Back in its day, Sierra
produced a series of first-person shooters for the PC that had gamers working
alongside a SWAT team. The games were actually very good and understandably
so. I mean, where else can you get to fill the boots of the leader of an elite
squad of specialized law enforcers that keep dangerous criminal and domestic
terrorists neutralized? Now SWAT: Global Strike Team brings us the same
tactical action to the Xbox. Does this transition work well on our beloved
console? The details, loyal readers, are inside.
Global Strike Team puts
you in the role of Mathias Kincaid, an ex-member of the US’s Delta Force and now
the squad leader of a team of two other specially trained team members (one is a
sharpshooter and the other a seasoned field technician). The year is 2008 and a
criminal network threatens to cause global chaos by attempting to topple
Democracy with their terrorist-like ways. In order to stop them, the UN
Security Council forms a Global Strike Team with you as the leader. So it is up
to you and your team to see that the enemy threat is neutralized before they
carry out their plans.
The game’s main Campaign
mode puts gamers through twenty-one single player missions that have you
rescuing hostages from a bank taken over by gang members or a mission that has
you attempting to rescue the Mayor’s daughter in a hospital filled with heavily
armed thugs. The missions have a primary goal and some secondary objectives,
which is nothing new, but in this game you are graded on your performance and
for following strict procedures. That’s right, you can’t just simply rush into
a location and shoot everyone that gets in your way. This game gives you the
option to have a thug throw down his arm while your teammates cuff him. You are
rewarded for not using excessive force during a mission (or using your five
continues) and the rewards are actually worth it. Not only do you get a shiny
medal but also points for customizing your firearm of choice. Before each
mission you can choose different firearms (machine guns or a shotgun) and kits
(flash grenades or tranquilizer pistols).
Control-wise, Global
Strike Team keeps things pretty basic so gamers can simply pick this one up and
start playing right away. The issuing of commands is as simple as pressing the
D-pad and selecting the short list of commands available. The game also allows
gamers to use their Xbox Live Communicator for the single player game mode
instead of just pressing the pad and button to make your team perform an
action. All you have to do, really, is just say any of the basic commands and
the game will recognize it. Actually, the novelty of this quickly runs out but
it’s good to see a game utilize the Xbox Communicator in such a way.
The problem with this game
is that while your team members are helpful in hacking into secured doors or
disarming bombs, you really don’t rely on them as much as you would in the Ghost
Recon games, for example. There are many times throughout the game that you
have to cover them during operations and this becomes more bothersome since you
are the one that helps them out of scrapes. Sure they are good at bringing down
enemies you might not have spotted, but covering them constantly isn’t exactly
fun or interesting.
There are not many extras
available in this game either, which doesn’t give a player much to keep playing
this one over and over. That is, unless, multiplayer games are your kind of
thing. Personally the game offers a sufficient amount of deathmatch game modes
and the ability to play the game co-op is definitely a welcome feature. There
are six deathmatch games, all of them offering various challenges that work
well. There’s Homicide, Countdown, Survivor, Bag Man, Containment and Secure
and Hold. Many of these game types have been seen before but they’re definitely
fun enough to play split-screen fashion with up to four friends on a single Xbox
console or through System Link.
While the game is on the
Xbox console, it looks more like a PS2 game. Unfortunately, it looks like a
bad-looking PS2 game with its plain environments and lack of details. You won’t
find Xbox exclusive graphical features such as bump mapping but thankfully the
game does lighting excellently. Yet this is spoiled by the fact that the
characters are rendered pretty sloppily and they lack realistic movements. The
visual effects are not as spectacular as they should be either.
The game’s sound fairs a
bit better than the visuals . . . but not by very much. The sound of gunfire
does sound realistically and nicely detailed (gunshots echo in the narrow
corridors of a subway station while they whine loudly in outdoor settings).
You’ll also communicate with your team members, who occasionally chime in with
reports or enemy sightings. The enemies themselves spout out the usual
cop-hating slurs such as “Drop dead, pig!” Unfortunately the game’s
dialogue–as well as the accents–is awful. You won’t mind the repetitive
phrases from your teammates after issuing orders so this, at least, works in the
game’s favor. The music is also good, although you won’t be hearing much of it
throughout the game.
Unfortunately, SWAT:
Global Strike Team doesn’t quite capture the true essence of the tactical
squad-based action genre in ways other games before it does. While the game
does possess the right amount of elements that make up the genre, the overall
execution just doesn’t make the first-person action interesting enough to hold
our attention. Thanks to the option to play this one co-op and to use the Xbox
Communicator headset during the single player mode, this does make for a great
weekend rental.
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#Reviewer’s |
Gameplay: 6.5
The game’s weak points fall mainly
on the poor execution of some of the game’s missions and the fact that, although
this is a game that has you working with squad mates, your organization of your
team is not essential to the success of your mission. While your squad mates
have different specialties, they’re pretty smart and quick enough to hold there
own, which means you don’t have to baby-sit them. You can also use your Xbox
Communicator to shout out commands during the single player game much like the
PS2’s SOCOM.
Graphics: 7.0
Visually, Global Strike Team isn’t
quite the gorgeous-looking Xbox game out there and much of what is seen here
really doesn’t take advantage of the console’s graphical capabilities. Sure
there are wonderful lighting effects throughout the game but it is overshadowed
by the blandness of the game’s environments such as the long and narrow
corridors you’ll encounter throughout the game. The character models are also
pretty bad and their movements are hardly what you might call realistic.
Sound: 7.2
While the gameplay doesn’t rely
heavily on teamwork, you’ll certainly communicate with them throughout the game
and it’s the voices and issuing of verbal commands that make the game’s sound
really work. While many of the commands are often repeated throughout the game,
it never becomes an annoyance. The sound effects are also pretty good, with
gunfire really sounding authentic and loud enough to put a smile on your face.
The game’s music also works well enough for the game even though it’s a bit
standard.
Difficulty: Medium
The game follows strict rules of
conduct that mirror those of an actual SWAT team so you can’t just rush into a
building shooting everything and anything that casts a shadow. In fact, you’re
penalized for not at least giving the enemy a chance to put their weapons down
and surrender peacefully while your teammates cuff him. The enemy can also be a
bit smart at times and will not rush out into the open so you have to make some
strategic decisions before deploying a member of your team through a door.
Concept: 7.8
Global Strike Team isn’t a major
departure in the SWAT series and it’s conversion to the Xbox console was not the
smoothest as well, but all the elements long-time fans have come to expect are
all here. The ability to secure hostages and disarm bad guys so you can cuff
them is pretty cool but the novelty of doing this quickly runs out. And, if you
want to make the game just a tad more exciting, you can use your Xbox
Communicator to issue commands to your squad.
Multiplayer: 7.5
Unfortunately this game doesn’t
offer Xbox Live multiplayer fun (although you can download some good extras),
which is something that might have worked in this game’s favor seeing as it’s a
tactical squad-based action game. Still, the game does offer co-op play for up
to four players seen in split-screen fashion and the six different deathmatch-type
game modes are actually pretty fun. You can also post your mission score on the
Xbox Live for the Cooperative Time Attack mode that has you racing against the
clock to complete each mission before the timer runs out.
Overall: 7.0
Fans of this growing genre will find
that SWAT just doesn’t fit well in the growing line up of squad-based titles
already available. While there are a few moments that are quite enjoyable in
this game, all the things that don’t work for it holds the game back from being
a truly interesting and exciting game. With that being said, I suggest you turn
to other titles–such as Rainbow Six 3, for example–for your fix of tactical
fun for your Xbox.
