Ready or Not: Boiling Point Review Summary

An excellent DLC with challenging missions, beautiful maps, and strong lore, though friendly AI is incompetent and enemy AI can shoot through walls.

Excellent DLC quality overall: Players consistently praise the DLC's high quality, describing it as well-made, satisfying, and arguably the best the game has seen. Many highlight the missions, maps, and story as standout elements.

Challenging missions and difficulty: The DLC is frequently noted for its high difficulty, with missions that are brutal, cinematic, and satisfying to overcome. Players appreciate the tough but fair challenge, especially in the final missions.

Beautiful and well-designed maps: The maps receive widespread acclaim for their exquisite design, attention to detail, and optimization. They are described as large, beautiful, and well-crafted, enhancing the overall experience.

Strong story and lore: The narrative is praised as well thought out and well presented, with a satisfying conclusion to the main storyline. The lore adds depth and is found to be very interesting by players.

Fun and enjoyable missions: Missions are consistently described as fun, enjoyable, and cool, with interesting mechanics. Specific missions like 'A New America' and 'All Gods Burn' stand out as highlights.

New America mission brutally difficult: Players consistently report the New America mission is extremely hard, requiring many retries even on standard difficulty. The difficulty spike is described as malicious and far beyond other levels.

Friendly AI teammates incompetent: AI teammates are described as dumb, unreliable, and ineffective in combat. They often fail to shoot, get stuck, or make poor tactical decisions.

Enemy AI shoots through walls: Enemy AI frequently shoots players through walls and cover, often without line of sight or proper aiming. This leads to unfair deaths and frustration.

Enemy AI overpowered accuracy: Enemies have unrealistic accuracy, able to headshot through tiny gaps and from long distances. They can one-shot players and seem to have perfect aim.

Final mission balance broken: The final mission is extremely unbalanced, nearly impossible solo, and requires a team or mods to complete.

DLC includes three story missions: The DLC contains three sequential missions that progress a single theme and increase in difficulty. The missions have large, detailed environments and include briefings with story content.

DLC adds three new maps: The DLC includes three new maps that are medium-to-large and populated with aggressive enemies. These maps are added to map selection and feature intricate layouts and interactable objects.

Mission 'A New America' featured: A key mission called 'A New America' is part of the DLC, often cited as the third and final mission. It is a campaign level that can be played solo and includes a briefing.

AI teammates and bots available: The game features AI-controlled squadmates (bots) that can be commanded and given orders. Players can play with bot teammates or solo, and enemy AI is also present.

Co-op support up to four players: The game supports co-op play with up to four players, and missions can be played cooperatively. Some feedback mentions up to five friends, but four-player co-op is most common.

Poor optimization overall: Many users describe optimization as poor or terrible, with performance issues across various hardware configurations.

Level-specific performance issues: Certain levels, like the third and last, have bad FPS or require very powerful PCs, while others run better.

Stuttering and frame drops: The game stutters frequently and experiences frame drops, even on high-end systems.

Inconsistent performance reports: Some players report good optimization or stable high FPS, contrasting with widespread issues.

High-end hardware underperforms: Even on high-spec systems like 7800X3D/7800XT or 9700x/7900xt, the game cannot maintain stable framerates.

Positive purchase recommendation: Many reviewers state the game or DLC is worth buying, including at full price, and recommend it highly. This sentiment is widespread across multiple clusters.

Wait for a sale: A common recommendation is to buy the DLC only on sale, as it is not considered worth the full price. Some suggest waiting for a discount.

Better with friends: Many find the DLC more fun and recommend it when playing with friends, especially for co-op. Playing solo is often discouraged.

Not recommended: Some players do not recommend buying the DLC or the game, citing it is not worth the price. A few strongly advise against it.

A New America mission difficulty: The mission 'A New America' is noted as very hard, requiring many attempts, and some advise against playing it until fixed. It is recommended only with a good squad and communication.

Community fair range: $30.00 - $50.00.

Story completion: 2.0h.

Session length: 5.0h.

Enjoyment is strongest in co-op and reportedly improves after a weak first mission; solo play, weak AI, and slow mission pacing are recurring friction.

Friction: Solo play; Weak SWAT AI; Slow and unrewarding mission pacing; Boring early mission content; Limited entry options; Bugs and teleporting enemies.

Unlock drivers: Playing co-op with friends; Communication during room clearing; Later missions after the weak first level; Strong map design and verticality; Quality-of-life updates.

Tactical Realism Immersion Purist: Plays mostly solo with AI squadmates or careful co-op, favoring deliberate clearing, non-lethal procedure, and realistic pacing. Motivation: To experience authentic, immersive SWAT and police tactical operations with believable AI teammates and rules of engagement. Stance: no buy.

Story and Lore Seeker: Plays through missions attentively, listens to briefings, explores environmental story details, and pursues multiple endings. Motivation: To follow Ready or Not's overarching story, ARG, worldbuilding, and mission narrative. Stance: buy.

Hardcore Co-op Challenge Squad: Plays multiplayer co-op on Hard, coordinates with a squad over comms, and embraces aggressive, high-pressure clearing. Motivation: To overcome intense, communication-heavy co-op challenges and chaotic tactical firefights with friends. Stance: buy.

Performance reports are mixed across the Windows 12-15GB and 8-11GB VRAM cohorts and the <8GB VRAM / 16-31GB RAM cohort, while the <8GB VRAM / <16GB RAM cohort is mostly positive and the 16GB+ VRAM cohort is mostly negative.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM: mixed. Some users report smooth, steady frame rates and strong 4K RT performance, but others report significant performance drops and unstable FPS.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: mixed. Some maps run well on epic settings, while other reports describe forced DLSS for 60 FPS and drops to 20-40 FPS.

Windows <8GB VRAM / 16-31GB RAM: mixed. Several users report high FPS or good overall performance, but crashes, stuttering, and low-FPS levels are also reported.

Monetization: The review set centers on a paid DLC rather than an in-game monetization system. Complaints focus on three short missions being overpriced, supporter or deluxe edition entitlement, and AI-generated art and voice work perceived as cost-cutting. There is no direct evidence of real-money gacha, lootboxes, a cash shop, paid power, paid convenience, currency obfuscation, or aggressive FOMO. Under the rules, traditional DLC and edition disputes cap the score in the fair range.

DLC adds maps, missions, story: The DLC includes three new maps, three sequential missions, and expands the game's storyline and lore. It is called Boiling Point and continues the conspiracy narrative.

Considered best DLC so far: Many reviewers call this the best of the three DLCs, praising its content, maps, and story. It is often compared favorably to previous DLCs.

Cheap price, good value: The DLC is sold at a low price, especially during sales, and many feel the price justifies the content. Some note it costs $10 or 40 yuan.

Hard final mission, tough achievements: The final mission, New America, is extremely challenging, and achievements are rare. Some reviewers compare difficulty to Dark Souls.

Censorship on PC version: The PC version is censored to match console versions, and an uncensored version requires mods. Reviewers criticize this censorship.