Ready or Not reveals the new Dark Waters DLC, due to launch very soon

Though Ready or Not isn’t exactly the perfect SWAT 4 follow-up we all deserve, it sure as heck is a great game in its own right, and it’s about to get a big new expansion pack very soon. The new Dark Waters DLC features off-shore oil rigs and yachts, notably.

As a follow-up to the poorly-received Home Invasion DLC, Dark Waters needs to step up its game and deliver a compelling set of missions and goodies. This expansion pack follows the broad precedent set by its predecessor with content structuring, though I do think this pack will be a fair bit more interesting. Priced at $9,99/€9.99, Dark Waters comes with three unique new missions and about half a dozen new weapons, such as the hotly anticipated G3A3 rifle.

Ready or Not: Dark Waters is out on December 10

Whereas Home Invasion dealt mainly with fairly run-of-the-mill SWAT operations, as its title obviously states, Dark Waters is much more exotic. Players will be deployed on three entirely different new maritime missions, which honestly sound awesome:

• Mirage at Sea: A heavily guarded luxury yacht housing an international crime syndicate’s higher-ups.
• Three-Letter Triad: An abandoned island resort where a crime deal is taking place.
• Leviathan: An offshore oil rig that’s been overrun by violent eco-terrorists.

There’s no comparing these with a home invasion. Naturally, we’re also getting a host of new cosmetics themed after VBSS gear (Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure), as well as several ATLAS Association items (i.e., new pants, gloves, and more). This is all well and good, but the tools of the trade are the most important items here, and they are promising:

• SCAR Mk17
• GA51
• M14S-16
• MP5-SD6
• G3A3

A stellar arsenal, if I’ve ever seen one! All of these guns will be accessible to all players, including those who aren’t going to purchase the Dark Waters DLC at all. So, if you’re only in it for the guns, no need to splurge at all. The interesting bit that will stay exclusive to the new missions is a fancy new Support Helicopter feature, which will give players more intel while they’re actively playing them. Should be handy.

If you’re more concerned about the actual state of the base Ready or Not experience, there’s some good news on this front as well. The developer has already confirmed that, as with Home Invasion, the game will get a substantial patch to improve its AI and gameplay across the board. Highlights include improvements for SWAT, Suspect, and Civilian AI, fixes for various crashes and freezes, improvements for some existing missions and the replay viewer, and an assortment of quality-of-life changes.

The update is likely to hit Ready or Not alongside the Dark Waters DLC on December 10, and it’s unlikely that the patch notes will be released ahead of time. So, stay tuned.