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Platform: PC Genre: Tactical Shooter Publisher: Sierra Developer: Sierra ETA: TBA
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SWAT: Urban Justice
With the first two Swat games disappointing offshoots of the original Police Quest series, Sierra put out an excellent product with Swat 3. With an great balance of action, tactical procedure, and information goodies, the game won many well-deserved accolades. It managed to miss out as an indispensable hit with me for some minor reasons, but I felt the overall game was an excellent package worth the time and money of any tactical shooter fan. With Swat: Urban Justice, Sierra hopes to tweak the game just enough to win over tough-old sour critics like yours truly. Once again, the game is set in L.A. in the very near future. With the 225th anniversary of the city occurring, gang wars rage at an all time high, with every hoodlum battling for supremacy of the streets. With the lack of the LAPD official license, gamers will assume the role of a SWAT element leader for the police department called the LA SWAT team. While the official |
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license is missing, the game will still be
grounded in reality. Sierra
however is hoping to increase the excitement factor for fans who may not
enjoy creeping their way through a scenario, and issuing orders every
two steps to their AI team. This
is done through the a new mode of play called “Jumpstart.” In this mode, players will be able to begin a mission with just one click, and have standing orders issued to their five member AI team. Your five team members will then continue to carry out this order for the entirety of the scenario if you do not change the order. This will prove useful for |
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players like me who do not want to
babysit the AI when all I want is a quick action fix.
Standing orders can also be issued during normal gameplay as
well, and should help to speed up some of the order issuing which slowed
the pace of the previous installment a little too much for the liking of
some fans. For instance,
“Search and Clear“ can be issued as a standing order for a level.
With
the official LAPD license missing, Sierra has been able to include women
into the game, the use of grappling moves to control suspects, the
inclusion of riot shields as a piece of equipment, and other minor
tweaks which should make the game even more fun than it’s predecessor. In
the name of fun, what could be better news to a FPS fan than new
weapons. Well, how about
being able to customize your weapons.
In Swat: Urban Justice (SUJ), before a scenario, you will not
only be able to outfit your whole team to you exact specifications, but
you will also be able to customize the stock, sight, suppressor, grip
and other parts of your weapons. Also,
after a being pulled over by cop for an ‘unwarranted’ speeding
ticket, what could be more fun than stepping into the shoes of a virtual
thug, and taking it to the Po-leece.
The developers have thought of you, my generally law-abiding
friend, as there will be a Hero vs. Villain mode where you can become
the villain, and try to outwit an assaulting SWAT team. Some
would think that Swat 3 was already a very realistic game, but SUJ ups
the reality quotient even more. Players
will now be able to pick up and use weapons dropped by suspects.
Getting close to a suspect will allow you to smash the butt of
your rifle into their stomach in order to subdue them.
How much equipment you are carrying will affect your walking
speed, and as equipment is shed or used, you will be able to move more
quickly. Weapons ballistics
will keep players shooting through glass and onto civilian backdrops on
their toes. Characters in
the game will have 29 hit zones that will affect the hit target
differently. Enemy and team
member AI was already excellent in Swat 3 and SUJ is looking to continue
that trend. With these
features adding to the game’s realism, there should be an even greater
appeal to fans of the tactical simulation aspect of Swat 3. It
was by excellent customer support, and listening to the gaming community
that Swat 3 did not die an early death as a multiplayer option was not
included in the retail release. Having
learned their lesson, SUJ is coming with multiplayer for up to 24
players and eight game modes, out of the box.
Also adding to the replay value of the title is a level editor.
The single player campaign will span 16 missions, and as with its
predecessor, each time a mission is played, the enemy layout and weapons
load out will be randomized. An excellent amount of gameplay has been packed into the title, and gamers can be sure that they will be able to spend many hours with SUJ without tire. With so many minor tweaks, which seem to make an already great idea even better, SWAT: Urban Justice should be an excellent addition to the trend of excellent tactical shooters in recent history.
- Mark Leung (March 13, 2002) |
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