SWAT 4: Special Weapons and Tactics

by Vivendi Universal

Product Features

• Futuristic action adventure game
• Reclaim the streets of Los Angeles as an elite SWAT officer
• Many new configurable weapons
• more than 150 characters
• 24 person multiplayer mode

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005WF9V
• Product Dimensions: 1.4 x 5.3 x 7.6 inches ; 4.5 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: April 5, 2005
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,748 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Looking for a tactical shooter that asks you to do more than charge a building, guns a' blazin'? With a focus on sparing as many lives as possible, SWAT 4 not only raises the stakes, it raises the realism to a new level. Choose your loadout carefully and only go lethal when all else fails and the lives of innocents or a squad member are at stake.

In SWAT 4, you're the leader, nicknamed "Boss," and it's your job to command three other specialists through a variety of missions in every corner of a perilous, crime-infested city. Your special weapons and tactics squad consists of basic specialist types, an Assaulter, a Breacher, a Scout and a Non-lethal Specialist. These specialists can be customized to your tastes, and you can pick weapons that suit your mission objectives and plan. In keeping with SWAT 4's focus on non-lethal, life-preserving engagements, you can choose weapons such as tasers, flashbang grenades, and a bean bag-hurling shotgun. Of course, many situations turn hot, and the baddies you'll face will be well armed, so there is a complete selection of lethal firepower, as well.

Your missions will focus on neutralizing criminal elements and taking as many suspects into custody as possible. How you do that is up to you, but the game demands restraint, stealth and an eye for gaining the tactical advantage over opponents. You'll use items like the "Optiwand" to look around corners and under doors to scout for foes, before rushing in and subduing a suspect with pepper spray, CS gas or, if things turn ugly, live rounds. Be careful, though; killing innocents will end your mission immediately.

As squad leader, you make the ultimate calls about whether to enter rooms, open fire, or retreat. You'll command three other capable comrades with the only goal of keeping people alive. SWAT 4's intuitive command system will have you giving orders and organizing your team effectively in no time. All commands are contextual, meaning the game provides possible options depending on the situation you're in. This allows you to make decisions quickly, because when lives are at stake and the action heats up, one thing you don't have is a lot of time.

The SWAT franchise is well known for great multi-player action, and SWAT 4 is no exception. You can play online in one of three modes, Barricaded Suspects, V.I.P. Escort, or Rapid Deployment. Each mode comes with unique challenges and makes special demands on your powers of cooperation and command. Keep a cool head, and keep the body bags to a minimum.

Product Description

SWAT 4 is the next installment of the successful tactical first person shooter franchise. SWAT 4 will have new features, like multi-player and co-op modes while still maintaining the features people love about the previous SWAT titles. Combining the high degree of tactical gameplay with an extensive tutorial, quick-start action mode and adjustable tactic levels, SWAT 4 will be sure not to disappoint.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SWAT 4 Delivers..., April 22, 2005

By 

TheCommish16 (US) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: SWAT 4: Special Weapons and Tactics (CD-ROM)

Despite what some say, SWAT 4 delivers as it is supposed to. If you were a SWAT 3 fan, then say hello to SWAT 4, a more graphically advanced edition with some AWESOME control and a much improved "drop down" command menu, including the ability to command a "red" and "blue" element at different times, or the WHOLE element at once.

The bad guys are smarter, sneak up on you, and change positions. Some give up easily, others run, and others fight back. It's replay value is AWESOME, and Im sure multiplayer is just unreal...I just havent had the time to get to it yet since Im on mission 5 of the single player!!

This is not meant to be a Max Payne or Half Life 2 game, its a stricly "SWAT" oriented game, slow in pace, much like a Splinter Cell. This is NOT a run and gun, its a strategic first person shooter for SWAT series fans.

Be aware that it takes a few minutes to set up the keyboard the way that is most comfortable, and you may change the config a few times in the control panel before you set it for good. Having the controls set up to where you can access all commands easily is key to keeping this game exciting and not annoying!

The system requirements arent too bad...but PCGAMER reccommends a 2.4ghz P4 and a 128mb graphics card. For reference, Im running it on a 3.4ghz Extreme Edition CPU, 1 GB of RAM, an X800 XT 256mb graphics card, and surround sound.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Tactical Shooters, May 14, 2005

By 

Ricky Moore "RJ Moore II" (Glendale, Az United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: SWAT 4: Special Weapons and Tactics (CD-ROM)

This game is definitly the best in non-takedown oriented tactical shooters (although it's only real competition there is SWAT 3) and it is also one of the best tactical shooters in general. The graphics are nothing amazing (the rendering looks last-generation, plasticky) but the models are generally well done and the enviroments are detailed. The animations are pretty good, and the loadouts show on your character models.
While SWAT 3 had the option of arresting suspects, it pretty much gave you no incentive to do so. In SWAT 4 you can't beat it at the hard difficult unless you manage to take a fair number of the enemies out in cuffs (as opposed to body bags). It's also fun to develop new tactics you'd never come up with in Rainbow Six or such titles, such as flashbanging a room and rushing an enemy screaming "get down". Then, before he recovers from the bang you taze him to reduce his morale further...that sort of thing would never come up in most tactical shooters, and it really makes SWAT 4 stand out.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely tense and realistic, May 13, 2005

By 

AJ (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: SWAT 4: Special Weapons and Tactics (CD-ROM)

This game is full of suspense. I swear I nearly broke out in a sweat from the tension a few times when sneaking down hallways with multiple doors, any one of which could have armed criminals--or panicked civilians--behind it. You feel like you are really there. The graphics and sound are fabulous. Contrary to what one reviewer said, the sound actually is 3D: you can distinguish whether something is coming from the right or the left. Also contrary to what a reviewer said, I think the intelligence of both your computer officers and enemies is quite good. Your co-officers are as good or better than the player at certain tasks (such as distinguishing between enemies and civilians). They are not perfect, but neither are you.

The computer-controlled enemies are pretty intelligent. They are unpredictable, which is good. It is hard to know whether they will drop their weapons, shoot back at you or panic and try to run. When they wander around the maps, it is hard to predict where they will go, so if they run away, it can sometimes be tricky to find them again. They may go to an area you thought was clear, and then you will walk into an ambush.
The game is also realistic in that one shot usually kills you. Sometimes a bullet will hit your arms or leg, impairing that part of your body.

One reviewer complained that if you screw up you have to start the level over. This is really not a problem. First of all, the levels are not so long that this really sets you back too much.
Secondly, it adds to the tension--it makes you really worry about getting killed and making mistakes such as shooting civilians. Thirdly, the mission thankfully doesn't stop just because you screwed up (unlike games like Rogue Spear, where the mission ends immediately if a civilian dies). You can still play until you are ready to abort, and there are ways to compensate for your mistakes by doing other things right (such as avoiding injuries to your fellow officers).

The designers really put some effort into the voices. The things the suspects and civilians say are pretty entertaining.

Most importantly, the replayability is great. It doesn't get tiresome to play the same level multiple times because the civilians and enemies are in different places every time you play. You always have to think about what is around every corner. Also the ability to play customizable maps outside the main campaign is very good.

Multiplayer is loads of fun, with the only real problem being that there is no good mechanism for booting people who team kill(purposely kill their own teammates).
One thing I dislike about multiplayer in many first person shooter games is that you move so quickly that the best strategy is often to run around like a chicken with your head cut off dodging bullets. The designers of Swat 4 wisely made it so that you can't move so fast. So in order to win you have to think tactically, taking cover and moving stealthfully. You can't just run and gun, and this makes for a better game.

Complaints:
1. There should be more maps. I'm sure that the manufacturers will be happy to sell more maps in an expansion pack, but they should really have included a few more in the game itself.
2. The manufacturers could have done a better job providing continued support for customers. They have released only one patch, and their website only answers technical questions--they don't even provide a FAQ for gameplay questions. There are plenty of little issues that a patch could deal with, such as the difficulty in ordering to your teammates enter one door of a room while you enter another door at the same time, and the way the friendly AI charges into a room after using tear gas before the tear gas has a chance to affect the suspects (resulting in your teammates getting killed). I believe that some of these issues were fixed in the expansion pack, but things like these should be fixed at no extra cost to customers

3. The snipers are useless--but that doesn't really matter--I just don't use them.


Still, overall a great game.