Here's the short of it, from the viewpoint of a big sci-fi fan and casual adventure game player: Fantastic atmosphere, great story, frustrating gameplay. The atmosphere absolutely nails it. As for the story, I sincerely enjoyed it. Had a strong Arthur C. Clarke vibe, which was fantastic. The gameplay was inconsistent and confusing. Often times, I was simply left wondering "What do I do?", and other times thinking "That item was for THAT thing?" Puzzles were sometimes unclear, and running around the map hoping to find the thing to advance the plot got old. I eventually succumbed to a guide. C'est la vie! Perhaps more seasoned pro's with more intelligence than I will have better luck. In the end, I am very glad to have enjoyed this game. It got more right than it did wrong, and if you enjoy sci-fi then I heartily recommend it!
Take this as a warning: you need to be the right person to enjoy this. It isn't a "game" per say, as you don't have objectives to accomplish. It is, however, a marvelous story and incredibly intriguing. The music is stupendous, the narration flawless, the writing superb, and the atmosphere hits all the right notes. It was an engrossing, fascinating, wonderful experience from start to finish. I still occasionally run through it, just to enjoy the setting. If you like visual novels, or you like narrative experiences, you will very much enjoy this game.
I don't like long reviews, so here's my one-sentence summary of Swat 4: Swat 4 is the absolute best tactical shooter ever created, it takes everything Swat 3 did and improves it, and I consider it a must-play game. If you've ever wanted to be a member of a SWAT team, this is your game. There are no others. In fact, it's so good that there was a mod developed featuring the Canadian Forces and was in fact used by the Canadian Army for training. Yeah, it's that legit. So get it, you won't regret it.
Sometimes you just need to get behind the controls of a big mech with a comically over-sized space-sword and obliterate your way through thousands of hapless enemies in spectacular fashion. Astebreed lets you do exactly that. Tight, simple controls, stunning visuals, solid mechanics, and enough baddies to fill an Olympic swimming pool. If Olympic swimming pools were the size of galaxies. There is a story, but if you can read the subtitles while splintering your way through the legions of evil then you must also be able to organize a feather collection while riding a unicycle in a hurricane. I missed most of it because taking your eyes off the screen for more than a fraction of a nano-second is just asking to be atomized by the force of several million missiles being crammed into your face. But honestly who cares? All you need to know is you have a bad-ass mech, and every single killer robot this side of the Andromeda galaxy wants to devour you and crap out the pieces. Good enough for me. The sound is good, nothing to write home about but it does the job. Music is quite good, though honestly it's difficult to pay attention to it when every single synapse in your brain is dedicated to avoiding the geyser of incoming rounds. Several times during game-play I found myself gasping for breath because I had no idea I was holding it in. If that isn't the mark of a good game, I don't know what is. Bottom line: if you like descending into the pits of glorious bullet-laden madness, this is the game for you. PS: Kiss the thumb on your right hand goodbye now, because it WILL become an arthritic claw before you finish the campaign.
