In the year 2018 a new breed of officer is needed to battle crisis on a global scale. As officer Kincaid, players will be put in charge of a team for the new SWAT Global strike Team.
Starting in basic training, players will learn that this is not all fun and games and the job you are preparing for is a very serious one with deadly repercussions should you or any of your team fail.
With 21 Solo Play missions and 10 Multiplay missions, the need for team cohesion is vital. SWAT has a dynamic voice system that allows players greater ease with movements and with the planning and execution of moves.
The goal of the team is simple; to bring international criminals to justice and toward that end, an impressive arsenal of weapons is available as combat takes place in both close-quarters and long ranges.
While it does take some suspension of reality such as not being able to jump over knee high barriers and the thought that the bad guys will stay put for you to jet to their locales, SWAT is at its very core a thrilling action game that combines some of the best elements of a 3D shooter such as action and impressive sounds and multiplay. The weapons in the game are a good mix and I loved using the assault rifle as my weapon of choice. Other players may like the shotgun, the sniper rifle or the dart gun. Before each mission, players are allowed to pick a lethal, non-lethal and grenade weapon for the mission. While the weapon choice is limited, SWAT has an interesting upgrade system, as ammunition, recoil, siteing, and clip size are available as upgrades to the primary weapons. Using inspiration from Counter Strike, players are not given new weapons they must earn them by their performance in previous missions. While this does deviate from reality, it does encourage players to use strategy and plan their attacks carefully. The A.I of the game is solid as excellent; your team can actually be of help and do their share of the work.
One nice feature is Iris Effect lighting system. According to the manufacturer, “It mimics the way the human eye works when moving between light and dark areas. These features and more ensure that the environments in SWAT: GST are the most photo realistic possible.” Simply put, this allows the shading of the room to change in accordance with the lighting and distance from the light creating a more natural line of sight than in other games of this type such as Rainbow Six or SWAT 3, and SOCOM.
The downside to the game is that it is not very long and on the easy setting, it can be beaten in a day or two. The game graphics are not the best as they are simply ok but could have been a lot better. The missions do allow for good replay value, as they are open-ended enough to allow multiple resolutions and as such, better rewards. The real selling feature of the game is the Multiplay and if you can get used to the cumbersome control setup, then Swat Global Strike Team is the game for you.
3.5/5
