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S.W.A.T. 4
Overview
The last vestige of the Police Quest series, S.W.A.T. 4 is the fourth (and to date, final) instalment of the SWAT spin-off of the original series of Police Quest adventure games originally conceived by Jim Walls and published by Sierra Entertainment. A mix between a tactical shooter and realistic police simulator, the main objective is not simply to kill any and all opposition in each level like many First Person Shooters, but instead to bring order to chaos, such as ending a hostage crisis, executing a high-risk search warrant, performing a drug bust, stopping a terrorist attack with civilians still in the area, etc. The SWAT commander (named Sonny Bonds, the protagonist from the original Police Quest series) makes it abundantly clear in the training session that SWAT is a "life-saving organization," and that "firearms must only be used in defense of life." Furthermore, as a police unit, SWAT's prime objective is to make their arrests and bring suspects alive to stand trial if at all possible. To that end, a great deal of the game's features and design decisions for its gameplay and simulated firearms reflect this, summarized below.
- Each mission has a score meter displayed at the end. Injuring or killing armed suspects without due cause (when they are aiming a weapon at a civilian or SWAT team member, or reloading a weapon, or drawing a new one) or before shouting for compliance ("POLICE! DROP YOUR WEAPONS!") will penalize your score, and injuring or incapacitating civilians/SWAT team members will penalize you even more so. Due to the emphasis on live arrest and capture, arresting suspects yields the most points, incapacitating suspects yields few points, and neutralizing (i.e., killing) suspects yields none at all. Each difficulty level has a cutoff point below which your score is deemed too low to continue, and the higher the difficulty, the higher this cutoff level is.
- Damage is treated somewhat realistically. While officers wear body armour as standard, even the heavy variety will not stand up to more than a few hits in a single location before the wearer is incapacitated or killed. Hits to the leg(s) will cause a suspect or officer to limp, while hits to the arms will affect a player's accuracy. Hits to the torso or head that do not kill outright will not cause any secondary effects beyond adding a small penalty to a player's accuracy.
- The game uses a system of exaggerated crosshair bloom to reflect each weapon's accuracy and handling. Pistols take the shortest time to aim accurately, two-handed firearms such as submachine guns or assault rifles take progressively longer, while shotguns and designated marksman rifles take the longest. In general, the smaller the physical size of the firearm in question, the faster it can be aimed accurately assuming the player has not taken hits that penalize accuracy (in other words it increases the minimum size the area covered by the dynamic crosshairs will cover).
- Thanks to the aforementioned system, shooting while moving is likely to be an exercise in futility. Standing still or crouching allow for the smallest crosshair area, while running or walking erratically results in a large minimum crosshair area. Shooting while moving is best done while walking slowly and steadily in one direction.
- Some of this game's several weapons are usable only by players or SWAT team members, and others that are usable only by suspect or civilian NPCs. In addition, while the original game's multiplayer allowed either team (the SWAT team or the Suspects) to use any weapon, the Stetchkov Syndicate expansion pack introduced a "Team-Specific Weaponry" option to force players to use only weaponry appropriate to their side. The weaponry list is divided into player-usable and NPC-usable weapons for this purpose, and each player-usable weapon will have its availability when "Team-Specific Weaponry" is active noted. With few exceptions, NPCs can use weaponry from both categories.
The game has a number of quirks with regards to its firearms system, described below:
- As with Operation Flashpoint, ammunition for most of the weapons in this game is tracked with a magazine system. Players can only carry a certain number of magazines for a given weapon, and reloading with a partially-filled magazine will return it to your inventory instead of being discarded, and when all fully-loaded magazines have been used, the partially-filled magazines will be loaded instead. An inventory item called an "Ammo Pouch," available only in the expansion pack, can increase the amount of ammunition a player character can carry for a primary weapon, while some weapons do not use magazines. Which weapon uses which system is described in further detail below.
- Several weapons can use multiple ammunition types, with each described below in its own entry. The most commonly used are Jacketed Hollowpoint (JHP) bullets that deal extra damage to unarmoured targets, but cannot penetrate thin barriers and deal less damage to targets wearing body armour, and Full Metal Jacketed (FMJ) bullets that can penetrate thin barriers and retain their damage against armoured targets, but are less likely to incapacitate or kill unarmoured targets outright.
- As weapons used by suspects in a mission must be confiscated for evidence and sent to forensics, it is not possible for players to use weapons procured onsite, either dropped from suspects or discovered at the scene. For the same reason, it is not possible for players to take ammunition off of confiscated weapons for their own use. Neither is it possible to take a weapon or ammunition off an incapacitated team member.
- While shooting to wound armed suspects (such as aiming for their limbs) to the point of their giving up is possible, it is far from reliable. It is quite possible that the game will simply treat a limb shot as a killing shot, or more rarely, a shot that leaves the suspect unable to fight back or stand but still alive. On rare occasions, shots to the arms will cause an armed suspect to drop his or her equipped weapon and either draw a backup weapon, or else surrender when commanded.
- Unfortunately, the game (even with its expansion pack) does not model ballistic physics for its non-grenade weapons. This results in some less-than-realistic situations when using some weaponry, such as being able to snipe targets with a pistol across a large courtyard, or to allow low-velocity beanbag rounds to cross a far greater distance than they could in real life.
- A major flaw in the game is that almost all of its less-lethal weaponry is incapable of causing lasting harm to suspects or non-compliant civilians, despite such weaponry being capable of, and attracting controversy for, causing lasting harm or death to those hit or affected by the weaponry. Furthermore, standard rules of engagement do not apply when using less-lethal weaponry against targets--there is no need to shout for compliance or wait until a suspect endangers someone with a weapon, because a player can just shoot him or her enough times with a less-lethal weapon until s/he complies enough to be arrested, with no penalty assigned at the end of the mission. Each less-lethal weapon and its less-than-realistic aspects will described in more detail in their own individual entries.
- Like Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2, the game does in fact have differing reload animations depending on whether a tactical reload (performed when the magazine is partially full) or standard reload (when the firearm is completely empty) is required, but unlike the aforementioned title, weapons will not gain an extra round in the magazine due to one still being left in the chamber during a tactical reload.
- Only AK-type weapons or those produced by Benelli or Colt have their real names in this game--all others go under assumed names.
For the sake of convenience, both weapons available from the original S.W.A.T. 4 release and those added in its expansion pack, S.W.A.T. 4: The Stetchkov Syndicate, will be covered here. A list of the weaponry used in both the original game and its expansion pack follows below.
Player-Usable Weapons
The following is a list of weaponry usable by players or AI-controlled SWAT team members. Some of them are equipped with tactical flashlights, and the exact ones that possess this feature will be mentioned in their own entries (if an entry makes no mention of a flashlight attachment, then it's not possible to use one with the weapon in question).
One additional caveat applies to flashlight-equipped firearms; aside from allowing a player to see in the dark and giving away their position when lit, turning a flashlight on will cause your character to NOT lower his gun when pointed at an "inappropriate target." While your player character is smart enough to lower his weapon when facing a compliant civilian or surrendering suspect, this tendency will not be present when the flashlight is turned on, further emphasizing the amount of trigger discretion one must exercise in this game.
Handguns
While treated as backup weapons in this game, ill-suited for tackling multiple opponents or situations requiring plenty of ammunition in a magazine, they are generally the fastest-aiming weapons in the game, taking little time for the crosshair to settle. They also tend to be useful for times when a player has suffered hits to the arm(s), which generally makes aiming with any other firearm type a risky proposition.
Colt M1911
The standard service pistol of the SWAT team, the Colt M1911 pistol series has a magazine capacity of 8 rounds in .45 ACP, can load both JHP and FMJ bullets, and players can carry 4 of its magazines in total. This gun is available to both SWAT and Suspects in Team-Specific weaponry mode. It has a tactical flashlight.
Despite the greater per-bullet stopping power offered by the .45 ACP round compared to the 9x19mm round used by the Glock 17 pistol, it still takes 2-3 hits (with FMJ bullets) to a single location on an armoured opponent to kill or incapacitate him or her. The Colt M1911 is also less damage-tolerant than the Glock 17 ingame, being only effective out to medium range when hits to the arm(s) are suffered. It really only shines when used with JHP ammunition against unarmoured opponents, having a chance of killing or incapacitating an unarmoured target outright with a single solid torso hit.
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Colt Python Revolver
The Colt Python appears in the game, carrying 6 rounds of .357 magnum ammunition in its cylinders. Players can carry 3 additional speedloaders of ammunition for this gun, for a total of 24 rounds of ammunition. It is equipped with red and green dot sights, and can load both JHP and FMJ bullets. It is available only to Suspects in Team-Specific weaponry mode.
Despite being a double-action revolver in real life, meaning that pulling the trigger will both cock and release the hammer, player characters using this weapon are forced to use it in a single-action manner, manually pulling back the hammer with the thumb of the trigger hand for every shot, resulting in a very slow firing rate. This however results in very accurate shots, and the ammunition's power means that targets will be downed in one or two hits to the same location, assuming one is not using JHP bullets against armoured opponents (which would take more ammunition to achieve the same result).
In another break from reality, it is not possible to individually replace spent rounds with fresh ones in the cylinder, as the gun still uses the aforementioned magazine system to track ammunition. For example, firing three rounds and reloading will cause your character to swing out the cylinder, push the extractor rod, and then load ammunition the next speedloader, and then reload the partially-full speedloader into the weapon when all the full speedloaders have been used, despite never arranging the remaining rounds into the speedloader. While the game could use the ammunition tracking system of shotguns (described below) to individually reload spent cylinders for this weapon, no reason is given for this odd design choice.
Desert Eagle
The Desert Eagle appears as the "Mark XIX semiautomatic pistol," can load both JHP and FMJ bullets, and has a magazine capacity of 8 rounds despite having its caliber listed as .50 Action Express (barring an additional round in the chamber, Desert Eagles chambered in .50 Action Express have a magazine capacity of 7 rounds, with 8 rounds per magazine being appropriate for the .44 magnum version). Players can carry only 3 magazines of ammunition for it, compared to the standard 4 for pistols. It possesses red-coloured dot sights, and is available only to Suspects in Team-Specific weaponry mode.
In terms of stopping power it is largely equivalent to the Colt Python, but is far less accurate with quick follow-up shots. It is also slower to aim than most of the other pistols, possibly to reflect its real-life weight and bulk.
Glock 17
Appearing as the "9mm Handgun" ingame, the Glock 17 has a two-tone finish, and has a magazine capacity of 17 rounds of 9x19mm ammunition, coupled with a tactical flashlight. Players can carry 4 magazines in total for this weapon, and it can load both JHP and FMJ bullets.
While technically the weakest of the player-usable firearms in the game, even three shots of FMJ ammunition to the same location on a heavily-armoured opponent is enough to kill or incapacitate him or her. It is also one of the most damage-tolerant firearms in the game--even players who have suffered hits to both arms will still have a reasonable chance of scoring hits on a target from from long range. This gun is available to both SWAT and Suspects in Team-Specific weaponry mode.
Intratec TEC-9
The sole pistol capable of both semiautomatic and fully automatic fire in the game, the Intratec TEC-9, labelled the "9mm Machine Pistol" ingame, is available only to Suspects in Team-Specific weaponry mode, is chambered for 9x19mm ammunition, and can only use FMJ bullets (the ingame reason being that "other ammunition types severely decrease this gun's reliability"). It has a magazine capacity of 32 rounds, and players can only carry a total of 2 magazines for this weapon.
Despite being a pistol-class weapon, this gun has one of the slowest aiming times of all, even slower than most submachine guns. While the minimum crosshair size is acceptable, the crosshair bloom resulting from recoil is quite high and its damage tolerance is minimal. These factors restrict it to being a close to point-blank range weapon, except when used in semiautomatic mode combined with some time spent crouching or moving slowly and steadily. While both NPCs and players can use this gun, it is listed as a submachine gun rather than a handgun for NPCs in the game's "Quick Mission Maker," a utility included with the game to make custom missions.
Submachine Guns/Personal Defense Weapons
FN P90
Heckler and Koch MP5
The Heckler and Koch MP5 appears in the game, as a variant with capable only of semiautomatic and three-round burst fire modes. It has a fixed stock, a magazine capacity of 30 rounds of 9x19mm ammunition, can use both JHP and FMJ bullets, and allows players to carry 4 magazines (or six with the ammo pouch item). It is equipped with a tactical flashlight, and a version with a fixed (but not integral) suppressor can be used. While the standard version can be used by both teams in Team-Specific Weaponry mode, only the SWAT team can use the suppressed version with that mode active.
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