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| Eaaasssyyyyy men.. | Never trust a bathroom... |
Basically what they've done is revamped single and multiplayer modes, boosted the AI, and provided you with a new range of weaponry. When I say they've boosted the AI, I mean there are like real people in there man. Your team members have individual personalities which are easy to spot and enjoy, and the enemy is on crack at the best of times and utterly psychotic at worst. This makes for a great aggression fueled game.
The premise here is that you need to bring down the infamous Stetchkov cartel, Russian mobsters who are up to no good and need to be brought down. They're rough, they're tough, and they'll blow your house down if you give 'em a chance, which is why they must be pursued through seven new maps and missions and brought to justice. With the increased array of weapons and your new team work capacity, you'll be more than equal to the challenge.
If you haven't played SWAT 4 before, here's a few things you should know. This is not just about bullet spraying fun, you are actually encouraged to save the hostages, not brutally kill them. You've also got to try and preserve the lives of the bad guys, can you believe it? Luckily there are plenty of non lethal ways to make them suffer, so you get some satisfaction, even if you can't shoot them in the head. What this means is that you have to think about tactics as well as shooting willy nilly, and SWAT 4: The Stetchkov syndicate provides you the tools to do just that, with the ability to assign your team tasks and have them go about their business, or wait for your instruction.
Weapons upgrades include grenade launchers, submachine guns and colt rifles. The grenade launcher doesn't always have to be used with lethal rounds either, a feature that makes it fit very well into the game's overall ethos.
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| My SWAT team is hotter than yours... | This is the vision of the night.. the night.. oh yeah... |
The improved AI means that the suspects are aggressive, at times vicious, and smart. When I say smart I mean they won't just stand there and shoot at you, sometimes they'll actually run away. It's a bit shocking at first if you're not used to it, but it means that you need to utilize those planning skills before you go busting into places. You can split your team up, and checking the blueprints out before you go on a mission allows you to actually play intelligently.
If hearing all that doesn't get you going, check this out. In so many games innocent bystanders tend to get in the way, milling about mindlessly at the worst possible moment. Most times you have to shoot them, but in this game that sort of thing is frowned upon. What is not frowned upon is punching them in the face! How great is that! You can then arrest them and drag them out of the way, which serves them right because they're stupid, just like real bystanders.
There are plenty of gadgets to get you through the game without actually just shooting people, and using them is quite a lot of fun. There are light sticks, those bendy fiber optic lens thingys for seeing around corners and what not, stun grenades, pepper balls, and of course that handy stun gun.
Then you have the multiplayer function, which is a heck of a lot of fun. Up to 10 people can play online, and you can be as organized or as chicken-headed as you like, playing on opposing teams or all on the same team. A VoIP function has been added so that you can talk in game, which is an excellent addition indeed.
There are some downsides to the game, because of all the tactical planning capacity, you're expected to think about the mission before you play it, and to complete it successfully. This means there aren't save points during the mission. I suppose real life doesn't have save points either, but dammit if I wanted real life I'd leave my room.
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| It would seem something suspicious happened here... | It might look like fun, but it's deadly serious... |
Graphically the game still looks great, though the audio can be somewhat disappointing at times it is nice to hear your team mates talking amongst themselves. It adds that extra touch of realism that sets this game apart from others in its genre.
Top Game Moment:
TOP GAME MOMENT
Punching an innocent bystander in the face. Can you feel the power?
