

What success looks like

A successful beginner run is not the one with the fastest room entry. It is the run in which every door had a purpose, every angle had an owner, the squad stayed covered, civilians were protected and suspects were arrested whenever the rules allowed. Use the tablet to plan, wedges to protect your rear, flashbangs and AI commands to make entries safer, and viewpoint checks to catch mistakes before they become casualties. That method produces better scores and gives you a repeatable way to handle unfamiliar maps.

Steam’s crawled English-review snapshot showed 77% positive feedback from 151,828 reviews; that figure changes as new reviews arrive and should be treated as a dated platform snapshot rather than a permanent quality rating.

Quick Recap

Bestseller No. 1

Ready or Not - Day 1 Edition – PlayStation 5

$49.99

SaleBestseller No. 2

METAL GEAR SOLID Δ: SNAKE EATER TACTICAL ED – PS5

$37.49

Bestseller No. 3

007 First Light - Specialist Edition - PlayStation 5

ONLY AT AMAZON - SPECIALIST EDITION

$69.99

Bestseller No. 4

Atomfall - PlayStation 5

$39.99

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.