Horrible squad AI. Still a good game but obviously broken.
I still know what I was talking about though so I would like to elaborate it again in a more appropriate way and leave it to you to agree or not.
SWAT 4 is a great game. Its best selling point, which distinguishes the series from Rainbow Six, is that you can't shoot a terrorist at first sight. Lethal force is permitted only when hostiles are about to hurt you or somebody else. Violating the code and you will be graded poorly at the end of a mission, which matters for hardcore gamers, and ruin the experience for yourself. Your presence there is always to give criminals the last chance to succumb to custody. House slaughtering won't work out. As a matter of fact, on all difficulty settings except "Easy", gamers are asked to replay the level before they can continue on the next if they got a poor grade under a certain threshold.
In "SWAT 4: The Stetchkov Syndicate" (What a mouthful! "SWAT 4 TSS" for short.), the first and only expansion pack to SWAT 4, the player returns to deal with terrorists. Unlike the first installment, these cases are related to one another and the plot would unveil itself one piece after another. Did I say terrorists? Yes. Terrorists don't work alone and you ARE seriously outnumbered. The first SWAT 4 sometimes throws easy missions at you where you only have one suspect on the loose who may even lock himself/ herself up like a sitting duck. Not anymore. SWAT 4 TSS always have you cope with hellish situation where the arena has been completely overrun by hostiles who loves opening doors to see who's the guest! Bear in mind, SWAT 4 doesn't allow saving nor healing. Carelessly turn a corner and you are dead. That's why I got so pissed back then with these enhanced enemies. It's like playing Rainbow Six's Terrorist Hunt but with much hindrance. The code (only fire when fired upon) is what makes SWAT 4 special but it's also the prime cause to blame for your many many deaths and the frustration that comes after them.
The team AI… has degraded. The team has great difficulty maneuvering around. You must be as big as a polar bear to always block your teammate's way, aren't you? So often you will hear retarded statements from your brethrens like, "You're in my spot, sir." or "You have to move." Worse, you need to tell them what to do next for the SECOND (or third, or fourth…) time even after you move out of the way. It's also very stupid of the team to cross unexplored zones to in their heated attempt to keep up with you. It is commonplace for those brainless fools to get themselves ambushed and killed.
SWAT 4 TSS, on the whole, follows the original's spirit well. However, it hasn't exactly fulfilled the qualities to be a great game. One final warning: Guts is not enough. You've got to have high tolerance of restarting levels on this one.