SWAT 4: Gold Edition

It really is a bummer we never got more of this. One of my favorite bits of the game is the briefing and subsequent loadout selection and deployment. Sometimes you get lots of info, even official blueprints. Other times, it's a sketch on a napkin and not much else. Also, squad orders! So much fun. You have red and blue squads (collectively gold) and you can issue orders separately or together, and even have one squad wait to execute until the other squad does its thing. Gotta be slow, gotta be careful. Secure evidence, secure hostages, try to take the bad guys alive. I think it aged fairly well. The graphics are tolerable. It is NOT a fast paced action shooter. You're gonna have a bad time if you try that.

It is a good game, one of a kind, but you might only want to play it for multiplayer purposes. After a while you cannot look past the huge amount of mistakes the AI (on your team) make. They can block eachother so they will not shoot at a suspect holding an AK47, thus both being eliminated. Don't let them drop the flashbangs etc. in a room either. Every now and then they will simply stand in the doorway, in line of sight with a terrorist, waiting for the device to detonate, thus being elimated before detonation of the device. At times it's just best to leave your team behind en clear most of the map on your own.

Swat 4 is astounding. When I pick up any of my preferred FPS titles, I expect to plow through hordes of enemies and expending enough ammunition to bankrupt your average mob. Well, Swat 4 is not like most other shooters. When I open up Swat 4, I load up with my favorite non-lethal equipment and get ready for a delightfully tense, and slow paced experience. Every action should be thoughtful and deliberate, lest you should end up losing that hostages you tried so hard to protect. Delving into the criminal underworld was never so exciting. Furthermore, the multi-player experience was always phenomenal. Grab a few good friends and have a rip roaring good time. Each player may have a unique and important role, which requires a great deal of communication, coordination, and proper timing. Certainly you can lone wolf it if you feel so inclined. But Swat 4 rewarded teamwork with so much more than simple success. It made the effort invested in working together, really and truly fun. Stacking up, breaching doors as a team. coordinating an arrest, screwing up and getting your buddies killed, all wonderful memories! The game does an excellent job making you work for that successful mission. And when you cuff that last perp, you feel like you really earned that cheesy one liner you had been saving for this very moment. I have played very few shooters so unique and tense as this incredible title. Welcome back Swat 4!

One of my favourite tactical shooters I've played. Crushingly difficult at times, and almost unfair, but with a solid set of rules and pretty decent controls for a game of its age and detail. The central theme is simple: a first-person-shooter where shooting your enemies is a last resort. The variety of weapons and gadgets gives you a choice of playstyles, from a frontal assault to a meticulously planned breach. The game is a tad slow, and definitely unforgiving. It's also got co-op multiplayer!

Better that Ready or Not