Police Quest: SWAT 2

Review

by Peter Suciu

What could be better than playing "good-cop/bad-cop" except playing cops and terrorist in a 3D overhead setting? In Police Quest: SWAT 2, from Sierra-Online, players can play cops (we'll assume they're good cops) as well as terrorists. Rob a bank or foil a robbery, it is all in a day's work. SWAT 2 was created with the assistance of former Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates and the designers have striven to create a truly realistic simulation (it is so realistic that the game may be used as part of future SWAT training!)

The terrorist side of this real-time action-simulation is made out to be very much like a misguided, nevertheless still potentially dangerous, cult. When playing the terrorists, a group known as the Five Eyes, players must assemble their team members from a list of available candidates who vary from disenchanted youth to lost souls to those who just don't think the system is working. After choosing team members based on their skills, background or menacing mug shots, players must then outfit the team with gear to support their survival and success.

The LAPD SWAT side of the game has very different objectives but will still approach the missions with the same degree of urgency. The SWAT teams must resolve dangerously violent and potentially explosive (sometimes literally) situations with minimal cost to civilians' safety. While the terrorists are judged by their ruthlessness, the SWAT teams are given analysis on their tactics and how swiftly the situation is brought to a close.

Like the assembling of the terrorist team, the SWAT team can be chosen from specs with pictures and ratings of skills. Once teams are grouped, they must also be outfitted with gear to aid in the termination of terrorist activities. During each mission, teams must be deployed and enter the scene with caution. There are hostages at stake and they must be rescued alive.

The Police Quest: SWAT 2 missions include scenarios that include such actions as domestic instability, assassinations and hostage situations in business or public areas. The settings include convenience stores, warehouses, banks, office buildings, airports, parks and systems of transit. The missions start off as training exercises and progress to more serious situations.