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CVG Home � PC � Previews

PREVIEWS: PC

Brothers in Arms ^PC

World of Warcraft ^PC

SWAT 4

Format PC

Developer Irrational Games

Publisher Vivendi

Genre First Person Shooter

24-Jun-2004

E3 2002. Two years ago. SWAT 4 was announced to an expectant crowd. We surfed heads to get a front-row view of the latest tactical shooter and... Pissed ourselves laughing. Looking more like a conga 'em up than a shooter, it was a total embarrassment, a non-game or, in the words of the PR person responsible, "shit on a stick".

Not surprisingly all went quiet on the SWAT 4 front. Then it was officially canned, only to suddenly reappear on the horizon last month, with Irrational Games at the helm.

Reasons to get excited: Irrational made System Shock 2 (SS2 is still one of our favourite games ever), and it's powered by an enhanced Unreal engine (as used by Irrational in its upcoming Tribes: Vengeance game). It's also shipping with three multiplayer modes and a co-operative campaign mode, and it sports authentic assault gear, realistic ballistics and Havok-defined physics. Woo-woo! And yay!

You take charge of a squad of up to five officers and have to work your way through a series of 16 high-risk missions - saving hostages, counter-terrorism and rescuing cats from the tops of tall trees (possibly) - following police protocol and avoiding putting your sirens on to get to the burger shop.

We're excited again, and we think you should be too - look out for a more in-depth preview shortly.

PC Zone Staff