SWAT: Global Strike Team review

Your lethal SWAT team.

GTA has taken gamers by storm these last couple of years. And games like Need for Speed Underground get praised for their gritty, defiant street attitude. It feels like our world is inhabited by criminal elements that are just waiting for opportunities to creep in and corrupt our lovely society.

Where are the law-abiding, peace-loving citizens these days? Are gamers turning into crooks? It ends today. We can go this far, and no further. The line must be drawn here! Which is why I’m strapping my muscular frame down into a SWAT uniform, to take out the trash. Gamers, I’m coming to get you...

To serve and to protect

The best way to make people stop killing, is killing them. Apparently.

I’ve been wondering for some time why there aren’t really that many games in which you play as law enforcement officers. The only titles that spring to mind are Rainbow Six and James Bond, and the latter cannot be taken very seriously, of course. And these titles bear no comparison whatsoever to the success of the GTA franchise. However, Sierra, who are no strangers to mega-successes themselves, seeing that they control the rights to Half-Life, have set out to change this picture somewhat with SWAT: Global Strike Team. The title is unrelated to the SWAT movie, currently showing at theatres.

It goes without saying that you assume the role of a member of the elite SWAT unit, but you are not just limited to operating in some random American state. No sir, in 2008, we have global police co-operation. And it is your job to stop two rivalling international gangs, who are at war over territorial distribution rights for the narcotic substance LD-50, or ‘spike’ as people call it. With this utterly cliché background story told, we can get down and dirty with the game itself.

Supports voice recognition

It was a dark day for mankind. Somebody had urinated in the subway. An offense, for which there could be only one penalty... death by headshot.

Your SWAT team consists of three individuals. The leader is Mathias Kincaid, an enigmatic ex-military type. At his side, we find Tony “TJ” Jackson, a technically gifted demolitions expert. Finally, we have the female part of the trio, the sniper Kana Lee. Not only does she know how to hit a mosquito from a mile away, she’s also proficient in various forms of martial arts.

You will be controlling Kincaid most of the time, while Lee and Jackson will follow you around. But when the need for some sharp shooting arises, you will get to control Lee, for instance. You can issue orders to your team using your joypad, but it’s also possible to utilize a headset, should you own one. The voice recognition feature will most likely scare the pants off your neighbours, once you start screaming “SWAT! Drop your weapons!”

Halo controls

You'll come across some exotic locales on your missions.

If you’ve played Halo, you’ll quickly learn how to control SWAT. Movement is governed by the analogue sticks, while actions are assigned to the buttons. You can shoot, duck, take aim and all the usual things, but you can’t roll, for some reason. I really missed that a lot.

You carry a tranquilliser gun, some grenades and a rifle of your choice. Assault rifles, shotguns and machineguns are very deadly, but sniper rifles can both immobilise and kill suspects. In the grenade department, you get to choose from frag grenades, flashbangs, gas bombs and EMPs that can disable electrical equipment. Between missions, you can upgrade your equipment with better features such as bigger magazines, better scopes and the like.

These upgrades cost points, though. These are awarded based on your difficulty level and how well you complete your missions. There are thee difficulty levels, which change the number of enemies, how many hits you can take, and how many continues you get.

Gadgets galore

Night vision. Umm... yeah, that's about it.

In addition to your weaponry, you’ll be lugging lots of other gear around. You have the obligatory night vision goggles, of course, as well as a pair of binoculars, a gas mask and some glowstick markers.

The latter are supposedly used to mark the path you’ve taken through a level, so you can backtrack if necessary, but seeing that the game is very linear, I haven’t had a use for them at all. Sure, sometimes a door will become unlocked somewhere behind you, but finding it is no more difficult than locating the exit in a one-room flat.

Protect the innocent

"Ding-dong." "Who's there?" "Domino's Pizza." "Finally...!" *BAM!*

You’re on the side of the law in this game, so you can’t just go about storming into locations and blowing everything away. There are hostages to protect and sometimes the best kind of bad guy is not necessarily a dead one. Crimes must be solved, and for that, you usually need testimonies from the offenders. You can capture them in several ways. The direct approach is to incapacitate them, but this easily results in too much bloodshed. Instead, you can opt for the tranquilliser, or you can intimidate them by sneaking up to them and explain to them at 200 decibel that you are not the postman and don’t intend to ring twice. After that, you just handcuff them and move along to the next mission.

A simple matter

Mmm, gas masks...

SWAT: Global Strike Team is a very straightforward game. This is both good and bad. Everyone can play this title, but hardcore gamers will find it too simple. The twenty-one single-player missions don’t really take that long to complete, but a grading system adds to the longevity. You can always replay missions and go for a better score.

Additionally, you’ll be awarded medals for completing missions without getting harmed, for not using continues, for defeating ten bad guys barehanded and other things. And there is also a time attack mode, which forces you to complete missions as fast as possible.

SWAT – a social game

The split-screen feature is great.

I have finally reached the part of the game that I like best. SWAT has a co-op mode, in which you and a friend can join forces in the fight against crime. This is done using split screen, and works like a charm. The missions are the same as in single player mode, but you control another team, which is positioned in a different area to the main team. This way, you really get a sense of co-operation, which is great.

Unfortunately, there are only ten multiplayer missions and even though you also get the time attack mode here, it’s not enough. You are left wanting more of this, because working together and discussing tactics with a real person is great fun.

Actually, up to four players can play against each other in a number of multiplayer modes. All you need for this is a multitap, four joypads and three friends. Luckily, you can buy all of these things... except friends, which is said to be a problem for some gamers (Something you need to let off your chest there, Benge? –ed.)

Not enough of everything

Wish there was more of this.

SWAT needs just a little bit more of everything. There are not enough missions and the graphics also lack some finesse. Everything is a little too smudgy and blocky. Some objects are destructible, while others are not. Why can a Xerox machine take a whole clip of ammunition without a scratch, while lamps and boxes break easily? Texture errors don’t help the overall image either.

Another problem lies with the AI. The enemies act like zombies and they don’t react in the slightest when their colleagues drop dead around them. That’s not exactly state-of-the-art behaviour.

Sadly, the sound doesn’t fare much better. Weapon sounds, shouting and radio noises sound authentic enough, but trouble is that it’s almost impossible to discern the orders you get over the radio. Of course, you can read the orders elsewhere, but it does ruin the atmosphere a bit.

SWAT – Global Strike Team does work and it is entertaining enough. It’s a shame that it lacks as many things as it does, but nevertheless, I’d like to see a sequel (and I rarely say that). There is real potential here, but it needs some work. In the meantime, I’ll just have to settle for keeping my eye on local petty thieves and troublemakers around here...


Source: Boomtown DK
English version by: Jonatan A. Allin (neonwolf)