Swat is an interesting take on a shooter. And though it is quite repetitive it is pretty fun and simple.
The game features just 12 mission set around New York. All of them look very different and the maps are huge. Missions can take from 15 minutes to 30 minutes to complete, but you generally do the same things over and over, and it can get quite repetitive. Each mission starts you out by getting a message from your captain about what you will be doing on the mission and the background to it. You then choose your two men who will accompany you from a choice of four men. Each of them have different strengths and weaknesses and you get a little bit of a background story to them, but none of it makes any difference. You then choose your weapons and the weapons your team will use. There is a very small selection and small variety but the different categories of weapons are important. Some weapons aren't meant to kill but simply to injure the opposition so they will surrender, while others do kill people. Your character carries three weapons, and players will generally be using the weak guns so that they don't take any chances killing civilians. Before the mission there is always a poorly done cut scene that shows you talking to your team or being put into the battlefield. There are many other cut scenes spread out through the game and although they aren't super, they are still a bonus. Each level also has many unlockables, but they aren't worth playing through the game a second time. The campaign turns out to be short and there is no infrastructure mode, but there is an excellent ad hoc mode in which the map is never the same because of a map randomizer.
Graphically the game is quite good. It takes the same camera mode as Killzone: Liberation did, and it does well with it. The scenarios are very detailed, and there is plenty of clutter everywhere making it look like there is infact trouble going on in the city. None of the scenarios look the same, but they are built the same. The characters all look detailed and life like and nobody on your squad looks the same. However, the characters you meet in the levels look very much alike. They have only put in a few character models, and those are repeated through the game. But they all look great. The cutscenes have the same graphics as the gameplay, but you do see the characters close up not from the gameplay camera angle, and there is a lot of detail put into them. Everybody seems to move realistically and there are little effects here and there that are well done and add to the graphics.
SWAT lacks a sound track which is a big minus. However, there is some good voices in it and some clever dialog. People are always reacting to what you do during your missions and how you are treating them. The only problem is that a lot of the words and voices are repeated and get unoriginal. All of the hostages in the early levels have that New York Taxi Driver accent and say pretty much the same 8 lines over and over. It can get annoying but they did put a lot of effort adding that in. The sound effects are quite well done and realistically represent how that thing would sound.
Swat could have been an awesome game, but it is too repetitive. The graphics are well done however, and there is an interesting ad hoc mode. Though the repetitiveness and no online are big minuses. The game is still fun and basic. It gets a 6 out of 10.