S.W.A.T. 4

S.W.A.T. 4 (2005)

Overview

The last vestige of the Police Quest series, S.W.A.T. 4 is the fourth (and to date, final) instalment of the SWAT spin-off of the original series of Police Quest adventure games originally conceived by Jim Walls and published by Sierra Entertainment. A mix between a tactical shooter and realistic police simulator, the main objective is not simply to kill any and all opposition in each level like many First Person Shooters, but instead to bring order to chaos, such as ending a hostage crisis, executing a high-risk search warrant, performing a drug bust, stopping a terrorist attack with civilians still in the area, etc. The SWAT commander (named Sonny Bonds, the protagonist from the original Police Quest series) makes it abundantly clear in the training session that SWAT is a "life-saving organization," and that "firearms must only be used in defense of life." Furthermore, as a police unit, SWAT's prime objective is to make their arrests and bring suspects alive to stand trial if at all possible. To that end, a great deal of the game's features and design decisions for its gameplay and simulated firearms reflect this, summarized below.

• Each mission has a score meter displayed at the end. Injuring or killing armed suspects without due cause (when they are aiming a weapon at a civilian or SWAT team member, or reloading a weapon, or drawing a new one) or before shouting for compliance ("POLICE! DROP YOUR WEAPONS!") will penalize your score, and injuring or incapacitating civilians/SWAT team members will penalize you even more so. Due to the emphasis on live arrest and capture, arresting suspects yields the most points, incapacitating suspects yields few points, and neutralizing (i.e., killing) suspects yields none at all. Each difficulty level has a cutoff point below which your score is deemed too low to continue, and the higher the difficulty, the higher this cutoff level is.
• Damage is treated somewhat realistically. While officers wear body armour as standard, even the heavy variety will not stand up to more than a few hits in a single location before the wearer is incapacitated or killed. Hits to the leg(s) will cause a suspect or officer to limp, while hits to the arms will affect a player's accuracy. Hits to the torso or head that do not kill outright will not cause any secondary effects beyond adding a small penalty to a player's accuracy.
• The game uses a system of exaggerated crosshair bloom to reflect each weapon's accuracy and handling. Pistols take the shortest time to aim accurately, two-handed firearms such as submachine guns or assault rifles take progressively longer, while shotguns and designated marksman rifles take the longest. In general, the smaller the physical size of the firearm in question, the faster it can be aimed accurately assuming the player has not taken hits that penalize accuracy (in other words it increases the minimum size the area covered by the dynamic crosshairs will cover).
• Thanks to the aforementioned system, shooting while moving is likely to be an exercise in futility. Standing still or crouching allow for the smallest crosshair area, while running or walking erratically results in a large minimum crosshair area. Shooting while moving is best done while walking slowly and steadily in one direction.
• Some of this game's several weapons are usable only by players or SWAT team members, and others that are usable only by suspect or civilian NPCs. In addition, while the original game's multiplayer allowed either team (the SWAT team or the Suspects) to use any weapon, the Stetchkov Syndicate expansion pack introduced a "Team-Specific Weaponry" option to force players to use only weaponry appropriate to their side. The weaponry list is divided into player-usable and NPC-usable weapons for this purpose, and each player-usable weapon will have its availability when "Team-Specific Weaponry" is active noted. With few exceptions, NPCs can use weaponry from both categories.

The game has a number of quirks with regards to its firearms system, described below:

• As with Operation Flashpoint, ammunition for most of the weapons in this game is tracked with a magazine system. Players can only carry a certain number of magazines for a given weapon, and reloading with a partially-filled magazine will return it to your inventory instead of being discarded, and when all fully-loaded magazines have been used, the partially-filled magazines will be loaded instead. An inventory item called an "Ammo Pouch," available only in the expansion pack, can increase the amount of ammunition a player character can carry for a primary weapon, while some weapons do not use magazines. Which weapon uses which system is described in further detail below.
• Several weapons can use multiple ammunition types, with each described below in its own entry. The most commonly used are Jacketed Hollowpoint (JHP) bullets that deal extra damage to unarmoured targets, but cannot penetrate thin barriers and deal less damage to targets wearing body armour, and Full Metal Jacketed (FMJ) bullets that can penetrate thin barriers and retain their damage against armoured targets, but are less likely to incapacitate or kill unarmoured targets outright.
• As weapons used by suspects in a mission must be confiscated for evidence and sent to forensics, it is not possible for players to use weapons procured onsite, either dropped from suspects or discovered at the scene. For the same reason, it is not possible for players to take ammunition off of confiscated weapons for their own use. Neither is it possible to take a weapon or ammunition off an incapacitated team member.
• While shooting to wound armed suspects (such as aiming for their limbs) to the point of their giving up is possible, it is far from reliable. It is quite possible that the game will simply treat a limb shot as a killing shot, or more rarely, a shot that leaves the suspect unable to fight back or stand but still alive. On rare occasions, shots to the arms will cause an armed suspect to drop his or her equipped weapon and either draw a backup weapon, or else surrender when commanded.
• Unfortunately, the game (even with its expansion pack) does not model ballistic physics for its non-grenade weapons. This results in some less-than-realistic situations when using some weaponry, such as being able to snipe targets with a pistol across a large courtyard, or to allow low-velocity beanbag rounds to cross a far greater distance than they could in real life.
• A major flaw in the game is that almost all of its less-lethal weaponry is incapable of causing lasting harm to suspects or non-compliant civilians, despite such weaponry being capable of, and attracting controversy for, causing lasting harm or death to those hit or affected by the weaponry. Furthermore, standard rules of engagement do not apply when using less-lethal weaponry against targets--there is no need to shout for compliance or wait until a suspect endangers someone with a weapon, because a player can just shoot him or her enough times with a less-lethal weapon until s/he complies enough to be arrested, with no penalty assigned at the end of the mission. Each less-lethal weapon and its less-than-realistic aspects will described in more detail in their own individual entries.
• Like Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2, the game does in fact have differing reload animations depending on whether a tactical reload (performed when the magazine is partially full) or standard reload (when the firearm is completely empty) is required, but unlike the aforementioned title, weapons will not gain an extra round in the magazine due to one still being left in the chamber during a tactical reload.
• Only AK-type weapons or those produced by Benelli or Colt have their real names in this game--all others go under assumed names.

For the sake of convenience, both weapons available from the original S.W.A.T. 4 release and those added in its expansion pack, S.W.A.T. 4: The Stetchkov Syndicate, will be covered here. A list of the weaponry used in both the original game and its expansion pack follows below.

Player-Usable Weapons

The following is a list of weaponry usable by players or AI-controlled SWAT team members. Some of them are equipped with tactical flashlights, and the exact ones that possess this feature will be mentioned in their own entries (if an entry makes no mention of a flashlight attachment, then it's not possible to use one with the weapon in question).

One additional caveat applies to flashlight-equipped firearms; aside from allowing a player to see in the dark and giving away their position when lit, turning a flashlight on will cause your character to NOT lower his gun when pointed at an "inappropriate target." While your player character is smart enough to lower his weapon when facing a compliant civilian or surrendering suspect, this tendency will not be present when the flashlight is turned on, further emphasizing the amount of trigger discretion one must exercise in this game.

Handguns

While treated as backup weapons in this game, ill-suited for tackling multiple opponents or situations requiring plenty of ammunition in a magazine, they are generally the fastest-aiming weapons in the game, taking little time for the crosshair to settle. They also tend to be useful for times when a player has suffered hits to the arm(s), which generally makes aiming with any other firearm type a risky proposition.

Colt M1911

The standard service pistol of the SWAT team, the Colt M1911 pistol series has a magazine capacity of 8 rounds in .45 ACP, can load both JHP and FMJ bullets, and players can carry 4 of its magazines in total. This gun is available to both SWAT and Suspects in Team-Specific weaponry mode. It has a tactical flashlight.

Despite the greater per-bullet stopping power offered by the .45 ACP round compared to the 9x19mm round used by the Glock 17 pistol, it still takes 2-3 hits (with FMJ bullets) to a single location on an armoured opponent to kill or incapacitate him or her. The Colt M1911 is also less damage-tolerant than the Glock 17 ingame, being only effective out to medium range when hits to the arm(s) are suffered. It really only shines when used with JHP ammunition against unarmoured opponents, having a chance of killing or incapacitating an unarmoured target outright with a single solid torso hit.

M1911 - .45 ACP

First Person View of the M1911 pistol. Note the hammer, which appears to be modified to have been bent and sit very low, to the point that the tip seems to be beneath the level of the slide.

Reloading the M1911 pistol, providing a better look at the engraving on the slide.

The M1911 pistol in its case at the SWAT team firing range. Thanks to the fact that this is a low-poly model, several features on the gun seen in its First Person View are not visible here, such as the lack of extended grip catch at the back and the standard hammer as opposed to the lowered one in the First Person View model.

Colt Python Revolver

The Colt Python appears in the game, carrying 6 rounds of .357 magnum ammunition in its cylinders. Players can carry 3 additional speedloaders of ammunition for this gun, for a total of 24 rounds of ammunition. It is equipped with red and green dot sights, and can load both JHP and FMJ bullets. It is available only to the SWAT team in Team-Specific weaponry mode.

Despite being a double-action revolver in real life, meaning that pulling the trigger will both cock and release the hammer, player characters using this weapon are forced to use it in a single-action manner, manually pulling back the hammer with the thumb of the trigger hand for every shot, resulting in a very slow firing rate. This however results in very accurate shots, and the ammunition's power means that targets will be downed in one or two hits to the same location, assuming one is not using JHP bullets against armoured opponents (which would take more ammunition to achieve the same result).

In another break from reality, if you reload while the revolver is still partially loaded, your character won't consolidate the rounds into a common ammo pool, but instead somehow have the partially used rounds appear in a speedloader again. For example, firing three rounds and reloading will cause your character to swing out the cylinder, push the extractor rod, and then load ammunition with the next speedloader, and then reload the partially-full speedloader into the weapon when all the full speedloaders have been used, despite never arranging the remaining rounds into the speedloader.

Colt Python - .357 Magnum

A SWAT team player wondering if he should make like Faye Valentine and show an arcade machine prop gun what "the real thing" is like.

Reloading the Colt Python. If you could reload the revolver manually, you would always have six rounds on hand, and avoid the problem of "magic speedloaders" that always catch unused rounds after they've been extracted, despite your character never putting the unused rounds in the speedloaders themselves. Furthermore, despite being an elite SWAT team member, your player character still swings the cylinder shut with a flick of the wrist, instead of pushing it closed with the other hand, something that will eventually cause cylinder misalignment and a potentially explosive malfunction.

Unlike Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, this wannabe cowboy's "heroic last stand" will NOT be turned into a classic feature film.

Desert Eagle

The Desert Eagle appears as the "Mark XIX semiautomatic pistol," can load both JHP and FMJ bullets, and has a magazine capacity of 8 rounds despite having its caliber listed as .50 Action Express (barring an additional round in the chamber, Desert Eagles chambered in .50 Action Express have a magazine capacity of 7 rounds, with 8 rounds per magazine being appropriate for the .44 magnum version). Players can carry only 3 magazines of ammunition for it, compared to the standard 4 for pistols. It possesses red-coloured dot sights, and is available only to Suspects in Team-Specific weaponry mode.

In terms of stopping power it is largely equivalent to the Colt Python, but is far less accurate with quick follow-up shots. It is also slower to aim than most of the other pistols, possibly to reflect its real-life weight and bulk.

Mark XIX Black Finish - .50 AE

"DROP YOUR WEAPON AND HIT THE FLOOR!"
"Why should I listen to you, copper?"
"BECAUSE MY GUN'S BIGGER THAN YOURS!"

Officer Jackson with a Desert Eagle, something no real-life law enforcement agency would ever allow.

Glock 17

Appearing as the "9mm Handgun" ingame, the Glock 17 has a two-tone finish, and has a magazine capacity of 17 rounds of 9x19mm ammunition, coupled with a tactical flashlight. Players can carry 4 magazines in total for this weapon, and it can load both JHP and FMJ bullets.

While technically the weakest of the player-usable firearms in the game, even three shots of FMJ ammunition to the same location on a heavily-armoured opponent is enough to kill or incapacitate him or her. It is also one of the most damage-tolerant firearms in the game--even players who have suffered hits to both arms will still have a reasonable chance of scoring hits on a target from from long range. This gun is available to both SWAT and Suspects in Team-Specific weaponry mode.

File:Glock 17.jpg

Glock 17 - 9x19mm

Shooting the Glock 17 at the SWAT team firing range.

The Glock 17 in its case at the SWAT team firing range.

Intratec TEC-9

The sole pistol capable of both semiautomatic and fully automatic fire in the game, the Intratec TEC-9, labelled the "9mm Machine Pistol" ingame, is available only to Suspects in Team-Specific weaponry mode, is chambered for 9x19mm ammunition, and can only use FMJ bullets (the ingame reason being that "other ammunition types severely decrease this gun's reliability"). It has a magazine capacity of 32 rounds, and players can only carry a total of 2 magazines for this weapon.

Despite being a pistol-class weapon, this gun has one of the slowest aiming times of all, even slower than most submachine guns. While the minimum crosshair size is acceptable, the crosshair bloom resulting from recoil is quite high and its damage tolerance is minimal. These factors restrict it to being a close to point-blank range weapon, except when used in short, controlled bursts combined with some time spent crouching or moving slowly and steadily. While both NPCs and players can use this gun, it is listed as a submachine gun rather than a handgun for NPCs in the game's "Quick Mission Maker," a utility included with the game to make custom missions.

TEC-9 - 9x19mm

Firing the TEC-9 machine pistol at an impromptu target practice room in a slum. Note the extreme crosshair size when firing in full-auto from a standing position. Either your player character needs to use a better grip or else get this weapon to a gunsmith to have a compensator/suppressor/forward strap grip installed.

A TEC-9 dropped by a neutralized female suspect. Yes, there are armed female criminals in this game and you can shoot them, even shoot them DEAD. Crime and violence truly know no gender.

Submachine Guns/Personal Defense Weapons

FN P90

Dubbed the "5.7x28mm Submachinegun" ingame, the FN P90 was introduced in the Stetchkov Syndicate expansion pack. Using a 50 round magazine, the ability to use both JHP and FMJ bullets, and possessing semiautomatic, three-round burst, and fully automatic firing modes, coupled with its lower-than-average aiming time, it is a potent and popular weapon in multiplayer. The only real drawback is its lower-than-average damage tolerance, but this is usually not a concern at short range with its high firing rate. Players can carry only two magazines for this weapon, but with the ammo pouch item, they can carry four. It has a tactical flashlight.

Thanks to an animation bug, however, certain NPCs cannot use this weapon at all, or use it improperly, as its bullpup design is too short for the standard two-handed grip for the game's two-handed weapons.

P90 - 5.7x28mm

An FN P90 in First Person View, with the tactical flashlight active and focussing on an Easter Egg in the form of graffiti on the level's walls. Irrational Games was the developer for both SWAT 4 and its expansion pack.

Officer Fields with an FN P90.

Heckler and Koch MP5

The Heckler and Koch MP5 appears in the game as the "9mm Submachinegun," and is capable only of semiautomatic and three-round burst fire modes. It has a fixed stock, a magazine capacity of 30 rounds of 9x19mm ammunition, can use both JHP and FMJ bullets, and allows players to carry four magazines (or six with the ammo pouch item). It is equipped with a tactical flashlight, and a version with a fixed (but not integral) suppressor can be used. Both versions can be used by both teams with Team-Specific Weaponry mode active in multiplayer.

Like the Glock 17, both MP5 versions are possibly the most damage-tolerant two-handed firearms in the game, and while the standard version has slightly more stopping power than the suppressed version, two accurate bursts of FMJ bullets are usually enough to kill even heavily armoured opponents in multiplayer.

MP5A2 - 9x19mm

The MP5 in First Person View, with the tactical flashlight active.

Officers Reynolds and Girard with MP5s, Reynolds with the suppressed version, and Girard with the standard version.

Heckler and Koch UMP

The H&K UMP appears in the game as the ".45 Submachinegun," and is chambered for .45 ACP, equipped with a vertical foregrip, a tactical flashlight integrated into the vertical foregrip, and an unused Picatinny rail on top. It possesses a 25 round magazine, is capable of semiautomatic and fully automatic fire, and can use both JHP and FMJ bullets. This weapon is only available to the SWAT team in Team-Specific Weaponry mode. Players can carry 4 magazines for the weapon, or 6 with the ammo pouch item.

While described as "comparable to the MP5 in every way" in the manual, in truth it is more accurate than the MP5 at long range, has less muzzle climb and recoil, and often kills most opponents in three hits to one location. It is, however, much less damage-tolerant than the MP5, with even one arm hit ruining its long-range accuracy. Strangely, it is not available in a suppressed form, despite the .45 ACP round it uses already being subsonic and thus losing less velocity and stopping power than a suppressed 9x19mm firearm would.

UMP - .45 ACP

You need a great deal more than balls to even play at being a SWAT officer in this game.

Before rushing onward to face death around every corner in a diamond wholesaler's building invaded by heavily-armed robbers, Officer Reynolds decides to check up on his favourite social networking sites on the security guard's former laptop, H&K UMP in hand.

IMI Uzi

Named the "Gal Submachinegun" ingame (in reference to the last name of the Uzi's creator in real life, Uziel Gal), the Uzi appears in its full-size Submachine Gun incarnation, chambered in 9x19mm, capable of semiautomatic and fully automatic fire, with a 25 round magazine of either JHP or FMJ bullets. It is only available with a sound suppressor ingame, and is restricted to the Suspects in Team-Specific Weaponry mode. Players can carry 4 magazines for the weapon, or 6 with the ammo pouch item.

While its fully automatic fire function might make it more attractive than the MP5 (which does not possess that feature in this game), it also suffers from a great deal more crosshair bloom despite its suppressor, even when fired in semiautomatic mode. This, combined with its even faster aiming time than the MP5, makes it an ideal weapon for CQB but not for long range shots. It also possesses the low damage tolerance of the H&K UMP.

Uzi - 9x19mm

The Uzi SMG in First Person View.

An Uzi SMG near its fallen former owner.

Shotguns

Shotguns in this game are quite powerful, but more susceptible to accuracy penalties than most other weapon classes. Like many First Person Shooters featuring buckshot-firing shotguns, the size of the crosshair determines the area that the buckshot will fill at random when fired, which is unrealistic because real life shotguns have a spread that is largely fixed, determined mainly by the barrel length, the barrel configuration, and the type of buckshot load being fired, rather than a crosshair that changes size depending on how your character moves. Unlike many other games with shotguns, when reloading a shotgun's tube magazine that is completely empty, your character will actually work the pump action after the first shell is inserted, rather than when the last shell is inserted, which is more realistic since the first shell must be chambered with the pump action. Furthermore, each press of the reload key will only insert one shell rather than continually loading the tube magazine to until its full--another departure from most portrayals of shotguns in games.

Both of the lethal shotguns use the same two ammo types, which are 00 buckshot and shotgun slugs. The former cannot penetrate barriers but is quite useful against opponents not wearing heavy body armour, while the latter can penetrate all barriers and even multiple opponents in a straight line, while being accurate enough to snipe at long range. With the exception of the Compact Breaching Shotgun, players can only carry 30 total rounds of ammunition for shotguns, or 60 with the ammo pouch item, whether that ammunition consists of buckshot, shotgun slugs, or beanbag rounds.

Benelli M4 Super 90

The Benelli M4 Super 90 shotgun appears in the game, with a tactical flashlight, an unused Picatinny rail, and a useless shell holder rack. It has a capacity of 4 rounds + 1 in the chamber, can only fire in semiautomatic mode, and can use both 00 buckshot and shotgun slugs.

Its semiautomatic nature combined with its powerful ammunition make it a very potent close range weapon, albeit one that requires a long time to reload. Despite being less accurate than the Benelli Nova shotgun, it is quicker to aim than its pump-action cousin.

12 Gauge

Regardless of whether he loves you, you won't love getting hit by the rapid-fire barrage of shotgun slugs or buckshot from this weapon. Sadly the shell holder rack is purely cosmetic--you won't be able to load the shells from the rack or load the rack itself.

Officer Anthony Girard with his Benelli M4 Super 90, trying to intimidate a noncompliant civilian into surrendering (and failing).

Benelli Nova Tactical

The Benelli Nova Tactical appears in the game as a version with an extended magazine, an unused Picatinny rail, and a tactical flashlight. It is restricted to pump-action only, is chambered for 12 Gauge, has a tube magazine capacity of 7 + 1 in the chamber (this is up from the capacity of 4 + 1 in the standard model), and can fire either 00 buckshot or shotgun slugs. It is one of the few weapons that can only be used by players or AI-controlled SWAT team members, not civilian or suspect NPCs.

Its stopping power is similar to the Benelli M4 Super 90 in this game, but thanks to its longer barrel it is somewhat more accurate (especially when firing slugs, or when firing buckshot at long range while crouched), even though its firing rate is slower. Unfortunately this same feature means it is probably the least damage-tolerant firearm in the game, as even one hit to an arm will make it virtually impossible to hit a target at long range with slugs.

Benelli Nova Tactical with M68 Aimpoint red dot scope 12 Gauge

Busting a drug lab with a Benelli Nova in hand. If you look closely, you can see the company name "Benelli" on the left side of the weapon, near the player character's left hand.

File:SWAT 4 - PC - SQV - Benelli Nova (Fields).jpg

Officer Zachary Fields with a Benelli Nova, providing a good view of the barrel's length (compared to the tube magazine) and the tactical flashlight under the tube magazine.

Compact Breaching Shotgun

More of a tool than a weapon, the Compact Breaching Shotgun in the game is a compact pump-action shotgun loaded with frangible breaching ammunition that is optimized for breaking locks on doors. It offers a non-lethal alternative to using C2 explosives, since opening a door using the Breaching Shotgun will not harm anyone on the other side. This shotgun has a magazine capacity of 5 breaching rounds, a toothed extender to ensure the proper distance between the barrel and the door, and a useless shell holder rack. The shotgun cannot be reloaded after expending all 5 shells either.

Because of its ammunition, the Compact Breaching Shotgun is amazingly ineffectual at penetrating even light body armour, and is extremely short-ranged. It does, however, have a unique melee attack animation (a function introduced in the Stetchkov Syndicate expansion pack which allows you to stun other players or NPCs with a punch, sometimes helping to convince them to surrender, though too much will incapacitate them) which consists of the player hitting a close target with the toothed extender.

Compounding this weapon's problems is the fact that all player characters have a "multi-tool," which can pick open locked doors. Given that there are no doors in the original game or its expansion that cannot be picked open (no door requires a keycard, or a passcode, or a combination lock, or a unique electronic signal, or the like), and given that picking open a lock is quieter and has no ammunition limit, the Breaching Shotgun's usefulness is restricted to those times when there is no time to pick open a lock or when a hostile player/NPC is blocking the door from the other side, and either shooting the door with FMJ bullets or shotgun slugs to kill the person blocking it or blasting it open with C2 (potentially killing the person on the other side) is undesirable.

Fitted with breaching break in the game

Preparing to bust open a locked door with the Compact Breaching Shotgun.

Officer Allen Jackson with a Compact Breaching Shotgun slung on his back. As nice as it might look to have three weapons instead of only two, it's too bad that this weapon is so poor at actually harming the opposition.

Less-Lethal Shotgun

Essentially a Benelli Nova Tactical loaded with beanbag rounds (AKA "collapsible baton rounds") and painted green to ensure it is only loaded with less-lethal ammunition, this weapon otherwise has the same stats as the standard Benelli Nova shotgun loaded with slugs in this game.

In the singleplayer campaign and multiplayer co-op missions, this weapon is unrealistically portrayed as a completely non-lethal device when used against either NPC civilians or suspects, completely without the real-life dangers of its usage. No amount of beanbags fired at an NPC suspect or civilian will break bones, or crush windpipes, or crack ribs, or snap necks, or inflict concussions, etc., all of which can happen with improper use of this weapon in reality. Due to the fact that this game does not incorporate ballistic physics, beanbag rounds thus have a unrealistically long effective range in this game (whereas in real life their larger weight and unaerodynamic shape mean they fall to the ground after only 20 metres of travel or so).

In non-cooperative multiplayer modes, the less-lethal shotgun can stun opponents for a short time, during which they can be arrested (by the SWAT team) or taken hostage (by the Suspects). Heavy body armour can limit the amount of time an individual beanbag round can stun a player, but the less-lethal shotgun can still kill or incapacitate other players if it hits them enough times, something that will not happen in any other game mode.

Firing beanbags at a noncompliant homeless person ingame. Note that the embossed Benelli logo, though painted over, is still clearly visible near the player character's left hand.

Officer Steven Reynolds with a Less-Lethal Shotgun aimed at a civilian.

Assault Rifles

Slow-aiming but powerful, these weapons are commonly used by both teams and are often capable of downing even heavily armoured opponents in two FMJ bullet hits to the same location. Because of their larger physical size, they have only average damage tolerance. All assault rifles allow players to carry three magazines of ammunition, or five with the ammo pouch equipped, regardless of the selected bullet type or the ammunition's caliber.

AK-47

The AK-47 appears in the game, and is a powerful weapon often used by terrorists and other well-equipped suspects. Chambered for 7.62x39mm ammunition, this classic firearm uses 30 round magazines, can fire JHP or FMJ bullets, and is only available to the Suspects in Team-Specific Weaponry mode in multiplayer. Its heavy weight makes it the slowest aiming of the assault rifles, along with a slower firing rate than the 5.56x45mm assault rifles, but this is made up for in its low crosshair bloom rate when firing in full auto along with a higher damage-per-bullet ratio, which is one reason why it's one of most popular run-and-gun weapons in multiplayer.

7.62-39

Booze, drugs, guns, and rock-and-roll--all of them hot commodities that will never completely go away, whether from the legal or illegal markets.

An AK-47 sitting atop some ammunition belts in a storage crate at the Stetchkov Warehouse armoury. Here the slant-cut muzzle is clearly visible, suggesting that it may actually be an AKM rifle.

Colt M4A1 Carbine

The Colt M4A1 Carbine is present in the game, equipped with a Rail Interface System that has a tactical flashlight and vertical foregrip attached. This compact assault rifle is chambered for 5.56x45mm, can use both JHP and FMJ bullets, has a 30 round magazine, and is capable of semiautomatic and fully automatic fire. Both teams can use it in multiplayer, even with Team-Specific Weaponry mode on.

In terms of stopping power, two to three hits of the appropriate bullet type to a single location can kill or incapacitate hostile targets, but this rifle can be aimed in less time than the other assault rifles in this game. This is offset by the rather extreme muzzle climb that the rifle produces in fully automatic fire, even with the vertical foregrip.

M4A1 - 5.56mm

Everything you need to clean up a hotel attacked by terrorists is in this picture--the right gun to shoot the Suspects dead, the mops, towels, and sprays to clean off the blood, brains and guts splattered everywhere, and a mini-fridge full of nice drinks to cool you off when you're done.

Officer Steven Reynolds with his M4A1 carbine at hand.

Heckler and Koch G36C

The G36C appears in the game as the "GB36s Assault Rifle." Chambered in 5.56x45mm, this compact assault rifle possesses a 30 round magazine, can fire both JHP and FMJ bullets, has a tactical flashlight, rail-mounted iron sights, and is capable of two-round burst or fully automatic fire. It is available to both teams in multiplayer, even when Team-Specific Weaponry mode is on.

While this rifle has stopping power identical to the M4 carbine in this game, its aiming characteristics are worse, taking longer to aim and producing more recoil and muzzle climb than the M4A1 carbine, despite the previously-mentioned trend in this game for shorter weapons taking less time to aim. About the only advantage it has over the M4A1 carbine is its two-round burst mode, allowing for a good balance of mid-range accuracy and stopping power.

G36C - 5.56mm

Raiding the offices of a criminal gang's warehouse with the G36C. The tactical flashlight is active and clearly visible.

Officer Allen Jackson with his G36C at the ready.

Sniper Rifles/Designated Marksman Rifles

Unknown Colt DMR

Referred to ingame as the "Colt Accurized Rifle," and described in the manual as "occupying the mid ground between an assault rifle and a dedicated sniper rifle," it is likely a designated marksman rifle of some sort that the Stetchkov Syndicate expansion introduced. Chambered for 5.56x45mm ammunition, it is restricted to semiautomatic fire only, carries 20 rounds per magazine, comes with an unremovable scope and sound suppressor, and can only use FMJ bullets. Players can carry two magazines for this rifle, or four with the ammo pouch item. This rifle is also the only weapon in the game with a usable scope. Only the SWAT team can use this weapon in multiplayer with Team-Specific Weaponry mode active.

Despite firing the exact same ammunition as the Colt M4A1 carbine in this game, it is capable of killing armoured opponents in just one hit, though being restricted to FMJ bullets means it is somewhat less effective against unarmoured opponents without a solid torso hit. This weapon is also one of the few that can only be used by players or AI-controlled SWAT team members, not civilian or Suspect NPCs.

First Person View of the Colt DMR ingame. Note the Picatinny rail on top.

A view through the scope of the Colt DMR. A programming gaffe doesn't turn the rifle invisible to the player, so that the tip of the suppressor is still visible through the scope in the wrong place, especially when moving while looking through the scope..

Officer Girard covering an area with a Colt DMR.

Unknown Sniper Rifle

During some singleplayer missions, sniper support on a few windows or areas will be available to the SWAT team. Unfortunately the snipers' weapons are never seen; only the view through their scopes is visible to the player. They do, however, appear to use bolt-action rifles are possibly manually chambered (since they have to work a bolt action after every shot but never have to replace a magazine or load a new stripper clip), and are quite useful in nailing precision headshots or shots to the hands to make a suspect drop his or her weapon. Using a sniper is the only method of killing an armed suspect where rules of engagement (beyond not shooting unarmed civilians) do NOT have to be obeyed.

Looking through the scope of a SWAT sniper's weapon.

Machine Guns

M249 SAW

The only weapon of its class in the game, the M249 SAW is named the "5.56mm Light Machine Gun," is chambered for 5.56x45mm ammunition, is only capable of three-round burst or fully automatic fire, can fire both JHP and FMJ bullets, and is belt-fed from a 200-round box magazine. The ingame model does not possess a bipod, or a Picatinny rail, or a vertical foregrip, and sports a solid synthetic stock. Players are restricted to carrying only one 200-round box magazine with the weapon, or two in total if the ammo pouch item is equipped. The weapon is only available to the Suspects with Team-Specific Weaponry mode active in multiplayer, the ingame reason being that SWAT considers it overkill, being a police rather than a military unit.

Due to its weight and bulk it is the slowest-aiming automatic weapon in the game, and for some reason has a surprisingly low rate of fire (around the same as the UMP's firing rate), with stopping power identical to the M4A1 carbine (but less recoil and muzzle climb). If a player with this weapon is given time to aim beforehand and is in a good firing location however, it is quite useful for area denial and suppressing fire, despite the slow firing rate.

5.56mm NATO

Firing the M249 SAW at the SWAT team Riverside Training Facility.

An M249 SAW sitting atop some ammunition belts in a weapon crate, in the Stetchkov warehouse armoury.

Grenades

This game is one of the few First Person Shooters where all grenades are of the less-lethal type. Not even the Suspects in multiplayer can use the more conventionally harmful grenade types (i.e., fragmentation, concussive, incendiary, etc.), but the game claims that the Suspects in multiplayer are more of the kind to take hostages with grenades than kill outright with them. No civilian or suspect NPC can use this weapon type.

Flashbang Grenade

Arming and throwing this grenade produces a brilliant flash and loud report that temporarily blinds and deafens anyone without flash suppression goggles caught in its blast radius. One of the less-than-realistic aspects of flashbang grenades in this game is how in multiplayer, just getting caught in the blast radius without the right protective gear (or not behind some solid cover) will result in getting blinded by the flash--having the detonation in view is not necessary, though in real life looking away or closing your eyes would lessen or prevent the blinding while still leaving you temporarily deafened. Another less-than-realistic aspect is how you can be blinded by "friendly" flashbang detonations in singleplayer, despite wearing flash suppression goggles.

Despite what the game manual claims, flashbang grenades are completely non-lethal in the unmodified game.

M84 Stun Grenade

The Flashbang Grenade in First Person View.

Officer Zachary Fields with a Flashbang Grenade strapped to his belt while he restrains a civilian.

Sting Grenade

This grenade type is essentially a fragmentation grenade, except the fragments propelled by the explosive charge are small rubber balls instead of metal shrapnel. The impact from the balls will not penetrate the skin but will cause extreme pain and disorientation, which translates into having your vision blurred and losing the ability to walk straight or fight back ingame. Opponents wearing heavy armour will only be affected for half the normal duration, however. Civilian and Suspect NPCs can be incapacitated when subjected to a point-blank Sting Grenade detonation, and opposing players in multiplayer can be killed by the same if they are already injured.

Despite the fact that it possesses the smallest area of effect, as well as the shortest duration for its effect among the less-lethal grenades in the game, there is no way opposing players can completely nullify its effects when hit, and this is the main reason why many players in multiplayer use it frequently in close quarters.

A Sting Grenade in First Person View. Unlike the other two less-lethal grenade types in this game, the Sting Grenade leaves behind no empty shell when used and thus cannot be recycled.

Officer Anthony Girard with a Sting Grenade strapped to his belt.

Tear Gas Grenade

This type of less-lethal grenade when armed and thrown produces a thick cloud of CS gas in an area (it is actually thick enough to act as an impromptu smoke screen for properly-protected players). Being caught in this cloud without a gas mask causes coughing, choking, and blurred vision, during which civilian or Suspect NPCs are unable to resist and are more likely to surrender, or be further "persuaded" with other less-lethal methods into compliance. Opposing players affected by this gas in multiplayer are also incapable of fighting back and can be immediately handcuffed, but may still slowly walk away while incapacitated (unlike the Sting Grenade, CS Gas does not impair a player's physical co-ordination).

Two less-than-realistic aspects plague this weapon type in the game. First, the duration of exposure an unprotected player in multiplayer mode receives does not change the amount of time that player is incapacitated by the gas--a hapless player who walks into the edge of a cloud of CS gas will be incapacitated for the same amount of time as an unprotected player who cannot escape the cloud. Second, while the singleplayer mode does not allow the player to don a gas mask, the player character is never affected by CS gas at all.

M7 CS Gas Grenade

A CS Gas Grenade in First Person View.

A used CS Gas Grenade sitting on the floor.

Launchers

Heckler & Koch HK69A1

Labelled the "40mm Grenade Launcher" ingame, the HK69A1 fires 40mm versions of the aforementioned less-lethal hand-thrown grenades with more distance and accuracy than the hand-thrown varieties can muster. Players can carry 8 grenades of a single type for the launcher, or 16 of a single type with the ammo pouch item. The launcher is a single-shot weapon and must be manually reloaded after every shot. In multiplayer, it is available to both teams in Team-Specific Weaponry mode. NPCs cannot be equipped with it, not even AI-controlled SWAT officers. While the HK69A1 can be assigned to AI-controlled officers, they will never use it and will draw their secondary weapons instead, which may be due to the code letting them use this weapon being incomplete or else never implemented.

All three hand-thrown varieties are available in 40mm versions for the HK69A1, but it also has an exclusive grenade type which launches three beanbag rounds when the "mother" grenade contacts a target or a surface. The main advantage of this version is that it has no splash damage and is safe to use at close quarters, but unlike the Sting Grenade (which performs a similar function) it is likely to affect fewer targets since the beanbags can't cover as much area as a Sting Grenade's rubber pellets can. The HK69A1's munitions share the same lethality issues as the hand-thrown varieties do, but civilians, suspects, or opposing players can be incapacitated or killed outright if directly hit enough times with a launched grenade.

HK69A1

First Person View of the HK69A1 ingame. The launcher's leaf sight is clearly visible in this view.

Preparing to reload the HK69A1.

Reloading the HK69A1, sadly with some of the player character's fingers clipping through the grenade.

A stash of HK69A1s on a weapons crate in the Stetchkov warehouse armoury. The previously invisible buttstock is in clear view at this angle.

Other

Advanced Taser M26

The Advanced Taser M26 is a single-shot electroshock weapon that appears in this game, simply labelled the "Taser." It must be manually reloaded with each shot, is strictly a short-range weapon thanks to the length of its wires, and does not possess a "touch-stun" mode (unlike the real life weapon). Suspect or civilian NPCs hit with this weapon will be immediately paralyzed and helpless for a short while, and it is capable of "persuading" most targets into compliance with a single shot. Opposing players in multiplayer suffering a hit from this weapon will also be unavoidably paralyzed (regardless of their equipment), but can be handcuffed immediately after being shocked, unlike AI-controlled NPCs. Players can carry 15 electrodes for this weapon, and both teams can use it with Team-Specific Weaponry mode active.

In a major departure from reality, taser weapons in this game are completely non-lethal, regardless of the target it is used on, or the number of times it is used on a single target. There is absolutely no danger of giving a subject a heart attack, positional asphyxia, or other forms of sudden death no matter how many times they are shocked, or what kind of pre-existing medical conditions (drug withdrawal, heart problems, etc.) they might have. There is also no penalty for using it as a first resort against non-compliant, unarmed civilians, whereas in real life, standard procedure dictates using a taser is the second-last resort before using lethal force.

Preparing to shock a non-compliant civilian into docility with the Advanced Taser M26. The red light at the back of the weapon pulses on and off if the weapon is loaded and ready to fire.

Officer Zachary Fields shooting a taser at an non-compliant civilian. You can almost hear the protestors now . . .

"Cobra" Taser

Labelled the "Cobra" Taser because of how it holds two sets of electrodes much like a cobra's two venomous fangs, this electroshock weapon is available as a secondary weapon, and shares the same ammunition, range, and realism problems as the Advanced Taser M26 does in this game. Unlike the other taser weapon, however, this taser is only available to the SWAT team in multiplayer when Team-Specific Weaponry mode is active, and is somewhat less accurate.

Because of this weapon's configuration, it is possible to fire both sets of electrodes at once, or one set at a time for a total of two shots, much like a double-barrelled shotgun can. Firing both sets of paired wires at once does not cause a longer incapacitation period, but does increase the chance that the intended target will be hit with at least one pair (hitting a target with just one wire out of a pair will, unrealistically, also cause incapacitation, despite the fact that in real life just one wire will not form a viable cathode-anode pair for electricity to flow through)). Regardless of which firing mode is used, the weapon can only reload one set of electrodes at a time. It is also possible to use this weapon in "touch-stun" mode, unlike the Advanced Taser M26. For some reason, this mode will not use up the weapon's ammunition, no matter how many times it is used. Touch-stunning can even be done without any ammunition in the weapon.

Using the Cobra Taser's touch-stun feature against a helpless senior citizen. Needless to say, such a thing is NOT recommended in real life.

Officer Zachary Fields shocking a passively resisting civilian into compliance with the Cobra Taser.

NPC-Only Weapons

This section covers the ingame weapons that cannot be used by players or AI-controlled SWAT team members, but may still be used by NPC suspects or civilians. Due to their unusability by players, it is not possible to determine most characteristics for these weapons (such as magazine capacity, caliber, etc.), aside from what can be deduced from their appearance or how NPCs use them.

Handguns

HK USP

USP - .45 ACP

Skorpion Machine Pistol

The Skorpion Machine Pistol appears in the game, with what appears to be a 10 round magazine (of indeterminate caliber bullets) and a shoulder stock. NPC suspects always use fully automatic fire with it, but never actually use the shoulder stock. It is often used by gang members or other low-level criminals ingame.

A view of some Skorpion Machine Pistols in a cardboard box in the Stetchkov Warehouse armoury. The machine pistol's shoulder stock is also visible, folded over the barrel. To the left of the box are some spherical frag grenades, a weapon class that is otherwise completely non-existent in the game.

Submachine Guns

MAC-10

MAC10 - .45 ACP

Assault Rifles

AK-74

5.45x39mm

AKS-74U

5.45x39mm