I have been playing SWAT 4 lately. And somethings really bother me.

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Its a great game don't get me wrong, but for a game that claims to be realistic SWAT operations, so many things don't add up:

Some of the missions are very dire so why would SWAT send a team of 5 men for some of them? One of the missions was a Hospital Raid by actual politically movtivated terrorists because a South Korean diplomat was in the hospital, the guys slaughtered most of the Hospital Staff going in. So why do they only send 5 men in, that situation would require 20 SWAT men at the least. And not only that why would they be penilized for use of force when they are dealing with very hostile terrorists? You think they would be allowed to go weapons free at that point, I mean I get at least apprehend one of them alive, but still its better them than the SWAT team and hostages right?

And alot of other missions are also like this, they end up dealing with a Militia Group who are in great numbers and held hostage of CEO of a company and plan to blow up a hotel in construction.

And again some of these suspects and hostiles refuse to submit to arrest and open fires. I am required to wait until they fire first so that I may have the authorization to return fire.

And lastly, the SWAT team in the game are way too vocal, actual SWAT teams would be more stealthy and using hand signels.

So much nitpicks that this game's claim to realism falls apart.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Most of these games use SWAT when they mean special forces. Means they can market themselves differently.

You're not an elite SEALS team infiltrating a terrorist occupied Hospital in Bagdhag Iraq, you're an elite SWAT team infiltrating a domestic terrorist held hospital in Bagdhag, Florida.

Completely different game, with a completely different feel.

My point being that the reason it feels wrong for SWAT not to fire back or they act differently is because they're in situations where SWAY wouldn't normally be deployed. SWAT is used for clearing out drug dealers or raiding brothels or school shootings, not for international terrorism or invasions or political hostages.
If North Korean radicals take over Princeton, they're sending in Special Forces, not SWAT.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

I also forgot to mention, in this game you apprehend suspects and civilians in hand-cuffs, but you leave them right where they are, no actively moving some of these apprehended people outside the danger zone.

Hence why if there were more than 5 SWAT men, they would have moved the arrested people away.

Most of these games use SWAT when they mean special forces. Means they can market themselves differently.

You're not an elite SEALS team infiltrating a terrorist occupied Hospital in Bagdhag Iraq, you're an elite SWAT team infiltrating a domestic terrorist held hospital in Bagdhag, Florida.

Completely different game, with a completely different feel.

My point being that the reason it feels wrong for SWAT not to fire back or they act differently is because they're in situations where SWAY wouldn't normally be deployed. SWAT is used for clearing out drug dealers or raiding brothels or school shootings, not for international terrorism or invasions or political hostages.
If North Korean radicals take over Princeton, they're sending in Special Forces, not SWAT.

That's exactly what I have said, why are they sending the local SWAT to deal with the situation, they would actually send a proper Counter Terroism unit like Rainbow Six, or a real example, The FBI Counter Terrorism Unit.

 

[Mcgeezaks]

I'd say that some ''realistic'' aspects have to be thrown out in order to make the game more fun because at the end of the day it's a video game, not a SWAT simulator.

 

[Drathnoxis]

You're in my spot, sir.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

You're in my spot, sir.

Do you not see me trying to pick the lock open private?

 

[fix-the-spade]

Some of the missions are very dire so why would SWAT send a team of 5 men for some of them? One of the missions was a Hospital Raid by actual politically movtivated terrorists because a South Korean diplomat was in the hospital, the guys slaughtered most of the Hospital Staff going in.

Think the answer is more to do with AI and code limitations than anything.

Alternatively it could be that the devs felt the need to escalate the scenario with each mission. The first two (IIRC) are raiding a murder suspect's house with just one actual suspect in the building, with the second being a High Risk search warrant on some mobsters. Which are pretty realistic scenarios for a SWAT team, but they apparently felt the need to one up each level (like the Nightclub shootout).

If the multiplayer still worked you could play the game with a proper sized 16 man team in co-op. It made the game hilariously easy to be able to mass taser and pepper ball targets. Not moving arrested suspects I assume was for gameplay reasons as well, since you would end up ferrying people back and forth for ages on each level.

If you've got the Stetchkov Syndicate expansion that's a lot more bullet happy as the Stetchkovs are far more aggressive. Although the sniper rifle's sight doesn't line up with it's aim point, making it useless.

Even with all that it's still teh closest thing to an actual SWAT simulator, since the emphasis is on making arrests and not simply gunning everyone down.

 

[CaitSeith]

I'd say that some ''realistic'' aspects have to be thrown out in order to make the game more fun because at the end of the day it's a video game, not a SWAT simulator.

This is part of the Police Quest series, which has always tried to adapt the real-life police protocol into the game. Besides, I'd say not every damn shooter has to be a power fantasy simulator (and we aren't running out of those any time soon).

 

[Arnoxthe1]

using hand signels.

This actually wouldn't be good game design as you obviously have to be looking at your team in order to see what they're trying to tell you at any one time. Now, you could have it temporarily pull your view over to your team whenever they're signaling you, but now you run into the simple problem that most players aren't going to know what those hand signals mean. Now you have to develop a sort of overlay stating what each hand signal means underneath the hand signal being made.

Or you could just record some lines.

 

[Thaluikhain]

And lastly, the SWAT team in the game are way too vocal, actual SWAT teams would be more stealthy and using hand signels.

Agree with all of those, but hadn't thought of this one before. Especially as you're giving the signal, you don't need to hear Lead say it, you've just selected it from the menu to say. They do use hand signals for breaching, though, but that's just for the look of it.

But yeah, christ, when the suspects have murdered half a hospital or have planted bombs you have to defuse, there should be less penalties for shooting people. It's not like some randoms been SWATed by a gamer.

 

[Drathnoxis]

You're in my spot, sir.

Do you not see me trying to pick the lock open private?

Get out of my way!