SWAT 4 - the review thread...

[weemadando]

So, I went and bought it.

And its awesome. Gameplay is sweet and the new gizmos are UNBELIEVABLE COOL - door wedges are the best fucking thing ever.

But unfortunately its beginning to suffer from the HOW MANY FUCKING SUSPECTS problem that the original did.

For example - Red Library Offices - apparently after a botched robbery suspects were engaged in a vehicular chase with units before crashing their vehicle and going into an office building and taking hostages. I start the mission thinking - this shouldn't be too bad, maximum of 8 suspects, I think... 15+ suspects later: WHAT THE FUCK WERE THEY MAKING THEIR GETAWAY IN, A FUCKING BUS? The briefing said that they only asked for 2 bullet proof vests and 2 gas masks. Obviously a clever ploy to cover up their real numbers (20 or so in the end). This is sadly becoming the case more and more in these missions, though in some it makes sense... Like the gang-war level.

Awesome new things:

1) Door wedges - jam a door shut tight to cut off escape routes or secure areas behind you. Watching a suspect flee from your steadily advancing officers only to reach a door and realise he can't open it, and immediately surrender - no better feeling.

2) Pepperball gun - Its soooooo damn cool. 100/100 scores have never been easier. Its long range and causes a small area effect when it hits and you don't get penalties for just unleashing with it.

3) Optiwand - just say yes.

4) Pepper spray - Hilarious and very very effective.

5) Tasers - The only secondary weapon you should ever need.

6) Sierra/Highground - Simply fucking wonderful. Being able to direct sniper fire during an entry is excellent. I had one on the aforementioned Red Library level where a suspect had an AK to a hostages head behind some cover in a conference room. I order my men to breach bang and clear. I take over sniper control and as the door breaches and the flashbangs fly I put a 7.62mm round straight into the suspects skull. He falls down, a second suspect immediately surrenders to the officers in the room. Its just cool. Plus you can use it for surveillance... But who needs that.

7) Fairfax Residence mission - I won't spoil it. But CREEEEEEEPY!

8) Smack-talking - be it your officers or the suspects, they just can't keep it too themselves.


Gripes: AI is sometimes questionable. Too many suspects. No plot. And most importantly, no debrief/feel good screen. Sure you get your mission stats, but you don't get a cool newspaper article or TV footage of your raid or anything. Would have been a nice touch.

[Stark]

Hurm. Did they fix the team AI problems with the demo?

The huge numbers of suspects is just lame. Tell me they're terrorists or something, not huge groups of gangbangers out knocking over the 7-11.

[weemadando]

A few of the missions it makes sense that there are a large number of suspects.

Such as the MASSIVE DuPleissis Diamond raid - where a van full of guys with AKs and body armour and support on the inside have done a ramraid on a diamond warehouse - and likely have more vehicles outside.

Or the A-Bomb nightclub mission where there's a gang-war in progress inside the club.

But missions like Red Library where apparently 20 bad guys were in one car (were these guys circus clowns or something) and it even goes contrary to the briefing...

Or some missions where there is an additional suspect there with ABSOLUTELY no reason for them to be there and its never explained either. Its a pain.

And the AI has a few quibbles - such as telling them to mirror an open door, so what do they do? Walk PAST the door to stack up, before proceeding with their "covert" action.


And I am suffering from Taser over-use. I was playing a quick mission before and had an uncooperative hostage, so quick as a flash I swapped to secondary weapon and fired. Before realising that I'd packed my Colt .45 instead of my Taser. Yeah. Not good.