The TPS Report - Games, Beats 'n' Blogs

Thoughts On SWAT 4 For the PC & More Specifically, It's New Add-On
Posted by Diggler - 19/3/2006 1:00

SWAT 4 appeared a year back on PCs, but as of last month, has been beefed up by a brand new expansion, packed full of sweetness

Although this is a look at the new SWAT 4 add-on - The Stetchkov Syndicate - pretty much everything stated here applies to the main game too. If you've yet to play SWAT 4, it's a far more original and interesting take on the typical squad-based FPS formula. You can't rely on Rambo-esque spray and prey tactics here sir, as a member of the police force you have to abide by that troublesome rule-set known as The Law, meaning suspects must all be ordered to drop their weapons, handcuffed and then radioed in. Only if they disobey you at any point along this chain are you free to open up and use, ahem, force.

This may sound a little annoying and possibly dull, but in practice it works rather splendidly. Storming a room and taking down bad guys is comprised of numerous adrenaline jolts and crazy reflex tests, as you suss out who is co-operating and who needs a "helping hand". Yelling at a perp to drop his weapon may often work as intended, but it can just as often result in a response of, "Screw you!" as they open fire with that Uzi planted firmly in their hands. If you aren't thinking on your toes while acting half on instinct, you'll drop dead before you even hear the end of that sentence. It gets brutal I tell ya.

The game really does work some beautiful moments into this dynamic, such as the perp who'll drop his gun and raise his hands, only to whip out a secondary pistol when you lower your guard and approach to cuff him. It's these split second decisions that keep the game interesting, where you not only have to spot what's happening on a millisecond by millisecond basis, but also possess the sheer twitch skills necessary to make that all important shot, while simultaneously avoiding hitting civilians and your squad mates at the same time. This stuff not only excites hugely, but also makes SWAT play decidedly different to Half-Life, Battlefield, or any other FPS on the market.

Goodies

C4 packs are just one of the many gizmos at your disposal in thwarting crime

Added depth also comes in the form of some rather brilliant gadgets. Optiwands allow you to peek under doors, Sam Fisher style, adding more of a stealth element when used in conjunction with the lock pick, while C4 explosives allow for a more "aggressive" approach. These are joined by breeching shotguns, a wide selection of grenades, and one of the all-time classic gaming gadgets, the utterly hilarious taser pistol, among others.

The head cameras are an additional stroke of genius, providing real-time feeds in the corner of your screen as to what your team mates are seeing at all times. In the single player mode, you can even check out distant sniper views of your objectives through this thing.

This new expansion provides seven additional missions to add to the original, a varied selection that feel considerably larger and more open than those to be found in the main game. The subway level for instance, is so long as to border on epic. They've also added a few new guns to the load-out screen here - of which the Colt Accurized is particularly awesome - as well as the ever so slightly useless night-vision goggles. Best of all though, you can now perform melee attacks, great for twatting some sense into those who refuse to cooperate, and ripe for comedy moments.

Graphics seem mildly improved for the add-on, with nice bloom effects and debris out on display, let down solely by SWAT 4's piss poor character models that are at cartoony odds with its bump-map heavy movie-like architecture.

Get Out of There It's Gonna Blow

As a single player experience, both SWAT 4 and its expansion are somewhat short, almost bland affairs. Harsh? Perhaps. The truth though is that storming these crack dens and terror hideouts just ain't particularly memorable when you do it with nowt but 3 AI squad mates.

Fire up the all too pivotal co-op mode though - either over the internet or via LAN - and SWAT 4 suddenly springs to life. I know I go on and on about the beauty of co-op games perhaps more than I should, but damn it, play SWAT 4 and you'll soon see why. It really is one of the multiplayer greats.

Vanilla SWAT 4 features an ace 5 player co-op mode, with the add-on upping that limit to 10

It's worth noting that for this new add-on, the player limit on the co-op mode has also been raised from 5 to 10. Your roster of players is essentially divided up into 2 separate squads of 5, with each assaulting a different entrance simultaneously. With a full 10 man team, it can be pretty damn chaotic at times though...arguably too much so. 10 heavily armed law enforcers all attempting to squeeze down a claustrophobic corridor at once ain't exactly a picture of stealth, although I guess avoiding such pitfalls ultimately depends more on your use of tactics and abilities as a team. Personally though, 4 or 5 players seems a far more comfortable and stable number for online outings.

You'll also find some additional gameplay modes thrown in for the multiplayer fans, such as your more standard versus stuff, and VIP escort missions. Similar to the long-lost Counter-Strike mode, here one team must see a randomly selected player across a map in one piece, while the opposing team is tasked with capturing him, keeping him hostage for at least two minutes, and finally assassinating him.

These new modes are a nice bonus and all, but really just minor diversions from what really matters. Whether 2 man strong or 10, co-operative SWAT is really where it's at. It's such a blast in fact, that it was pretty much my sole - and hugely justified - reason for buying the sucker. Breeching doors while a team mate chucks in a flash grenade, before piling in en masse and taking down a room full of terrorists is a moment of pure brilliance that - at least on PC - can't really be found anywhere else right now.

Woops

Powered by the previous Unreal engine, SWAT 4's pleasing visuals are let down only by these low poly, and downright ugly character models

And the humour, dear lord. SWAT's full of those one in a million accidental moments of comic genius that stick with you for an age...whether it be mistakenly blowing your buddy's head apart as he leans around a corner in front of you...or firing off a gas grenade instead of a flash bang and watching your entire team cough up a storm 'cos they forgot to pack their gas masks. Not to mention of course, the inevitable revenge taserings that pretty much run rampant throughout every single game you play. Good times.

I get the feeling that the upcoming Rainbow Six: Vegas will provide a full-on "next gen" upgrade to SWAT's aging, basic premise, adding in the stunning detail and incredible graphics we demand in this day and age. I'm telling ya though, while you wait for that inevitable bad boy, you could do a heck of a lot worse than check out the ever so slightly dated, yet still hilariously brilliant SWAT 4 and The Stetchkov Syndicate. They currently sell in a double pack for about 20 sheets, and are unquestionably providing the most fun on the PC for me right now.

(Pictures courtesy of Sierra)