If you are a gamer that loves the first person shooter then Swat 3 elite is a must in your collection. My brother purchased this game and invited me over to play. After about 5 minutes of play and getting my a** kicked by the game I knew this was a must have. The next day I was playing this game at home and having a great time.

You are a member of the L.A.P.D anti-terrorist swat team in the year 2005(element leader of course). You are ready at a moments notice to take on terrorist from the mayors office to the sewers. The plot is much like any other game but, you get great detail about each mission. While you prepare yourself for each mission your squad leader will brief you (with voice) about the current situation. Each mission has it's own unique story line.

Game Play
The game play in this game is some of the best I have ever seen. You will not be able to just walk around freely blowing your opponent away without any thought. You really need to be strategic in Swat 3 and plan your mode of attack carefully. The computer plays very smart and you will not be able to finish just about any mission on your own. You will have to have your teams with you moving and clearing rooms. The main reason for this is, if you die the mission is over. You can't just take control of another member and continue playing. If one of your team members goes down you can continue of course, but not if you go down.

Your teams will really help you complete each mission. You can tell your teams to bang and clear, move and clear, cover, fall in, search, or deploy and they do each one very realistic. For example, when you tell your team to move and clear a room they will enter the room slowly. They will take out all hostiles and secure the room. They will even secure any hostiles that surrender and secure any hostages. All you have to do is tell home to come pick them up. The way your teams act, talk, and move around the game with you is the best I have ever seen in any game. Most other first person shooters that you get team members that go with you in the missions are not really used all that often. You mainly do each mission on your own and the teams are there just for a small amount of backup. Not in Swat 3. Your teams are essential for you to have in order to complete each mission.

I was kind of shocked when I realized there was no difficulty levels. This is not really important to me but, for the younger player it matter greatly. My 8 year old nephew is very good at these types of games for his age but, this game just becomes too hard for him. He loves playing it but, only has a few missions he can complete with any regularity. Just a warning.

The game is incredibly realistic. It will make you feel as if you are in the game.

Graphics
The graphics in this game are stellar. The people look real and are more bulky than other games, the landscapes of the missions look awesome, and the detail of the items in the rooms are outstanding. For some examples you will see sparks when you shoot the railing on a stairwell, see your clips on the ground after reloading, see where your team members are hit from where they are bleeding, seeing the bullet holes in the walls (especially cool when they hit next to you), and even see people moving on the ground after they are shot if they are not DOA.

Since most of the missions take place indoors you will notice a lot of things making up the rooms. The furniture, pictures on the wall, stairwells, mirrors that you can see your reflection through (you might even try and shoot yourself through a mirror it looks so real, I did), flat out everything in the game looks authentic. Another great graphic to mention is the how darkness is played out. You will need to use the flashlight hooked to your weapon a lot because you flat out can't see in the shadows. This along with everything adds to the realism of the game. I love the Rainbow Six series but the graphics in Swat 3 will make the new first person shooters have to rethink their games before releasing them.

Missions
There are 16 total missions in this game and each one having its' own detailed story line. Other than the story line of each mission there is not much to it. You can choose between just 4 primary weapons and where and what style you enter (on most missions). That is all the decisions you really get to make. You don't get to choose your team each mission, only 1 secondary weapon is used, and your gear is always the same. I feel they could have made this much more detailed since the game itself it but, maybe in the next game.

You will not fly through these missions and finish the game in one day. Most of these take place in a building and not open land, this making it harder dealing with the rooms and all the hiding places inside. The missions are well thought out and very detailed. You must have patience when playing each mission and not run around shooting your way though them. This wont work and you would find yourself just getting killed or killing a hostage (I tried). You can fail certain missions and continue playing and move on in the game.

One nice feature is, you do not have to complete a mission in career mode in order to just play it. Most games you must unlock missions to play them. Not this game. You can jump right into any mission you feel if you choose not to play in career mode.

Career Mode
This features a nice career mode that you don't see in other first person shooters. After each completed mission the game keeps tracks of certain stats for you. The stats are officer survival percentage, proper use of deadly force, respect level, rescue rate, mission success rate, and leadership total. This adds to the replay value because you will want to play another career mode and try to better your last one.

Sound
The sound is one of the reasons you will feel like you are inside the game playing. All of the sounds are good from the sound of each weapon firing, the sounds of you and your team talking to each other (this is great), to the sound of the bullets ripping through glass (which is a great way to nail a terrorist).

Controls
How well you like the controls depends on how you have your keyboard and mouse set up to your hands. The mouse is set up just fine. Move the mouse and that is where you look and shoot. Press and hold the right button to move faster. The arrow keys on your keyboard is how you move around the game. These controls are fine and just like all the other first person shooters. But, to order your men around is not quite so easy. The number keys are where you tell each team (blue and red teams) what to do. You also contact your home and tell them a number of things. The U button is used to perform all of your action. You can crouch, peek, and turn your flashlight on that's hooked to your weapon (this is used quite a bit). Unfortunately, you will find yourself looking at your keyboard a little much to perform these tasks but in general the controls are pretty easy.

Multi-player
This feature is great. It is the reason they made the Swat 3 Elite addition. I am not sure why multi player is not in the first Swat 3 game but, it is well worth getting this version.

MODS
There are a ton of MOD's for this game Most of these can be picked up at the Sierra site itself. You will be able to get new weapons, people, and maps. I have downloaded a couple of maps so far and they work well. I downloaded the Nakitomi building from the movie Die Hard. You are sent in to rescue John McClane. I also downloaded a mission that takes place in a post office. With as many MOD's you can get for this game, the replay value will last a long time. Not to mention you will want to play again and again just because the game is that much fun.

I highly recommend this game for anyone over the age 10 (the age only because of the difficulty).

Thank you for your time.

Recommended: Yes