SWAT 4

Itīs not easy being mean. Thereīs this sickening trend towards do-gooderism at present. If itīs not sappy people in World of Warcraft healing each other, being white knight Paladins and, you know, being helpful, itīs others saving the world from villainy in countless ways. Space marines slaughtering chaos marines/the spawn of hell. Japanese schoolgirls ridding haunted houses of malevolent presences. Mealy mouthed hobbits shutting down Sauron. Jar Jar Binks.

The game worldīs gone to hell in a handbasket recently, no doubt. Whereīs the balance? You may be willing to sit there and hold hands with the shiny happy people when you play games, but Iīm taking a stand, starting with SWAT 4. Sure, the game thinks Iīm playing by their rules. Iīll play the small `gī game - be "Boss", heading up an elite SWAT squad. But Iīll do things my way, all the while fighting the man from within. Kind of like Dirty Harry mixed with Zack De La Rocha.

A few missions in, things start to get hot. Iīve busted creepy serial killers, killed (sorry, "neutralised") arms dealers, and used my funky little zip tie cuffs on pretty much anyone who looked at me wrong. But there was something missing. These guys all had it coming. And shooting civilians means a failed mission, so thatīs a bit of a dead end, plot-wise. Good old gold and red team, my little squaddies, well, theyīre ripe for the plucking. And the good news is, theyīre worth caring (or not caring) about, because SWAT 4 is an exquisitely crafted gem that deserves your money.

It should be noted that games like this where multiplayer is typically of limited numbers can be great fun. Playing this game on LAN in co-op is great. You can tell your buddy that youīre somewhere youīre meant to be, while adding to the tension by looping behind them and putting a round into his or her leg. "Watch out, thereīs a guy shooting me", they will yell, while you hightail it back to your "position". "On my way", youīll shout. Sooner or later they will stop taking the dumb pills and realise itīs you, but until then, tally ho.

Being a SWAT cop ainīt all about bullets and trussing people up in stupid poses. Otherwise theyīd all be in Iraq, performing human rights violations. Thereīs actually a set protocol youīre meant to follow. Just because a bad guy is toting a rifle, doesnīt mean you can blow his head off. Well, actually, you can, but itīs not good for your final rating. No, what youīre supposed to do is yell out a warning, then if they donīt comply, then blow their head off. Itīs got to the stage where Iīve got it down to a fine art. Bind a mouse button for the "get down/under arrest" warning, then have the trigger button right next to it. If they even look like going for a weapon, itīs hammertime.


And on that topic, thereīs plenty of toys to use. Apart from your primary assault weapons (thereīs tonnes - check sidebar), thereīs a solid array of things that allow you to get crazy sneaky on the bad guys. Thereīs handguns, taser guns (funny to use on your friends), and some nasty tactical grenades - including trusty flashbangs and CS numbers.

The missions youīll be undertaking? Well, SWAT donīt handle pesky break and enters or car crashes, they handle the most dangerous and risky assignments. Which means that a lot of the time it takes more than just a stern voice to have the crims bow down before you. Every now and then you will literally be surrounding a suspect with armed cops and they will argue the point instead of doing what anyone else would do, and just shut up and get down on the ground. The game really conveys the tension of such a standoff, thereīs often suspects shouting, cops yelling, and it doesnīt take much for you to accidentally snap and fire. Matters arenīt helped in this respect by the odd AI mental breakdown where one of your mates will go buck wild and shoot the perp for the hell of it. You can either put it down to stress, or choose to think "rogue cop" and gun down the shooter. And then redo the mission.

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