Even though you're out of visual range of red team, you can bring up a picture-in-picture window of what red team is seeing, and through that window you can order them to enter the door they're standing in front of. For example, you can order red team to stack up at a door, and then leave them there while you take blue team around the corner to a second door (which leads into the same room). There are also interface options that allow you to remotely command one of your squad elements. Aim at a cuffed criminal or civilian and your use key will radio a status report into command. Point your cursor at a dropped weapon and you can pick it up to secure it. You'll be doing this a lot in SWAT 4, as you attempt to get suspects to respect your authority before shooting them. Point it at a suspect or hostage, and the use button will cause you to yell at the person to put his hands up and surrender.
The context-sensitive interface extends to a multipurpose use button as well. Aim at a locked door and you can order your men to pick the lock or blow it open with a charge or breaching shotgun.
CAN YOU PLAY SWAT 4 ONLINE ZIP
Point your crosshair at a civilian and you can order your men to zip cuff him or her for safety. Point at a door and hold down the right mouse button, and you're able to access a menu that gives you different options, such as "Open and Clear," which orders your men to open the door and enter, or "Open, Bang, and Clear," which will order your men to open the door, toss in a flashbang grenade, and then run into the room to clear it of threats. The commands you give are done in a context-sensitive manner and are based on what your crosshair is pointing at. Switching between the groups is done by tapping a key. You can issue orders to the entire element or to each pair separately. Your four subordinates are divided into a pair of two-man groups: red and blue. It's here that you're introduced to the game's interface. It starts you off with a training level that does a good job of acquainting you with the basics of using your weapons and commanding your teams.
CAN YOU PLAY SWAT 4 ONLINE SERIES
There's no overarching storyline that connects them all, so the campaign plays out just like a series of stand-alone missions. The 14-mission campaign isn't linked in any way. You are assessed big point penalties for improper use of force, and for the most part, these penalties are levied fairly and intuitively. At the end of each mission you're graded on how well you did, and more points are awarded for arresting as opposed to killing suspects. The rules of engagement add a good deal of difficulty to the game, and SWAT 4 pulls this off well. This is the primary detail that separates the SWAT games from the military-style action games.
Your guns are meant to be a last resort and should only be used if an armed suspect is an immediate threat to your team or civilians. You have to follow the same strict rules of engagement as a real police officer and do whatever you can to subdue and arrest suspects without lethal force. Even when you do run into armed criminals, you don't have carte blanche to shoot them immediately. Those of you who are Rainbow Six and Counter-Strike veterans will need to cool it on your itchy trigger fingers. In almost every mission, there are innocent civilians mixed in with the bad guys. These situations range from a botched jewelry heist to high-risk arrest warrants to a raid on an illegal casino. As with the real-life SWAT teams, your job as an element commander in SWAT 4 is to take your five-man team into dangerous situations and defuse them. Your ultimate goal is to arrest suspects, not kill them.