SWAT 4

To simulate realistic police procedures, SWAT 4' encourages the use of non-lethal force to subdue and arrest subjects rather than incapacitating or killing them. In addition, players must follow strict protocol to ensure proper use of force. Players may not fire on suspects with lethal weapons unless the suspect points their firearm at a fellow officer or a civilian. Penalties are given for unauthorized use of force, injuries to hostages, officer incapacitation, and personal injury.

Released: 5 April 2005
Platforms: Windows
Genres: First-person shooter Shooter Strategy Tactical Tactical shooter
Developers: Irrational Games
Publishers: —
Series: SWAT
Modes: Co-op Multiplayer Single-player
Perspective: First person
Themes: Action Stealth
Engine: Unreal Engine 2, Vengeance Engine
Country: United States
Age ratings: ESRB M PEGI 18
Time to beat: 15hwith extras
Composers: Eric Brosius

About

SWAT 4 is a 2005 tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Irrational Games and published by Sierra Entertainment (Vivendi Universal Games) exclusively for Microsoft Windows. It is the ninth installment in the Police Quest series and the fourth installment in the SWAT subseries. In SWAT 4, the player commands a police SWAT team in the New York City metropolitan area. Unlike its predecessor, SWAT 3: Close Quarters Battle, SWAT 4 does not have an overarching plot. Instead, gameplay takes place over a series of mostly unconnected deployments of the player's SWAT team, as they are sent to apprehend criminals, terrorists, gangs, and cults in and around New York City.

SWAT 4 was built on Irrational Games' Vengeance Engine powered by Unreal Engine 2 technology. Like the rest of the SWAT series, SWAT 4 places heavy emphasis on following proper police procedure, minimizing casualties, and ensuring the safe apprehension of enemies as opposed to simply killing them.

Keywords

modern warfare
bloody
serial killer
murder
police
swat
gangs
special forces
online
hostages
artificial intelligence
crime

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

In SWAT 4, players control a police tactical unit as they are deployed to handle situations such as arrest warrants, hostage-takings, bomb threats, and shootouts. SWAT 4 is a tactical shooter, where characters can be killed easily and in few hits. Therefore, tactics and planning are emphasized over mere brute force. Enemies, called "suspects", range from individuals and small groups to trained and organized terrorists.

A significant aspect of SWAT 4's gameplay is the rules of engagement (RoE), which dictates the player's acceptable actions and use of force. SWAT 4 emphasizes the idea that "SWAT is a life-saving organization", and thus prohibits both the use of lethal force unless done justifiably and in self-defense, and the reckless or excessive use of force. Violating the RoE results in penalties for unauthorized use of force, which may influence the outcome of the mission; examples of such violations include killing or incapacitating a hostage or officer, killing an unarmed or fleeing suspect, not marking evidence (such as dropped weapons or objective items), and not handcuffing hostages and suspects.

Reception

SWAT 4 received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. On a computer game sales chart compiled by NPD Techworld, it claimed tenth place for the week ending April 17. It finished 11th for the month of April overall, at an average retail price of $48.

GameSpot's Bob Colayco stated that "as a realistic police simulator, SWAT 4 definitely hits the mark. Though the frame rate gets chunky at times, and there are a couple of irritating bugs and quirks, the AI delivers on most counts in a game that is designed with great replayability." The website later criticized a feature of the first patch for SWAT 4, where updated environments featured advertisements for real-world television series, and after the game was closed data regarding how the player treated the product placement was sent to the developers.