At release? Unacceptable. Now? One of my top five best games I've ever played.
SWAT 4 is a unique beast. A shooter that emphasizes NOT shooting people. By sticking somewhat to police procedure, it has created a room-to-room slow paced tactical experience in a way no other has. I found myself physically tensing up as I leveled my weapon at an armed suspect and said aloud "Don't be an idiot, put it down!" My roommate gave me a very strange look as he couldn't see what I was doing, but that was the point I realized this game had it's hooks in me. The tension, the tactics, and yes, the failure. If you play SWAT 4, you will die. A corner camping bad guy will drop your entire squad, a slight delay in the games calculations will cause a perp to kill you just as you pull the trigger, be prepared to fail. That being said, it never stopped me playing. Missions are delectable bite-sized experiences and failure only makes me mad enough to go back in. The second time you'll know the layout better, the third you'll know where guys like to spawn, after that it's just a matter of careful thinking, good aim and good reaction time. Besides, the failure is half of the fun! Eventually, you'll stop grumbling and start laughing. Some of the ways you can completely botch a room breaching will leave you rolling on the floor, particularly in multiplayer. In closing, if you're a shooter fan, a tactics fan, or just find yourself wandering around your house with a finger gun, sweeping rooms and yelling "Police! Get down!" because you're bored, I recommend playing SWAT 4, at long last released on GOG. tl;dr: Yelled for a black guy to get down, he ran, shot him in the back, mission failed due to unauthorized use of deadly force against a civilian. 0/10 least realistic police simulation ever.
