The last remaining survivor of the once venerable Police Quest series, Daryl F. Gates’ SWAT marked a new direction for Sierra, combining the logical thinking of the adventure series with the fast-paced action of a shooter.What this spelt was a new franchise that was to see the publisher into the new millennium.
It’s because of this that we’re lucky enough to have the fourth installment of SWAT in 2005, the series now firmly entrenched in its genre, next to Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six.The new installment at its core a tweaked-up version of SWAT 3, done with a new engine and a variety of fresh bits to perfect an already strong formula.
In SWAT 4, the player’s in control of two teams of officers and a sniper. Using these resources, you must tackle a series of unrelated situations from rescuing hostages to securing illegal weapons.
As a result, the emphasis is placed on careful investigation of each environment and the wise selection of appropriate weapons and tools. And there are plenty to choose from.Although many players will be happy that there’s a solid choice of primary weapons from silenced MP5s to 12-guage shotguns, these fade into the background when you realise shooting is a small part of the main game. Most of the time, your team will be taking it slow – throwing flash grenades, using lock picks and checking under doors.
Once in-game you can easily control each team using a ‘window-in-a-window’ interface, which lets you give commands to team mates when they’re out of your line of sight, facilitating coordinated breaches. An easy-touse and intuitive ordering system makes directing your team painless.
In addition to clearing rooms and making arrests, SWAT 4 will present you with situations that require a little lateral thinking. For instance, in one of the earlier missions an old woman refuses to cooperate, and the only way to get her to comply with your requests is to use the taser or pepper-spray.
When you’re all done with the single player, SWAT 4 also comes with a basic but wellfeatured quick mission creator and co-op/versus multiplayer over LAN and the internet.
If SWAT 4 has a weakness, it is in the lack of a main story to help spur the player on, and almost no attachment to your team mates. At times, it makes the experience somewhat clinical. All in all though, SWAT 4 is a welcome addition to the SWAT series. Daryl would be proud.