Ready Or Notis a game that has not been shy when it comes to creating controversy. The brutally realistic tactical shooter has come under criticism for all sorts of reasons, butrecent changes to the PC version have irked some players, who feel that the game’s grittier themes are being sanitized to accommodate console publishing requirements.
The update, which was designed to better enable VOID to make changes to both versions of the game simultaneously in the future, removed and altered some of the game’s most sensitive content, and some players felt it was the final straw of undelivered promises and betrayal.
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“It’s not about the specifics, it’s a matter of principle,” wrote one commenter in the Steam discussion,“Any amount of censorship is too much.”
The sentiment appears to have been shared by a large number of players, asa recent review-bombing campaignhas caused the game to trend Mostly Negative in Steam’s recent reviews.
VOID Issues A Response
In response to the recent controversy, VOIDtook to the Steam discussion boardto “clarify” the specific changes. These included things such as removing nudity from several hostages, disabling dismemberment mechanics on dead bodies, altering a convulsive animation for a drugged child, and altering the appearance of some explicit evidence.
As VOID initially pointed out in their Development Briefing Vol.87: “The changes with the console version are small enough that most people here wouldn’t notice if we didn’t say anything, but we want to be transparent.”
However, following the backlash, VOID has clarified that there are only six specificinstances of censorshipas a result of the patch:
VOID also previously admitted thatthe reason for such changes was largely down to the influence of “first party partners"and console certification standards.
While some missions might not have the same shock value that they initially did, gameplay and mission design overall remain untouched. VOID will be hoping for a successful console launch on July 15th, as it seems a large part of the PC audience is jumping ship.
Regardless, Ready or Not remains one of themost immersive tactical shootersto release in recent years, and there are few other games on the market that bring the same levels of authenticity to SWAT CQB.
