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''SWAT 4'' is a 2005
tactical shooter A tactical shooter is a subgenre of shooter games that cover both the first-person shooter and third-person shooter genres. These games aim to simulate realistic combat through slower-paced and punishing gameplay. This makes tactics, planning, ...
video game developed by
Irrational Games Irrational Games (known as 2K Boston between 2007 and 2009) was an American video game developer founded in 1997 by three former employees of Looking Glass Studios: Ken Levine, Jonathan Chey, and Robert Fermier. Take-Two Interactive acquired t ...
and published by
Sierra Entertainment Sierra Entertainment, Inc. (formerly On-Line Systems and Sierra On-Line, Inc.) was an American video game developer and publisher founded in 1979 by Ken and Roberta Williams. The company is known for pioneering the graphic adventure game genre ...
( Vivendi Universal Games) exclusively for
Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...
. It was built on Irrational Games' Vengeance Engine powered by
Unreal Engine 2 Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter game ''Unreal''. Initially developed for PC first-person shooters, it has since been used in a variety of genres ...
technology. In ''SWAT 4'', the player leads a
SWAT In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...
element in resolving various situations, such as Hostage Rescues or apprehensions of dangerous subjects, simulating the experiences of real-life
Special Weapons and Tactics In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...
operators.


Gameplay


Single-player


Setting

Unlike previous installments in the ''
Police Quest ''Police Quest'' (or ''SWAT'') is a series of police simulation video games produced and published by Sierra On-Line between 1987 and 1998. The first five were adventure simulation games, the first three of which were designed by former police ...
'' video game series, which followed
LAPD SWAT Metropolitan Division, also known as METRO, is an elite division with in the Los Angeles Police Department under Special Operations Bureau which is responsible for managing the department's specialized units, including the Line Platoons(B Team, ...
officers through missions set in
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, the single-player campaign of ''SWAT 4'' takes place in New York City, during the game's then-future of 2008 to 2009. During the single-player campaign, the player is tasked with leading a five-man police SWAT team, also known as an "element", through 13 missions. Campaign In SWAT 4, the player first starts off by undergoing training at Riverside Training Facility, under the guidance of police
Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
Sonny Bonds. The training will teach players how to clear rooms, fire weapons, command his "element", and learn how to use the snipers. Thereafter, players will start to be deployed to various places for operations, such as hostage situations, barricaded suspects and habitual high-risk warrant services. Gameplay The practice of only using lethal force when necessary is always highlighted in the game. Operators are supposed to abide by the Rules of Engagement while carrying out operations. As SWAT is a life-saving organization, reckless use of lethal force would not be appropriate. For example, Operators cannot fire lethal rounds at a fleeing suspect, as he/she does not pose an immediate threat to anyone in the nearby vicinity. Doing so will result in a penalty for unauthorized use of force, which may influence the outcome of the mission. Hence, the score that is given to Lead Operators after every operation is based on the RoE. The score will factor in the number of suspects successfully arrested, the number of evidence secured and the injuries Operators sustain while in the operation. Penalties such as the unauthorized use of force, the unauthorized use of deadly force, the incapacitation of a hostage, and the injuring of a fellow officer are also awarded. A wide array of weapons are available for selection during the pre-mission briefing, ranging from lethal weapons such as the M4A1 Colt Carbine, to
less-lethal weapon Non-lethal weapons, also called nonlethal weapons, less-lethal weapons, less-than-lethal weapons, non-deadly weapons, compliance weapons, or pain-inducing weapons are weapons intended to be less likely to kill a living target than conventiona ...
s like the Less-Lethal Shotgun, and the Pepper-Ball Gun. Operators can also wear varying levels of armor and headgear during operations, such as Kevlar vests and gas masks. Other equipment such as the Optiwand and door wedges are also available for use. Each Operator is fitted with a helmet camera, which can be used to issue commands from. The pre-mission briefing, which the Lead Operator will have access to before every mission, consists of a summary of the operation, the 911 call made by civilians inside the compromised building (if available), selection of weapons and intelligence about the suspects, civilians, a map of the building and a timeline of events. Players can choose from two entry points in most operations. As all aggressors are innocent until proven guilty, hostiles are referred to as "suspects", in SWAT 4. Regardless, all non-incapacitated personnel (including "civilians") are to be treated with caution and must be restrained. Suspects range from being poorly-organized, ill-equipped and nonresistant to arrest, to well-organized, well-equipped and being resistant to arrest as the game progresses. New equipment is available to use after every successful mission. Operators will listen for your commands before acting. For example, a suspect may have surrendered, but Operators will only take these suspects into custody only after the command to restrain them is given. However, Operators will also act on their own accord. For example, Operators may fire on uncooperative suspects in self-defense, without being commanded to.


Multiplayer

''SWAT 4'' also features several multiplayer game modes, all of which are team-based: SWAT versus suspects. The multiplayer modes are: * Barricaded Suspects. Teams gain points by arresting or killing members of the other team. The team which hits the score limit first or has the highest score when the round time ends wins. * VIP Escort. A random member of the SWAT team is selected to be the VIP. The suspects must arrest the VIP, hold him for two minutes and then execute him. The SWAT team must escort the VIP to an extraction point on the map. If the suspects kill the VIP without holding him for two minutes, SWAT wins. If a SWAT team member kills the VIP, suspects win. * Rapid Deployment. Three to five bombs are placed throughout the map. The SWAT team must locate and disable them all within a time limit if they fail to do so, suspects win. * Co-op. This allows the player to play through the single-player missions with up to four other people taking the place of computer-controlled SWAT officers. In the expansion, Co-op can run on custom missions and with up to ten players per game, which can further be split into two completely separate teams (red and blue) with a leader each. This is not similar to single player teams where an element leader controls both teams. * Smash & Grab. (Only available on The Stetchkov Syndicate expansion) The suspects must collect the briefcase and take it to the exit before the timer runs out. The officers must stop the suspects from reaching the exit with the briefcase. If a suspect is arrested, 30 seconds are deduced from the game clock; if a suspect is killed or arrested carrying the briefcase, the case stays where it is dropped. Officers cannot pick up the briefcase.


List of missions

* Food Wall Restaurant * Fairfax Residence * Qwik Fuel Convenience Store * A-Bomb Nightclub * Victory Imports Auto Center * Red Library Offices * Northside Vending and Amusements * Duplessis Wholesale Diamond Center * Children of Taronne Tenement * St. Michael's Medical Center * The Wolcott Projects * The Old Granite Hotel * Mount Threshold Research Center


Reception

''SWAT 4'' received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
. On a computer game sales chart compiled by NPD Techworld, it claimed tenth place for the week ending April 17. It finished 11th for the month of April overall, at an average retail price of $48.
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
's Bob Colayco stated that "as a realistic police simulator, ''SWAT 4'' definitely hits the mark. Though the frame rate gets chunky at times, and there are a couple of irritating bugs and quirks, the AI delivers on most counts in a game that is designed with great replayability." The website later criticized a feature of the first
patch Patch or Patches may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Patch Johnson, a fictional character from ''Days of Our Lives'' * Patch (''My Little Pony''), a toy * "Patches" (Dickey Lee song), 1962 * "Patches" (Chairmen of the Board song ...
for ''SWAT 4'', where updated environments featured advertisement posters for real-world television series, and after the game was closed data regarding how the player treated the product placement was sent to the developers. IGN's Dan Adams said that "Irrational's new addition to the venerable ''SWAT'' franchise does a brilliant job of picking up on all of the things that make ''SWAT'' work so exciting from the outside perspective". Adams was also critical of the friendly artificial intelligence, stating that "sometimes the team will bust into a room on command and take down everybody with enough efficiency to be impressive while other times they'll run straight past an enemy looking to cover a certain area of the room only to get shot in the back of the head". ''SWAT 4'' was a runner-up for ''
Computer Games Magazine ''Computer Games Magazine'' was a monthly computer and console gaming print magazine, founded in October 1988 as the United Kingdom publication ''Games International''. During its history, it was known variously as ''Strategy Plus'' (October 19 ...
''s list of the top 10 computer games of 2005.


''SWAT 4: The Stetchkov Syndicate''

''SWAT 4: The Stetchkov Syndicate'' is an
expansion pack An expansion pack, expansion set, supplement, or simply expansion is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game, video game or collectible card game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, characters, or ...
for ''SWAT 4'' released on February 28, 2006 in North America and on March 10, 2006 in Europe, and is based on the fictional Stetchkov family. Various improvements to the game have been made, such as the addition of
VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Internet t ...
capability to multiplayer games, seven new single-player missions, two new multiplayer modes and seven new weapons. Players may also use their fists to punch suspects and civilians if they are not compliant. Suspects will now also pick up their weapons if they are not swiftly arrested. 10 player co-op with up to two teams of five, stat tracking, ladders and rankings for multiplayer along with the ability to hold commands in single-player missions until the lead operator gives the signal were also added. An option for the appointment of lead operators to issue commands for the red and blue teams in multiplayer was also added. This is the final game of the ''Police Quest'' series to date to be released on Windows.


Reception

''The Stetchkov Syndicate'' received "favorable" reviews, a bit less than the original ''SWAT 4'', according to Metacritic.


Notes


References


External links

* * {{Irrational Games 2005 video games Cooperative video games Filicide in fiction Irrational Games Multiplayer online games Police Quest and SWAT Sierra Entertainment games Tactical shooter video games Unreal Engine games Video games about police officers Video games scored by Eric Brosius Video games set in 2008 Video games with expansion packs Windows games Windows-only games Video games using Havok Video games set in 2009 Video games developed in the United States