SWAT 4
SWAT 4 is a tactical first-person shooter computer game developed by Irrational Games and released by Vivendi Universal on April 5, 2005. It was built on Irrational Games's Vengeance engine powered by Unreal Engine 2.0 technology. SWAT 4 puts the player into the role of a SWAT team leader where he commands four other team members to resolve various situations, such as hostage standoffs or apprehensions of dangerous subjects. An expansion to SWAT 4, entitled SWAT 4: The Stetchkov Syndicate, was released on February 28, 2006.
Gameplay
Single player
SWAT 4 features a single-player campaign where the player has to take his SWAT team through a number of missions. The missions are not related and there is no overarching storyline. The game aims to have gameplay similar to the real SWAT team experience. For example, it encourages the use of non-lethal weapons to subdue and arrest the suspects rather than shooting them. In addition, players must follow strict protocol to ensure proper use of force. Players may not fire on suspects with lethal weaponry unless the suspect points their firearm at a fellow officer or a civilian. Penalties are given for unauthorized use of force, injuries to hostages, officer incapacitation, and personal injury. On the higher difficulty levels, more points are required to pass the mission, with 100 being perfect. On the most difficult level, Elite, players need a 95/100 to pass, and will fail for killing even a single suspect, losing more than 2 team members without committing an infraction, or committing any infraction in addition to being injured, as each of these actions result in the loss of more than 5 points.
The player is the leader in a five-man SWAT team, which consists of the leader and four other men that can be split into two pairs, called elements. Each element is assigned a color, red or blue, and the entire team is labeled gold. The player does not assume direct control over the other officers. However, he can issue either a default order or an advanced order from an order selection menu, ranging from clearing a room to covering an area and handcuffing a compliant person.
All missions start with a pre-mission briefing which describes the situation and gives whatever details are available on the subjects and/or hostage(s) or other civilians. The briefing identifies mission goals, which consists of bringing order to chaos by arresting or neutralizing all suspects, and rescue all hostages or other civilians. Sniper support may also be provided, but they are limited to static parts of the map, covering a single room. Different objectives may include the capture of a specific suspect, finding an undercover officer, or defusing explosives. After the briefing, the player can choose equipment for himself and the other four officers. Some missions also provide for multiple entry points.
A perfect score may be gained in a campaign by arresting all suspects and handcuffing all civilians, securing all weapons, reporting all status updates, not suffering any losses to the team, and not being injured. The missions progress from poorly armed suspects to well-equipped soldiers with rifles such as AK-47s. Suspects may also obtain gasmasks, helmets, and body armor. Suspects that cannot be arrested or that will not cooperate must be neutralized according to SWAT protocol.
SWAT 4 also has the concept of authorized and unauthorized use of weapons. Most situations require the officers to give the suspect a warning and ask him to surrender. Shooting without warning is considered unauthorized use of force or deadly force, depending on whether you kill the suspect. A non-compliant suspect that does not point his weapon at another person may not be shot, either. A single unauthorized use of force deducts 5 points, while deadly force deducts 30 points, as 25 points for deadly force is deducted in addition to the use of force. Shooting without warning is allowed if the suspect is pointing his weapon at a hostage or a SWAT team member or if he opens fire first. Suspect reactions to warnings differ - some may attempt to hide and set up and ambush, some immediately surrender, others will flee and some will open fire. Some suspects may also pretend to surrender and open fire or run. If a hostage is killed, it results in immediate mission failure.
The SWAT team has various equipment, selected before the mission, available for use. Each officer can carry a primary and a secondary weapon, a variety of grenades, an optiwand (a technically advanced version of a mirror on a stick) that makes it possible to see behind corners and doors, a toolkit that can unlock doors or defuse bombs, door wedges that can block a door, pepper spray, and either C2 explosives or a breaching shotgun for breaching locked doors. One officer can't carry all of these, so the player has to choose which equipment to use and which to leave out for a specific mission. Primary weapons can be lethal weapons (such as the M4A1 carbine or a pump-action shotgun) or non-lethal - a shotgun loaded with beanbags or a special Pepperball marker loaded with OC balls. Secondary weapons are either handguns or a taser, which can incapacitate a suspect in excess of 15 seconds and more easily force suspect compliance.
Of special importance are various grenades. Having the team run into a room with suspects will usually result in failure, so the grenades have to be used to render the suspects less capable of attacking. There are three types of grenades: flashbang - a loud diversionary device that is accompanied by a bright flash of light, making it impossible for victims to fire, hear, or see, CS gas grenades - causes an involuntary choking sensation to those unprotected by gas masks that is most effective in closed rooms that prevent suspects from fleeing before being affected - and stinger grenades - propel numerous rubber balls around the room, incapacitating anyone hit by the projectiles. Unlike other grenades, the stinger can injure or even kill a person if they are in close proximity to the explosion. Using grenades as well as pepper spray or tasers can help to make subjects compliant - that is, make them surrender, to decrease casualties and increase point gain.
Also, it should be noted that characters in SWAT 4 are not even close to invulnerable. Even though all members of your team are equipped with armor, they can be easily incapacitated. As in reality, if an officer is shot by a suspect and receive enough injuries, they become incapacitated. If the player is incapacitated, the mission ends. Wounded players that have not been incapacitated suffer penalties depending on injury locations. Leg injuries result in a limp, and arm injuries result in loss of accuracy.
Multiplayer
SWAT 4 also features several multiplayer game modes, all of which are team-based: SWAT versus Suspects. The multiplayer modes are:
- Barricaded Suspects. Teams gain points by arresting or killing members of the other team. The team which hits the score limit first or has the highest score when the round time ends wins.
- VIP Escort. A random member of the SWAT team is selected to be the VIP. The suspects must arrest the VIP, hold him for two minutes and then execute him. The SWAT team must escort the VIP to an extraction point on the map. If the suspects kill the VIP without holding him for two minutes, SWAT wins. If a SWAT team member kills the VIP, suspects win.
- Rapid Deployment. 3 to 5 bombs are placed throughout the map. The SWAT team must locate and disable them all within a time limit, if they fail to do so, suspects win.
- Co-op. This allows the player to play through the single-player missions with up to four other people taking the place of computer-controlled SWAT officers. Many players and clans use the game as a platform for realistic operations, using real life tactics and organization.
Weapons
For most guns, it is possible to choose between standard hollow point ammunition (which is better suited for those enemies in Light Armour or with no armour as it has quite good stopping power and can cause most damage to unarmoured targets), and full metal jacket ammo, which provides better penetration and is advised for usage against heavy armored targets. It is advised not to use FMJ ammunition against those with Light Armor as there is a chance that it may go through the one wearing it and hit someone behind, who may be a civilian.
When playing online, the player has an added protections tab in the equipment selection. The player has to choose between gasmask or protective helmet, therefore even the SWAT team can be effected by CS gas if the helmet is selected. When choosing the gasmask however, the view of the player is partly blocked and therefore the view becomes smaller and player will be most vulnerable in the head without a helmet. The second option is to choose between light or heavy armor. At first it may feel like an obvious choice, but the movement speed of the player is greatly reduced when wearing the heavy armor so the light armor may be considered as an option if speed is important.
Trivia
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (June 2007) |
- SWAT 4 is the first game in the SWAT series that takes place in a location other than Los Angeles, California. It is not officially licensed by the Los Angeles Police Department SWAT Team like previous SWAT games. The game is set in the fictional city of "Fairview, New York" but clues within the game (such as the color scheme, precinct numbers, and patch on some police cars, accent of team mates, and Sonny Bonds) remind the player of New York City. However, on the Old Granite Hotel call-up, there is a clear view of the city's skyline, which appears to be that of Boston, Massachusetts. The Prudential Tower and 111 Huntington Avenue are clearly visible. This may be due to the fact that Irrational Games has a studio in Quincy, Massachusetts, which is just outside of Boston.
- The version 1.1 update for SWAT 4 added in-game advertising to the game, delivered by Massive Incorporated.[1] This caused controversy from the gaming community, and citing this example, GameSpot gave SWAT 4 the Best & Worst of 2005 award for "Most Despicable Product Placement".
- Sonny Bonds, the protagonist of the original Police Quest games, appears in this game as the player's superior officer. He instructs the player throughout the game's tutorial level, and also provides the player with mission briefings during the mission loadout. Jessie Bains, Bonds' arch-enemy on the first two Police Quest sequels, has his name in the entry lobby in the Red Library stage.
Critical response
SWAT 4 has been generally well received by computer game reviewers. Following is an a small list of some of the reviews.
- IGN review: 9/10
- GameSpy review: 4.5/5
- GameSpot review: 8.5/10
- GamePro review: 4/5
- EuroGamer review: 8/10
The Stetchkov Syndicate expansion
| SWAT 4: The Stetchkov Syndicate | |
|---|---|
| Cover art | |
| Developer(s) | Irrational Games |
| Publisher(s) | Vivendi Universal |
| Engine | Unreal Engine 2.5 |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release |  February 28 2006 March 10 2006 |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
An expansion pack for SWAT 4 was released on February 28 2006 in North America. The expansion includes seven new missions featuring the fictional Stetchkov crime family.
New Features
- VoIP capability has been added to multiplayer games.
- There are seven new missions.
- Two new multiplayer modes; "Smash and Grab" and "Co-op QMM" are included.
- The FN P90, Tec-9, the Desert Eagle, Cobra stun gun Colt Accurized Rifle, M249 SAW and the HK69 grenade launcher have been included.
- Suspects will now pick up their weapons if they are not swiftly arrested.
- 10 player Co-op up to 2 teams of 5.
- Weapons and equipment for both SWAT members and suspects.
- Stat tracking and ladders and rankings for multiplayers.
- Held Commands: Orders can be held in single player until the leader gives the GO Command.
- Unique Leader In Co-op: Option to have only one person issue commands and lead the team.
External links
- Official site
- SWAT 4 at MobyGames
- 10-David SWAT series fansite
- Swat4center "Sub-Official Page Swat4 & SWAT 4 - The Stetchkov Syndicate, Spanish Resource".