SWAT 4 Review
Played on:
Windows
The SWAT games have seen some moderate success over the years, with quite a few developers contributing to the series. So far, Sierra's always tried to put a semi-realistic spin on things, focusing on police-oriented tactics and using the gadgets that real SWAT officers use in high risk situations. SWAT 3 turned the series from adventure game to first person shooter, and while that game wasn't really that great, thankfully this one's excellent.
This time, Sierra parent company Vivendi Universal Games tapped System Shock 2 and Tribes: Vengeance creators Irrational Games for the latest in the SWAT franchise. And Irrational has really come out strong with SWAT 4: it's got strong, gritty visuals, real-life scenarios, cooperative multiplayer modes, and a slightly random system that makes every time you try a mission just a little different than the last.
SWAT 4 uses the latest iteration of Epic's Unreal engine, and on my computer, the game ran very smoothly at 1280x1024 resolution. There are some pretty impressive special effects in this game, and Irrational spent more time on the visuals than I would really expect out of a tactical squad-based shooter. There are some really cool special effects used here, like high dynamic range lighting, great flashlight effects, plenty of specular lighting which really brings the game's textures to life, and more. It comes at a cost of frame rate, though; while my computer ran the game nicely, it's apparently pretty tough to enjoy with anything less than 1GB of memory. You can turn down most of the eye candy, but the game doesn't really seem to scale all that well, so keep that in mind when making your decision whether or not to buy SWAT 4.
This game puts a lot of effort into making the player understand that this is not your normal shooter, nor is it your normal tactical shooter. Rainbow Six veterans are in for a surprise here when the mission abruptly ends the first time you kill a civilian, or when they get penalized for killing a suspect that was in the process of dropping his weapon. In SWAT 4, just about every mission has both hostile enemies who will shoot you on sight, as well as innocent civilians who will sometimes cooperate but will also run or resist being handcuffed.
Each mission is in a specific, unique locale; there's a night club, a large body shop, the creepy home of a serial killer, an old Asian restaurant, a gas station, a hospital, and more. While the special effects are very nice, the best part of this game visually is the attention to detail. Each building is full of stuff that you'd expect to see in a real life location; the auto shop has tools and cases of motor oil around everywhere, the club's got posters for various concerts everywhere, and the IT office has banners up tooting a company's horn about data recovery. It all adds up to an atmosphere that feels much more real than what you'd get in most first person shooters.
Suspects in SWAT 4 don't immediately lay down their guns or start shooting you when you bust in the door. Sometimes, they'll run to get their buddies, and sometimes they'll just stay put waiting for you to make the first move. Press the Use key to yell at them to drop their weapons, and they might do it without a fight. Other times, they'll start shooting, or they might choose to run at that moment. And this is when you need to understand deadly force and how it works in this game.
I'm sure you've heard the term "unauthorized use of deadly force" in real life, and it matters here. If a suspect starts running from you and you shoot to kill, you'll get a penalty to your score at the end of a mission. The difficulty level dictates how many points you'll need to proceed, with a perfect score always being 100 out of 100. On the highest difficulty, you'll need at least 95/100 to pass, and only one instance of shooting to kill when not absolutely necessary to screw up the mission for you. From this description, it sounds like it's really annoying to play this game, but with the types of non- or "less-" lethal weapons available to you, it becomes an interesting to figure out how to win without killing anyone.
Because of this, the game seems to want to push you towards using non-lethal weapons, including the rather odd paintball gun that fires little bullets loaded with pepper spray. If that doesn't do it for you, there's a beanbag-firing shotgun that can incapacitate suspects quickly. The problem with these weapons is that some of the suspects will have Kevlar vests, gas masks, or both, so you might need to put a beanbag into a guy's crotch or thigh to make him give up. Doing this all while he's firing a real shotgun or assault rifle at you can be difficult.
And this is why you have a squad to back you up. You'll be in command of four guys during missions, along with one or two snipers who will cover specific rooms in each level. For the most part, the AI for your squad's pretty decent, but you'll need to really take charge if you want to get through some missions with a perfect rating. If you send your squad through a door, make sure you back them up with flashbangs, gas grenades, or your own fire, because one dude standing behind the door with a shotgun can literally take out your whole squad if you send them charging in without the right preparations.
Your sniper(s) can't be moved around directly, but what you can do is use the picture-in-picture camera system and take control of his aiming. You can then shoot to kill or to just injure at your own discretion, but you can only fire a sniper rifle; there's no sending in canisters of gases through the windows. It's still really cool to be able to control this how you want, and you can also control your own squad (which are split up into two separate teams) in the same way. If a room's got two entrances, you can coordinate and send two guys into each entrance at once, all with the game's fairly slick command interface, and you can watch the action of any one guy's viewpoint through the camera system.
There are some real annoyances I found with SWAT 4, mostly related to getting a 100/100 perfect rating. First, any weapons that the suspects drop must be collected up for a perfect score. Well, sometimes they will throw them inside another object or a wall, making them impossible to pick up. Next, for some reason you have to cuff every civilian or hostage, and report their status to your command post (along with reporting any dead squadmates, arrested suspects, or incapacitated suspects or civilians). Reporting is easy - it just requires you to point and hit the Use key - but the last thing I want to do after surviving a tough mission is to troll through the level doing essentially video game paperwork.
Another issue I found is with suspects or civilians that won't cooperate. Apparently, sticking a gun in their face is not enough, and the only solution you have is to either shoot them in the legs to incapacitate them (costing you vital points), or switch to the hand-held pepper spray or tazer and pop them - then they'll give in. The problem is that if you're dealing with multiple suspects at once, you've got to dance around the room with your pepper spray, making sure they're all sprayed up while you go through the efforts of arresting them.
AI squadmates are little help during all this, because they cannot subdue suspects who resist arrest in this way. In fact, if your four squadmates all have non-lethal weapons, one guy with a shotgun, completely surrounded by SWAT cops, can eventually kill them all because the AI has no idea what to do with a guy who won't give up on his own. Yes, this actually happened to me during a mission when I was busy rounding up and arresting hostages (yeah, I don't understand that part either) and a suspect killed all of my buddies two rooms over. A related problem with this is that there is no way to tackle or subdue enemies with any physical force; you can't smash a suspect with the butt of your rifle to put him to the ground. It feels really odd having to wait for the guy to get on his knees himself before you can cuff him.
The other thing I'd like to mention is that damage here is pretty realistic. While SWAT officers usually have Kevlar vests on, a shotgun blast to the chest will still put you down and out for a while. And in this game, one good shot will kill or incapacitate you, and that means game over. With no save game function, this can become a real source of frustration for those who hate having to restart missions.
And on that subject, I've got to say that this game requires much more patience than many FPS titles. If the idea of no quicksaves, careful tactics instead of going into a room guns blazing, and using your squad to back you up turns you off, then avoid this title altogether. Those elements are such a huge part of the SWAT 4 experience that some gamers will find very few redeeming qualities here. It comes down to preference, and while I see this game as a fresh change from the DOOM 3s and Serious Sams of the last few years, I understand that SWAT 4 is not for everyone.
But if this is your kind of game, then SWAT 4 does offer plenty. On top of the selection of missions you can play through, the random element makes them different every time - suspects and hostages will be in different places with different weapons, so you'll always have to do a little guesswork. You can also create an "instant action" mission. On top of all this, the game includes a full range of multiplayer modes, including the elusive cooperative action that so many game developers ignore nowadays.
Not only can you do every single player mission in a co-op multiplayer style, but you can also modify the parameters of missions to create your own goals, and then play those cooperatively too. When playing co-op modes, the leader can give orders and the rest of the guys on the team will see markers pointing to stuff so there's no confusion. With up to five guys playing together either in the same room or using voice chat with a program like TeamSpeak, I can definitely see huge potential for fun here. The only thing that seems to be missing is a true map editor for real longevity with online play.
The other multiplayer modes here include team deathmatch, bomb defusal, and VIP escort. These allow up to 16 players to get together online, and for the most part these are all done pretty well. The co-op modes are where I'll be, though, since we've seen team deathmatch dozens of times in previous games.
SWAT 4's sound is wonderful, with deep, satisfying gunfire, plenty of great ambience, and lots of speech mixed in. The sounds of suspects choking on pepper spray can get a bit overwhelming, but they'll also complain once they've been busted and your own squadmates will make choice comments on the environments they're in. There's some generic action-y music that kicks in when the game notices you're in a firefight, but it's all pretty forgettable.
Irrational Games' SWAT 4 delivers an interesting first person shooter experience that rewards superior tactics and patience above all else. Its visuals match its wonderful atmosphere, the gunplay's great, and the multiplayer options are extensive. While the system requirements are a bit rough and the gameplay style will turn off some gamers, it's still a great game. Any FPS fan who wants to play a slower-paced, yet still action-oriented experience should look into SWAT 4.
