SWAT 4 tips

[Kareem]

So I had bought this game a while ago because of how vehemently it's recommended when it comes up around here. I eventually got around to playing it a couple of days ago and I think the game is fantastic.

However comments also mentioned that the game was brutally difficult, and I really agree. I didn't actually start having a lot of trouble until the diamond mall mission where random fuckups would lead to disaster. This was followed by the cult house mission which is actually very well-designed but I also lost in it a few times. So I wanted to collect some tips for how to go about the game to possibly reduce the chances of failure.

The following seem to be the reasons I fail missions (but I'm not THAT bad since I'm more than halfway through already!):

1) Getting myself shot (I assume I probably shouldn't go into rooms first to avoid this but then the AI doesn't always place bombs in the right locations for maximum effect, and they often bunch up at the entrance causing mass chaos).

2) Random AI teammate freaks out and shoots a civilian (what the hell, this seems entirely luck-based).

3) Too many AI teammates get injured storming a room with multiple armed suspects. Again this is mostly because of the mass chaos that ensues when the AI (often) decides to storm the room before the effect of things like CS gas actually occur.

So, any tips from the seasoned SWAT4 players here? Don't just limit it to the queries above, I'm just a beginner and would appreciate some general good gameplay tips.

Also I realize I can lower the difficulty level, but these things listed above can completely fail a mission for you regardless of the score you need to pass (I'm playing on Normal). If a soldier shoots a civilian the mission is over regardless of your failing score I believe. You are also very likely to lose by getting killed when all your teammates are incapacitated (had this happen only once though).

[Enduro_Man]

The Diamond Hall mission was a really tough one, so don't feel too bad. I ended up getting through the final missions with frequent deployments of the door wedge, to prevent enemies from getting behind my team. Since there's usually more than two ways to your position, always have a pair of guys covering other entrances.

Generally, the way to get high scores and prevent deductions is to equip everyone with less lethal loadouts, though this is less useful in later levels when the peppergun becomes all but useless. (Of course, you could plan your assaults to minimize the distance between the enemy and your beanbags/taser, but this isn't easy.) Personally, I don't find this approach to be all that satisfying.

So, general tips:

Always use the Optiwand. Don't bother giving them to team members, as they can't give you a lot of info on enemy positions. Plus, they could be carrying something more useful.
If you're not going after a perfect 100, do not blanch at using the sniper. You won't get the arrest bonus, but nor do you get penalized for these cold-blooded kills.
Similarly, you can kill a baddie standing next to a door with a breaching charge, and everything will be hunky dory.
During long missions, remember to SAVE FREQUENTLY! Oh, wait...

[Khelavaster]

I found the casualty rate was too high when I let my teammates do the gassing & entering. As you've noticed, they usually

a) rush in before the gas has had time to neutralize the baddies, or
b) expose themselves too much when opening the door and get killed before they have a chance of throwing the grenade.

That's why I normally do all the gassing & stunning myself. My MO is

a) always optiwand first and determine baddies' locations
b) open the door and quickly position myself behind the wall (here you'll probably hear the alerted baddie's shot against the open door or the facing wall); then bounce a grenade off a wall in the room so that it lands in the proximity of the suspect.
c) wait for the coughing and moaning, then charge in myself or issue a "move & clear" to my men.

Great game, by the way. Can't wait for Swat 5.

[Kareem]

Thanks for the tips so far guys.

Enduro_Man:

I'm starting to use door wedges more often now. Found it to be incredibly useful in one of the attempts at the diamond mall as well cult house mission because of the numerous entrances to rooms in each floor, aside from the basement with the graveyard.

I'm not up for the whole equipping your squad with beanbag guns strategy because it seems very fake and I often end up with more casualties using them. For some reason at times the squad AI would focus on one suspect shooting him/her with the beanbag gun while other suspects fire indiscriminately at them because the suspect they were firing at hadn't given up yet. I even tried once equipping everyone with lethal guns except for one of the squad members and wasn't surprised to find out he was the first to die.

Great tip on the sniper though, I thought he was just there for scouting the rooms, and that killing with him would count as unprovocated violence.

Khelavaster:

Yeah I'm starting to do the whole bombing thing myself often because of the inaccuracy of the AI and the fact that they rush in before the bomb has had its effect, particularly in the case of CS bombs.

Is there a way if you're storming 2 entrances at the same time of a room for you to issue an order to one of the teams but have them wait on it until you issue the order to your team?

[Khelavaster]

Kareem: Not in the original game, but yes in the expansion, the Stetchkov Syndicate. Haven't played it though so I couldn't tell you how well it was implemented.

[Kareem]

Ahh nice. I bought them both together as part of a Gold pack that had the game and the expansion. It was up for $20 on Amazon last time I checked.

[Alan Au]

1. Equip everybody with non-lethal weapons, preferably the beanbag shotguns.
2. Use the optiwand everywhere.
3. Use door wedges to keep suspects from fleeing into already-cleared areas.
4. You can do simultaneous entry via the helmet-cam on the other team, but it takes practice.
5. Use CS gas liberally. It takes a while to kick in, but the area effect is less dependent on pinpoint grenade accuracy.

- Alan

[unbongwah]

FYI, this mod (http://www.fileplanet.com/169719/160000/fileinfo/SWAT-4---AMAPMod-2-%5BVersion-1.2%5D) lets you use the SWAT 4 expansion equipment in the original SWAT missions.

[Enduro_Man]

FYI, this mod (http://www.fileplanet.com/169719/160000/fileinfo/SWAT-4---AMAPMod-2-%5BVersion-1.2%5D) lets you use the SWAT 4 expansion equipment in the original SWAT missions.

Fantastic. You don't know how long I've been waiting to punch that old lady in the second mission.

[Kareem]

Alan:

I didn't like giving the beanbag guns to everybody because I noticed they were dying a lot more often to non-compliant suspects. Often the AI would stand there shooting beanbags at this hesitant suspect while another two would be blasting away at my team. I don't really care about a perfect score, just that I pass the missions by getting 50% at least. Plus the real firearms make it more exciting.

Agreed with you about the usefulness of CS gas though, the fact that it spreads around corners to fill the entire room has made it much more useful than sting grenades or flashbangs, so I'm using it way more unless the target is at a very convenient location in the room.

EDIT: I'm actually stuck on the very last mission at the moment, but hopefully I'll be done with it soon. I just keep losing random team members to retarded fuck-ups. The useful thing I realized doing this mission though is the awesomeness of the M4A1 carbine with the FMJ ammunition for the armored suspects. Takes them down fairly quickly.

[Enduro_Man]

After this thread, I played through several missions just to reacquaint myself with the game. I see I'd forgotten just how hard it was, and how success would so often hinge on random factors. Things I've re-learned: 1) CS gas is really great. 2) Shooting to wound is a bad idea. 3) Just because a suspect is aiming a gun from a long distance away, it doesn't mean you get to shoot him.

Something I'm still not sure about: Do I have the right to shoot at a suspect running towards my team? I had one guy charging down a hall with his pistol at the side. Despite shouting at him, he came up to point-blank range, brought up his gun in no time, and took down two officers and myself. Obviously I should have shot him in the head, but would I have had 10 points docked?

EDIT: One more tip: After completing a particularly frustrating mission in SWAT4, load up R6:Vegas and give yourself an M249 and a load of incendiaries and frags. Apply liberally. Soothing.

[Kareem]

Enduro:

If a suspect is running towards my squad without firing, it makes it easier for me as he gets in range of the taser. Just yell at him as he runs towards them and if he doesn't comply you can tase him, which makes him give up quick.

The random factors at times can make it frustrating. For instance a mission will be going completely fine and then one of the squad AI members ends up freaking out and shooting a hostage. I think this happened 3 times total through the game for me.

I'd say the hardest mission I did was the one in the diamond complex as well as the cult house. The last mission was tough because of the aggressiveness of the baddies but it was more a standard level than the larger open spaces in the diamond mall.

Going to install the expansion soon and play it, but I wanted to do some run-of-the-mill explosive shit after restraining myself so much in SWAT4, so I'm playing through Quake 4 now :P .

One other thing that really shows me how great this game is. I can die a dozen times in the mission but I never actually get bored of the mission and the gameplay. I guess the random aspect of the suspects' locations and behavior makes you on edge anyway, but there's also the fact that the gameplay itself is so damn good that it doesn't get old to clear that cult house room to room a dozen times.

[Enduro_Man]

Just yell at him as he runs towards them and if he doesn't comply you can tase him, which makes him give up quick.

That would work, but let me refine your technique a bit by noting that there is no need to warn a suspect (or a hostage) that you are about to use nonlethal force. On those rare occasions that you get the drop on someone, you can shoot a tazer/pepper balls/bean bags into their back and not get penalized. Furthermore, if you sneak up on someone holding a hostage at gunpoint, you can shoot them in the head with a real bullet without an 'unauthorized use' deduction.

The expansion's fun, thanks to the new additions like go-codes and your fist. However, I do remember the very last mission as being an absolute bastard. Maybe I exaggerate a bit, but I recall ending the game standing bloodied atop a mound of corpses.

[Geo]

I used to play this co-op now and then, both in pickup games and with a couple buds from a military shooter forum. While we liked the game, it was so unforgiving online. I don't think we ever finished a mission with more than one member of the team still standing. :D

I had a couple occasions where an AI enemy would run away from me, I'd chase him (stupidly, obviously) into the room and lose him. Then he'd somehow work his way behind me, sneak up behind me and *bang*.

I'm looking forward to the upcoming, isometric view SWAT PSP game, though latest videos suggest the squaddies move painfully slowly. I hope that's a "by design" thing then can change, and a not a limitation (perhaps they aren't using the full processor power like some newer titles are/will be) of the hardware.