SWAT 4

[Father Goose]

I'm surprised that nobody here has really mentioned this game.

I absolutely loved SWAT 3. It was so realistic that it actually put me ahead of the game for my officer survival stuff when I went through my POST Academy.

I just (finally!) picked up SWAT 4 after playing the hell out of the demo. So far I really enjoy it. My only complaint is that the emphasis on saving lives is way out of wack with what really happens in law enforcement- you lose points for shooting ANYbody, even if they are killing other officers!

But the tactics, weapons and environments, as well as the AI are extremely well done.

A lot of stuff in squad based shooters that people are saying is so "revolutionary" was present in 1999's SWAT 3 and I have to say they've pretty much done it again.

Anybody else into this?

[Ramis]

You know, I loved Swat 3. I was way addicted to the single player, but I just can not seem to get into this one. I think they have taken the "Save lives" thing too far. Everytime I am trying to defend myself I end up losing points. About 9/10 criminals shoot even if you rush in with your entire team pointing guns at him first. And what are the point of the snipers? Are you expected to switch to them while you are in the room getting fired at? All they are good for is some recon into a few windows. I played the first 3 or 4 maps and it just really didnt feel like good ol' swat. I think they made it too complicated this time around.

[Father Goose]

They have taken the saving lives waaay too far. Overall I love the tactical action, but it's stupid to penalize me for saving my team members!

Tonight I was playing- I see a suspect and hit my f key. My character yells "Police! Hands in the air!" The bad guy instead begins leveling his pistol at me. I shoot him. Even though I did everything correctly I still lose points.

For those who are still under some kind of misconception, let me say this- when a cop is presented with a lethal threat (in this game it is some kind of gun) they do NOT taser subjects. They do not paintball them with pepper spray filled paintballs. They do not do any of these because they do not guarantee a safe outcome. They shoot to (as they taught us) STOP THE THREAT- which is to say, they shoot at the chest of the target.

For all of the consulting they did with real life cops to get the looks, tactics, etc correct, they really, really screwed that part up baaaad. But I still can't stop playing because I just love the action in this game.

[z3speed4me]

im broke....but ima try to download the demo to see how i like it...then maybe ill grab it, swat 3 was the shizzle though

[Father Goose]

The demo convinced me. No game is perfect, as we've discussed above. But the AI in SWAT 4 is good enough that your guys usually don't get caught with their flies down. They appropriately cover entrances and exits. They are very vocal, constantly letting you know what they see.

Unlike a little....errr...bug in SWAT 3, they don't freeze the SECOND they see a civilian- instead they issue commands to put their hands up and continue to move and cover correctly.