| Police Quest: SWAT 2 | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Yosemite Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | Sierra FX |
| Producer(s) | Oliver BrelsfordCraig Alexander |
| Designer(s) | Susan Frischer[1] |
| Programmer(s) | Victor Sadauskas |
| Writer(s) | Susan Frischer |
| Composer(s) | Jason Hayes Chance Thomas[2] |
| Series | Police Quest |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Real-time tactics |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Police Quest: SWAT 1+2. Experience the relentless adrenaline-pumping action of SWAT firsthand.SWAT 1 was created by the man who developed the real-life SWAT team, former LAPD Police Chief, Darryl F. The game was designed and directed by Police Quest veteran Tammy Dargan, former producer of America’s Most Wanted. ( 365 votes) Play Fullscreen. You are recruited into SWAT as an elite tank driver. Your mission is to get a rid of armed militia groups and bandits, who present real danger. Try to shoot all baddies but be careful for the innocent people. Enjoy SWAT Tank. Action 05 April 2005. Another installment in a series of realistic, tactical action games. SWAT 4 was created by Irrational Games - a developer popular mainly for System Shock 2. The career is the main mode, giving us an opportunity to lead a SWAT team through a series of missions. SWAT 2 is a 30-scenario real-time strategy game, which can be played either as SWAT or a terrorist organization. In addition to the scenarios, multiplayer is of course supported, and a multiplayer. I bought Swat 2 thinking they make it compatible with Windows 10 64 bits. But the game doesnt launch. And now my game start and I can play. #3 WS StoneCold.
Police Quest: SWAT 2 (stylized as SWAT2) is a 1998 real-time tactics and police simulation video game released for Microsoft Windows. It is the sixth game in the Police Quest series. It uses an isometric projection camera view, somewhat similar to the squad-level real-time tactics video game in the mold of X-COM or Jagged Alliance games. Police Quest: SWAT 2's gameplay takes place in real-time, with the player issuing orders to individual avatars from a static isometric view of the level.
Development[edit]
Many of Police Quest: SWAT 2's in-game missions were based on real life events, such as the North Hollywood shootout of February 1997, and a small-scale riot at a strip mall that can be seen as a parallel to the 1992 Los Angeles riots that followed the Rodney King beating incident. The game's soundtrack was composed by Jason Hayes and Chance Thomas, with the game's theme song being titled 'Just Another Day in L.A.', performed by Utahn singer Randall 'Randy' Porter, composed by Chance Thomas, and written by Susan Frischer.[4] The lead designer was Susan Frischer.[5]
Plot[edit]
Police Quest: SWAT 2's story takes place in Los Angeles, California and the surrounding metropolitan area in the game's then-future of 1999, and revolves around a fictional conflict between the Los Angeles Police Department and a fictional emerging left-wingdomestic terrorist organization calling themselves the 'Five Eyes', led by a mysterious figure named Basho, and his second-in-command, Dante.
As a homage, Sonny Bonds, the protagonist of the original Police Quest series, is one of the LAPD SWAT officers available for the player to send into missions during the LAPD SWAT campaign. Sonny's high initial stats, some of the best in the game, allow him to become certified as an element leader.
Gameplay[edit]
The game features two separate campaigns, one in which the player controls SWAT and another in which the player takes the role of a lieutenant in the Five Eyes terrorist organization.
Police campaign[edit]
The player assumes the role of police chief John De Souza, and direct control of the SWAT Elements on the mission map. The player receives information about the mission from crisis negotiator Sgt. Michael Alvarez. At the end of a mission, the player is debriefed by Sgt. Griffin Markossian. While playing as SWAT, the player must adhere to certain rules and regulations, such as refraining from opening fire on non-threatening subjects and avoiding friendly fire. Failure to obey regulations may lead to officers getting suspended or terminated, or the game may even end as the police chief himself is fired. Officers who kill a suspect legally are always suspended for at least one mission as the shooting is investigated while the player earns fewer points than if the suspect was arrested, which affects the amount of money budgeted to SWAT. Therefore, it is in the player's best interests to capture rather than kill suspects.
The Five Eyes is controlled by Basho, a high-ranking officer in the Council of the Five Eyes. Basho provides all briefings via a TV screen. Basho's right-hand man is Dante, a self-proclaimed Bellwether of the Second Order. As a terrorist there's no specific persona the player assumes. Instead, they merely control all terrorist units during a mission.
Terrorist campaign[edit]
The gameplay in the Five Eyes scenario is slightly different. Most prominently, additional members can be recruited from hostages, and gunning down police and other armed individuals who may not necessarily present an immediate threat is encouraged and rewarded. Killing hostages is still penalized (Basho wishes to recruit rather than kill them) but to a much lesser extent than in the SWAT campaign. Only the killing of certain special civilians will lead to an early end of the game. Terrorists can be arrested by the police, but they will eventually manage to make bail and then skip town to rejoin the Five Eyes. Therefore, it is sometimes to the player's advantage to allow one of his terrorists to be arrested in order to save their life and slow down the SWAT team.
The weapons are also different, but still have the same purpose, such as the terrorists' primary automatic weapon being the LR 300 instead of SWAT's MP5A2.
There are 30 missions in total, fifteen each for SWAT players and for the Five Eyes scenario. They are independent storylines and neither affects the game of the other, though some settings and events are common to both campaigns. Both scenarios can be played from the start of the game, simply by selecting the option at the New Solo Game interface window.
The terrorist missions have a similar interface, with a few added options related to hostages but much fewer tactical actions, and the basic premise is comparable. Notably, a terrorist mission ends when all police are killed. This may or may not be desirable, depending on how many mission objectives have been completed.
Common elements[edit]
The first two missions in both scenarios are training missions. Subsequent missions greatly impact the budget (see above), and outright failure in certain missions may end the campaign altogether.
While not a true adventure game, it does contain an inventory and menu options similar to other Sierra adventure games and previous Police Quest titles (a 'look/search' icon, a pick-up hand icon, a talk/challenge/communication icon, etc.). On occasion there are items such as a 'pizza', 'throw phones' or 'evidence', that must be picked up and used to solve ingame puzzles. Unlike most strategy games, there are many cases where the player must 'communicate' and speak with the enemy side (either with a 'throw phone' or an existing telephone), and convince them to stand down, release hostages, draw them into the open or simply buy time. SWAT also has access to an armored car and a helicopter which the player can call in through the interface, while a terrorist player can call in a getaway car. The availability of these vehicles depends on the mission.
Release[edit]
Marketing[edit]
Police Quest: SWAT 2 was later re-released in the 'SWAT Career Pack' (with all six Police Quest games), the Police Quest: SWAT Force pack (which included the first two SWAT games), the Police Quest: SWAT Generation collection (with SWAT and SWAT 3), and in the Police Quest: SWAT 1 & 2 at GOG.com. Early releases of the game were listed as Police Quest 6 (PQ6) in the file names and folders. However, that name does not appear on the title screen or cover art.
Like its predecessor Police Quest: SWAT, Police Quest: SWAT 2 was a commercial success. Its sales surpassed 400,000 copies by late 1999.[6]
Reception[edit]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| GameRankings | 70%[7] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| AllGame | [8] |
| CGSP | [9] |
| CGW | [10] |
| Game Informer | 6/10[11] |
| GameRevolution | A−[12] |
| GameSpot | 5.7/10[13] |
| IGN | 7/10[14] |
| PC Gamer (UK) | 68%[15] |
| PC Gamer (US) | 52%[16] |
SWAT 2 received 'average' reviews, much more positive than the previous two games, according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.[7] The game still had several flaws, such as the overly complicated interface, micromanaging, an imperfect artificial intelligence, and a simple work-around of selling the sidearms of unused avatars that allowed players to ignore the budgeting and financial aspect of the game.[citation needed]
References[edit]
- ^'Police Quest: SWAT 2 (1998) Windows credits'. MobyGames. Blue Flame Labs. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
- ^'Music Scoring Credits'. Chance Thomas. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
- ^'Swat 2 Goes Gold'. GameSpot. July 6, 1998. Archived from the original on June 14, 2000. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
'The game will be on store shelves by July 11[, 1998].' - ^'SWAT 2 Single, 'Just Another Day in L.A.' Released'. Yosemite Entertainment. 1998. Archived from the original on December 7, 1998.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
- ^'Police Quest: SWAT 2'. Yosemite Entertainment. March 1, 2000. Archived from the original on May 12, 2000. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
- ^Coghlan, John (November 2, 1999). 'SWAT 3: Close Quarters Battle Interview'. IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on June 2, 2002. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
- ^ ab'Police Quest: SWAT 2 for PC Reviews'. GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
- ^Suciu, Peter. 'Police Quest: SWAT 2 - Review'. AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 16, 2014. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
- ^Brush, Ryan (September 4, 1998). 'Police Quest: SWAT 2'. Computer Games Strategy Plus. Strategy Plus. Archived from the original on May 18, 2003. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
- ^McCauley, Dennis (November 1998). 'Is Your Number Still 911? (Police Quest: SWAT 2 Review)'(PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 172. Ziff Davis. pp. 314, 320. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
- ^Bergren, Paul (July 1998). '[Police Quest] SWAT 2'. Game Informer. No. 63. FuncoLand.
- ^Brian B. (August 1998). 'Police Quest SWAT 2 Review'. Game Revolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on October 12, 2015. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
- ^Krol, Scott (August 13, 1998). 'Police Quest: SWAT 2 Review [date mislabeled as 'May 2, 2000']'. GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
- ^Bates, Jason (August 11, 1998). '[Police Quest] SWAT 2'. IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
- ^'Police Quest: SWAT 2'. PC Gamer UK. Future plc. 1999.
- ^Poole, Stephen (November 1998). 'Police Quest: SWAT 2'. PC Gamer. Vol. 5 no. 11. Future US. Archived from the original on March 11, 2000. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
External links[edit]
- Police Quest: SWAT 2 at the Wayback Machine (archived November 11, 1998)
- Police Quest: SWAT 2 at IMDb
- Police Quest: SWAT 2 at MobyGames
The Police Quest series continue with another game that follows the lives of the LAPD SWAT team. SWAT 1 was original with its use of true to life scenarios and tactics, and SWAT 2 continues that tradition with a similar style but a different attitude. The birds-eye view that is throughout the game allows for an effective mix of strategy and action with only a few graphical downfalls. The option for being either a SWAT member or a terrorist increases the fun and playability of the game, makes for an interesting multiplayer challenge.
Storyline:
The storyline is that you are either a LAPD SWAT team member or a terrorist within an organization called the Council of the Five Eyes. The missions do not follow a particular pattern, but rather are a collection of missions either based on real life events or they are just made up.
Features:
The features in the game are average, but offer many options to deal with either SWAT or the terrorist. There were over 100 SWAT officers and 100 terrorists to pick from, each with their own abilities. Teams take a while to form, which hinders the action of the game, but after the scenario begins, it is forgotten about. Unfortunately, the game only offers a few weapons and items, those mainly dealing with police and terrorist situations. While it kept things concentrated on strategy, it would have been nice to see a few more weapons. The multiplayer options are decent, but every time you start a game, the teams and cells have to be reassigned and re-equipped, which got annoying real fast. The available actions for SWAT and the terrorist were decent and got the job done, but got confusing at times and having to point and click at everything slowed things down.
Gameplay:
The gameplay was more of a strategic tone with some action mixed in because of the settings and groups involved. If SWAT was to just run in and start shooting, then hostages would be killed, so they have to take very strategic steps during each mission to make sure that innocents survive. As such, you have to slowly wind your way through everywhere, being careful at all times not to shoot at the wrong thing. The terrorists on the other hand, can do whatever they want, so it can be a shoot 'em up game if you want it to be that way. If you decide to play multiplayer, then it gets fun. The available options are either being part of SWAT or being a terrorist, playing head to head or cooperatively, and choosing which scenario. The connection better be good because the game will be somewhat choppy as is, and you certainly don't want to end up shooting your own teammates or hostages because of a few seconds of lag. It is fun, but annoying sometimes. While the game may seem like a shooter, it surely is not.
Graphics:
The graphics of the game are average, with no 3D and the same view throughout the game. The detail in the areas that the missions take place is the only real good point to be mentioned, even though the rest of it is just fine. The graphics are adequate and do the job with no spectacular effects and just animated sprites running around. Scrolling around the screen is bad though with a slow frame rate, and even with a good video card it is still the same. Even if you try to increase the rate, the scrolling is really choppy and annoying. The areas in the missions themselves can block things from view, allowing you to only see terrorists or what not with the radar on the bottom right hand of the screen. The transparency that is used to indicate a door or window that is behind the building is not that great either, it's noticeable, but still sometimes hard to find. There could be improvement, but that game is not truly graphics oriented.
Sound FX:
The sound effects were average as well, with different voices and other effects for weapons being used. Nothing stood out, but nothing lacked. The hostages would say things on occasion, and if a terrorist saw a cop, or a SWAT team member saw a terrorist, they would yell it out and alert you. Everything else just seemed average.
Overall:
Overall, this game was a decent game. While not boasting anything very impressive in the way of graphics or sound, the strategy and scenario of the game where the things that seemed to be appealing the most. With an average mix of action and strategy, the game is not that great for a real time simulation because it acted rather slowly at times. The main point about the game though, is not really the coding, but rather what is involved. Playing as SWAT or the terrorists is just fun in itself, and there are not too many other games out there that play on the same premise. The simulation aspect is rather good, but the graphics taken it a down a notch or two. Bottom line - if you like strategy and cops and robbers, buy it, but if you hate average graphics and limited action, walk away.
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