Ready or Not is a popular realistic tactical FPS brought to us by VOID Interactive. Thanks to the recently released Dark Waters DLC the enemy AI is much smarter and you'll do well to outsmart them on complex new maps.
Steam Deck Gameplay & Performance
The first hurdle to overcome when launching Ready or Not on Steam Deck is the confusion over choosing DX11 or DX12. You will do well to tell the difference side by side (see above video). Still, we would recommend DX12 on the basis that developers will most likely aim future efforts and optimizations into the latest software.
Our recommended set-up is medium graphics preset, motion blur off and turning FSR to Quality mode. This will grant you the most consistent results using DX11 & DX12. Using DX11, at the beginning of the single-player mission, the game sits between 40-50 FPS. We do find when breaching through a door and we have effects going off on screen the FPS does dip into the high 30s. However, if you take your eyes off the action for too long in this game it could prove troublesome and you could catch a few stray bullets such is the intensity of the gameplay.
Using the same setup on DX12 this time we find very few differences. We have the same 40-50 FPS gameplay and similarly, drop into the high 30s when those effects clutter the screen. GPU usage is very similar but we do use less CPU usage thanks to DX12.
Are Those FPS Lurking in Dark Waters?
Using the original recommended settings in the new Dark Waters DLC multiplayer is unsustainable. The first mission of the latest DLC in multiplayer mode with the team camera up in the right-hand top corner and we can barely hold 20 FPS.
For a sustainable and playable framerate in multiplayer, you will want to turn all settings to low but move texture quality to medium. Turn FSR off and you can play at around 30 FPS somewhat consistently with a team-mate camera up at all times. Overall, multiplayer is playable but could do with improvements on Steam Deck. Official controller support allows us to play Ready or Not in a somewhat comfortable fashion on Steam Deck but more work is needed for that Verified status.
I Want All the Frames GeForce NOW!
If you would like a stable, crispy 60 FPS experience on deck, we might have a solution for you. You can play Ready or Not: Dark Waters DLC using GeForce NOW on Steam Deck. Streaming the game via GeForce NOW allows us to push the settings to epic presets and lock the stream FPS to 60, even with the team-mate camera and all those effects going off on screen we do not waver away from that stable 60 FPS.