
<MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/thearmchairem-20" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com">	Platform Playstation 2 Genre Shooter Publisher Sierra Developer Argonaut ESRB M (Mature) Released Q4 2003

- Realism - Headset support - Fun gameplay - Diverse levels

- Linear - Horrible character models - Laughable voice acting

Review: TimeSplitters 2 (XBox) Review: Tribes: Aerial Assault (Playstation 2) Review: Hitman 2: Silent Assassin (Playstation 2)
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SWAT: Global Strike Team

Score 7.8/10

How do three people stop a worldwide turf war between two monumental gangs? With training, determination and a hell of a lot of bullets. SWAT: Global Strike Team puts you in the role of a specialized SWAT squad. This team consists of Mathias Kincaid, the commander of the team, Anthony "TJ" Jackson, the technical and demolitions expert, and the alluring Kana Lee, the agile sniper. Your team was formed to combat the turf war against the Omega Cartel and the Whispering Dragon Clan. This war is over the production and distribution of a deadly new designer drug LD-50 aka SPIKE. The Omega Cartel currently produces and distributes SPIKE but the Whispering Dragon Clan is trying to horn in on that territory causing violent effects worldwide. You will participate in a number of missions that range from search and rescue, securing areas to disarming bombs. All of these missions are geared towards defying and throwing a hitch into the plans of both gangs.

As a shooter, SWAT doesn't give you a lot of options for weapons but does let you upgrade your weapon as you progress in the game. The only guns available in the game are the classic assault rifle, a machine gun, powerful shotgun, sniper rifle and a tranquilizer gun. All of these can be customized by adding better magazines, quality bullets and recoil. You are also given a variety of grenades ranging from a gas grenade, an EMP grenade to a flashbang.

Graphically the game stumbles. This game is far from many of the newer PS2 games. One thing that saves it is the diversity of the levels and their locations. In a level like Los Angeles you might fight through various office buildings while in areas like Russia you might fight mostly outside in various settings. The levels aren't very detailed but the simplicity does add to the game rather than hinder it. The character models however detract from the game badly. It looks like very little effort was put into them and it's really an eyesore.

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The game has a unique feature that separates it from other shooters. You get penalized for killing enemies that aren't attempting to hurt you. These situations can occur when you approach an enemy from behind, or verbally convince an enemy to give up. When you place your target on an opponent you will see his compliance meter. When the bar is red he will not attack you and killing him will result in penalties against your squad. You can get the bar in the red by shouting orders of compliance, using warning shots or

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injuring your opponent. You will then have to cuff them or they may attempt to attack you. You are recommended to refrain from killing as it effects your squad score. This feature makes it actually feel that you are a cop more than blazing in and killing everyone moving ever can.

The game supports voice commands using a standard PS2 USB headset. You can give commands to your teammates to follow or use it to shout orders of compliance to the enemy. It's a very nice touch as you get a better feeling of being a SWAT officer.

The music in SWAT goes hand in hand with the gameplay. It's not overdone and does its job by adding to the experience. The voice acting in the mission briefs however is horrendous. It's so bad that most of the time you stop caring about the briefing and just want it to shut up by starting the mission. The other sound effects in the game are respectable ranging from realistic gunfire to sounds unique to the current surroundings.

SWAT also supports cooperative play. You can play cooperatively through the normal campaign levels or play cooperative time attack as you race to finish the missions before the time runs out. You also have 4-player head-to-head or squad based deathmatches. There are 6 types of games in deathmatches. In Homicide the player who reaches a certain kill limit wins, in Countdown the player with the most kills in a time limit wins, in Survivor the last man standing wins, in Bag Man the player to pick up and hold the bag for a set time limit wins, Containment where you have to survive in a certain area of the match for a time limit and the last one is Secure and Hold where you secure all beacons in the map and change it to your team colour. The multiplayer component of SWAT is as fun and engaging as the single player part.

If you are a tactical shooter, this isn't your game. It's the combination of many small parts from different genres so it will probably only appeal to the casual fan. Still, this is the best game in the SWAT series by far and it's definitely worth your time to give it a shot.

-Stefan Shetty

(January 27, 2004)


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