Others say...

"SWAT4 is good - Not as good as SWAT3 in some respects."
-INTRO / ETC-
SWAT 4 is real good. It's got better graphics and better single player and AI. The Multi-Player is also improved with plenty of interesting maps and game modes. When the weapon, map and skin mod community gets going full time it'll be even better as you will be able to add on weapons, etc to the current ones.


-DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SWAT 3 & 4 / ETC-
SWAT 3 was a little more tactical however. There are also a couple useful SWAT3 features missing in #4. Like in MultiPlayer you can't make or switch to Element Teams such as Red, Blue, etc. Only in DeathMatch/Barricaded Suspects can you switch between the SWAT or Suspects. But like I said, in CO-OP, it doesn't let you have people join into Element Teams so there is a commander and the individual Element commanders. This was a useful feature in SWAT3 as it wasn't required to be used but when it was used correctly it improved the teamwork and gameplay immensely. I have no idea why it is not included.


-WEAPONS / ETC-
In SWAT4 we get some nice new weapons as well as Non-Lethal weapons. This adds a much more realistic experience. I kinda don't like how they have generic names for some of the weapons. Seems like all they could afford was the use of the trademarks from Colt and Benelli.

My fav weapons are the H&K weapons, which are the MP5 (9mm Submachine Gun), UMP 45 (.45 SubGun), G36 (.223 Assault Rifle).

It's amazing how alot of the weapon charactistics are very accurate but then again some things aren't so accurate. The G36 and M4 Carbine are of the same calibre, while the G36 is less than 5 years old while the M4/M16 family is over 40 years old. In real life it should be much more stabler than it is and wouldn't have nearly as high as that negative recoil aiming effects.

You can customize your armor and tactical gear to some extent in the game. Choosing gas mask over helmet. Light armor & speed or Heavy armor & slow. However, again, in real life you can obviously wear a helmet AND a gasmask, but I see the benefits for setting it up like that in this game.


-MULTI-PLAYER / ETC-
Like with its predessecor, in CO-OP there are still lots of "rambo's" who go off on their own and don't work as a team and are trigger happy and shoot to kill.

Luckily, admin's can kick in SWAT4 but there are also dedicated servers now so there isn't always an Admin around unfortunately. Rambo's really piss me off.


-TO BEGINNERS / ETC-
People really need to go through the Training and then play some of the Single-Player in this game, as people do not learn all of the tactics needed and end up ruining the game.

This game IS NOT COUNTER-STRIKE!! If you want to go around shooting people etc then play that. SWAT is a very team oriented game (in CO-OP).


-CONCLUSIONS / ETC-
All around, it's a great game. They got rid of some useful things from SWAT3 but overall it's a much improved game. I think the graphics engine that was used was a little outdated even when it was first released. If it was a little more photo-real it would be very, very cool.

However, I am very happy with the game and I recommend it to serious players who enjoy team work, accurate tactical combat and challenging situations that require patience over gung-ho'ness. I also would recommend this game to anyone who has played SWAT3 and enjoyed it, or have played games like Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, etc.


Chris

"A Different Kind of FPS"
SWAT 4 isn't your average FPS. It's more of a squad-based tactical game with you overseeing your squad. I was very surprised when I saw that SWAT 4 averaged a 3.5/5 star rating here on Amazon. Horrible reviewers these days.

If you are a fan of SWAT 3, you will love this game, as the overall gameplay is very similar. However, it's been brought up to current game standards with beautiful graphics comparable to Half-Life 2, awesome sound, excellent AI, and a few new gameplay enhancements.

SWAT 4 is not a run-and-gun shooter. You work closely with your AI squad to take down terrorism. You get more points when you arrest a suspect, as opposed to having to kill them. You can apply all sorts of non-lethal force, such as a taser, bean-bag shotgun, non-lethal grenades, and more, to avoid killing suspects. And of course, there are plenty of guns to use if you are not a forgiving person and want to risk mission failure for some action.

There's not much to say about the graphics. They are simply excellent, and as I said before, comparable to Half-Life 2.

The sound is also decent, with eerie music at appropriate times, and upbeat music when the shooting begins. It's also funny to hear what some suspects and hostages have to say when you arrest them.

The AI is fantastic. Most of the time, the squad can really take care of themselves, unlike many other squad-based games. They even saved my life a few times by taking out a suspect that aimed a gun at my head. They know when to apply force, and when not to, and that's important in SWAT 4. Suspect reactions are variable. Some try to run, some fight back, and other give up (usually after a bit of force is involved). Hostages remain hostages.

Replay value is incredible, because every time you load up a level, suspects and civilians spawn in random places, so you will almost never play the same level in the same way.

I haven't tried it yet, but I've heard that multiplayer is pretty cool, especially co-op mode. There are also a few other game types available.

In the end, I simply say that SWAT 4 is an awesome and immersive game that you will either enjoy very much, or hate. The only cons I can find are unusually long load times, and some framerate coughs when the shooting starts. The only reason you'll dislike this game is if you are not a patient person, and are looking for plenty of action. You won't find too much of that here, till the later levels when enemies are more dangerous and less-forgiving.

"TOO MANY REQUIREMENTS!"
This is the second game(besides Flight Simulator 2004) I have tried to play that requires a looooot of PC requirements:

Im running a 1.8A Ghz PIV, 256 RDRAM PC800,with a 7600 RPM HD, a 256MB GeForceFX5700VE and it takes around 5 minutes to LOAD every mission!!!
The graphics are OK, maybe very good, but not enough to take 5 Mins loading!!! Even San Andreas and Flight Simulator 2004 was much faster loading!
Besides, when youre right playing, sometimes the framerate drops dramatically or makes a pause due to an explossion or some fast action taking place like a suspect shooting or so.

One of the best iomprovement to SWAT 4 is the hell easier orders menu, you can use the mouse to navigate through it and even "tele" give orders to elements through their point of view

"If you like Raven Shield, get it - otherwise..."
I am a huge fan of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield so I found this game just recently and decided to go with it based off of other's reviews. I am very happy with it, as it is so similar to Raven Shield in many ways. This is a tactical shooter first and foremost - meaning it is not a run and gun game. You direct (or lead) a four-member SWAT team into rather disturbing real life "situations", NOTE: there is a particularly deviant map at a cult hideout that would make this game a no-go for kids. In this game the goal is to NOT kill suspects unless absolutely necessary, and they push what necessary means. You actually get graded at the end of a round and its very hard to not get points detracted. The varying levels of difficulty require different scores to pass, for instance EASY requires nothing but survival and to not kill key civilians or targets. If you kill without giving threats a ridiculous amount of warning time, you will be penalized (see below). Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

Great graphics despite being older, they are better than Raven Shield, yet nowhere near FarCry/HL2 standards, but it looks as good as you would want it to on a rig that could handle those two for this type of game. The maps are very detailed and realistically rendered.

Immersive, you really feel in the moment with your team and you tend to get tense when things go unexpectedly. The maps are the best I have seen for small-scale tactical gaming.

Choices in gear matter, be warned - you cannot kill anybody but those either shooting or getting ready to shoot you, your team members or a civilian. This is a very tactical game and it challenges your thinking.

Unique, this game is going to challenge your FPS skills as well. You can lean around corners (but not while moving), use an under the door camera wand, throw flash bangs, CS gas, stinger grenades (rubber ball loaded grenade that stuns suspects) or use hand held CS for tactical advantage in a map.

Weapons are excellent, but they are real world SWAT weapons so they are no-frills. This is worlds away from Rainbow's endless load out options but much more realistic. You have the usual suspects: MP5, AR-15, UMP, auto shotgun and pump action with handguns going Colt 1911 and the Glock 19. The non-lethal shotgun, taser and CS paintball gun are actually quite effective and nice as you can shoot anyone with them and not get penalized. You also can choose a special breaching shotgun for doors, you have C2 otherwise - you cannot use that entry shotty to kill effectively though.

CONS
Bulky team interface makes using your team member head cam view almost unusable - this makes me rarely break my team up so I can see what everyone is doing. You can see through their cams, but it takes too long and is too cumbersome to use in action. You also cannot give delayed commands like Zulu in Rainbow, meaning you have to tell the team to go in manually through the interface. This makes two point entries a challenge as you need to use the remote unit's headcams, tell them to go - switch back to your view and hope you are quick enough to get into the same room in unison.

If you tell someone to surrender (a key mapping you will use more than any other in this game) and they don't drop their gun - yet don't point it at you, you have to wait till they threaten somebody or you can also shoot their leg, gas them, taze them or so forth - you have NO melee options. Failure to do this results in an "Unauthorized use of lethal force" penalty to your score - 10 points per infraction in a 100-point maximum schema. This causes extremely annoying situations when your team enters a room with five suspects and four civilians with everyone screaming "get down", "hands up", "drop it" - invariably you neutralize a non-threat. I assume SWAT members in real life do not wait for a guy running at them in a small room with an assault rifle to aim for them when there are other people shooting at them already. So realism suffers a little there for game play, as otherwise you could mop up with your AR-15.

No saving - which means if you are going through a long and challenging map - you have one shot at it. As the lead man you also cannot get killed, your team members can, but you will be penalized for this at grading time. Also if you are wounded badly - you move VERY slow - slow enough to make it impossible to finish if only half way through some maps.

That's far from everything, but there are some thirty odd reviews out here so I just wanted to add a recent one for those of us who don't go after only brand new games. I would have given it five stars, but the interface, threat system and lack of an in game save made me hold back. SWAT 4 is still very good and with the expansion pack coming soon - well worth the investment for those who like tactical shooters. If you are uncertain, check out the demo, but if you like Rainbow Six - don't waste your time, just buy this now.

"The best squad level combat game"
It's a very cool sim/game. I will provide more details later..

The game is best Multiplayer co-op mode game .. bar none!

you may email me at greg_88888@yahoo.com