Game Tactics
by [GBH]Silencer
This section contain tips on movement, reloading, switching weapons, peeking, crouching, rules of engagement, AI behaviour, handling suspects/hostages, team control and more.
General Movement
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Walking vs. Running
In simplistic terms, you'll move fastest when you're in the dynamic mode vs. your stealth mode (changed by pushing page up/page down). In order to outright run in either mode, simply press and hold down on your right mouse button. As with everything else when you're running, things happen more quickly. Your accuracy will naturally be worse than if you were walking. Take the time to learn how to aim, especially if you are not used to the FPS genre. In SWAT 3, pushing a side arrow key will yield in a set distance moved to one side or another. In other words, as soon as you let go of the key, your character will not necessarily stop moving. Call it inertia if you will, but your characters essentially slide an extra foot. Aiming and Reticules.
The key to steady aim is learning how read your reticule and anticipating
the shot.
The reticule is the small crosshair or aiming figure which appears on your screen. It's important to note that although your reticule might be painted dead onto the character, you may may be slightly off-target if you're running or moving erratically.
Secondly, there is a shot delay in SWAT 3. When you push down on the mouse button, you'll notice that there is a split-second (and very noticeable delay) delay between the click and the actual shot. This is not a problem with your computer, simply the way the game was designed; to simulate the real physical challenges of shooting a gun.
Because there exists a pause, you'll find that your best shooting comes in bursts, where your first shot is a test shot and your second shot is usually more accurate.
The best way to take down a suspect is to use that burst to place your bullets in a line down his/her body. This shot, of which a slight variation is known as the double-tap in military communities, ensures that the suspect is hit many times in different spots.
Head shots are very difficult. Because no auto-aim feature exists in the game, we suggest you take the time to practice shooting. The firing range is quite good.
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Switching Items
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Your kit is an exceptionally useful set of instruments. Learning how and when
to use them is actually more important then learning how to work your weapon.
Because you're often in the need to whip out a flashbang or mirror during
the middle of heated battles, you must be exceptionally aware of your surroundings
before switching your weapons.
When you do switch the weapon, note that you can begin pre-charging items
before the item is actually blue (active), such as tear gas and C4 units.
This saves time, especially since you can't turn away when loading such devices.
After completing the task with the item, switch immediately back. Never, ever, run around with a flashbang in your hand. If you get surprised by a suspect, you'll be in a lot of trouble.
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Reloading
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There are essentially two times to reload your weapon: before the clip is
empty or after the clip is empty. They both have some very important uses.
Fortunately, the sheer stock of ammo present in SWAT 3 means that it's very
hard to actually run out of clips in this game.
You'll want to reload once your gun is empty (of course), but if you do, make
sure you either pick somewhere safe (in a corner, surrounded by teammates)
or just keep moving. Stopping for anything, even to reload can be disastrous.
Tactical reloading is a term used to describe the condition where an officer
reloads his gun before the clip has been emptied. This is an excellent tactic
to use when you just completed a fire fight with one suspect, and expect more
coming. Having a full gun is always better than having a gun with only half
of its ammo remaining. At the same time, don't get too reload-happy. Remember
to take the time to make standard reloads behind the safety of your SWAT teammates.
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Peeking
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This method, used by the SWAT team a lot, is really best used for locating
enemies around corners or getting that just the right shot on an enemy.
I don't find this as useful because the shots are difficult to get used to
when peeked over. I prefer to stand up and strafe a room.
Remember to switch yourself back to the straight-up view when completed.
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Crouching
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Crouching in SWAT 3 is a great way to see up/down levels from particular vantage
points and getting a better angle in general.
Although being a smaller target is better, you may find shooting for the head
to be more challenging in a crouched position. Personally, I only really use
it on flights of stairs or other places where a different perspective (like
peeking can be) can be used.
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General Rules of Engagement
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Slicing the Pie...
This is by far the best way to clear doorways and corners. Especially around
corners can the value of slicing the pie by exceptionally useful.
The idea is simple: strafe slowly (or quickly) around the corner, slowly letting
one more piece of the angle around the corner become visible. This is the
best way to come around a corner because it gives you the first look advantage
and the most consistent shot.
Peeking can work well with this idea, as well.
Keep on the Move
Although your teammates can be very slow, you must always be on the move.
Either for the simple reason that you're more easily shot, or for the simple
reason that as team leader, there is more work to be done.
Strafing
Strafing is the technique whereby an officer moves from left to right by using
the left and right control arrows. Note that the slide step occurs here, and
is especially important.
The strafe is by far the best way to go around corners and check new rooms,
in general.
Because the slide step occurs, a particularly sneaky player can peek and unpeek
himself by strafing very quickly. Inertia should take over just as your character
clears the corner wall, next, you click back the other way. The effect is
a nearly perfect strafe in which a well-timed shot could guarantee death for
the suspect.
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AI Behavior
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SWAT Team Members
Although pretty dumb and requiring many orders to keep them working, the SWAT
members are the best you've got. Make sure you use em.
The SWAT teammates are all excellent shots, but the officers are none to aggressive
about hostile suspects. Here, you'll want to step in to be a bit more aggressive
with the suspects.
The teammates can really convince suspects and hostages to surrender fast
whenever SWAT teams yell for compliance (the net effect of having 5 people
yelling at a suspect or hostage can be quiet terrifying).
Although pretty passive, once a shot fires, the entire team will quickly converge
upon the baddie who pulled the trigger.
By far the best talent the teams display is their propensity to pull off lightning
quick shots in less than perfect environments. Let them take the harder shots.
You work with the suspects who are hostile and difficult to enforce compliance.
Hostages
Hostages are challenging because they can wander quickly into some of the
biggest firefights possible. Plus, some of the hostages look exactly like
terrorists! Always look for the gun or the passive behavior.
Although most hostages will comply quickly and orderly, some will wonder about,
if not run about. You'll need to slow them down. How to is explained below.
Suspects
Suspects are the characters you'll run into the most. These can range from
passive as can be to downright vicious. For the most part, it will be up to
you where you draw the line. Obviously, the passive suspects can be ordered
down pretty quickly with a compliance order. Otherwise, you'll have to try
a number of different tricks (discussed below) to slow them down. A lot of
suspects like to run and hide when confronted with a police force. Many will
retreat to take better positions or to set up an ambush to get reinforcements
and surprise the SWAT team.
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Handling Suspects and Hostages
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Issuing Compliance Orders
Smacking the "7" button on your keyboard is actually one of the
best moves you can do to get the baddies to hesitate. Furthermore, the more
you and your teammates yell it, the more the intimidation factor comes into
play (and yes, the SWAT 3 model does take this into account).
The important point about issuing compliance orders is that if a suspect refuses
to comply, and he shoots, you are given the right to shoot your weapon. This
will not have an adverse effect on your leadership score.
Facing off against suspects, you obviously don't want to be pushing the 7
button while avoiding fire from a suspect. I've found that the best technique
for dealing with aggressive suspects is to come into a room and slapping the
7 button repeatedly. As the commands are issued, and you maneuver towards
the suspect, you'll be able to get clear shots against your opponent and avoid
any initial shots he tries to pull off getting them to Comply.
Interestingly enough, both the suspects and the hostages can be difficult
to apprehend for evacuation. Of course, you can't start shooting hostages
to get them to comply, so you'll need to think differently.
If the suspects get naughty there are three different things you can do (outside
of yelling compliance some more:
Lob a tear gas grenade until they succumb.
Shoot above their head (yes, this is actually programmed to work).
Shoot at an extension.
Shoot to kill (at times, this can have a negative effect on your leadership
rating, so beware).
As for the hostages, you've got very few options outside of yelling compliance.
lob a tear gas grenade at their feet. They will comply, then.
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Reporting Them In.
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In order to complete any mission, you'll need to call in the baddies and the
good guys. Adults must either be handcuffed or lying prone on the floor, while
kids can be called in as-is. The challenging part for me is identifying which
suspect is dead and which is still alive (wounded). This is tricky because
the wounded suspects can occasionally look like their dead. In general, if
the suspect is lying on his side, he's wounded. More times that not, if a
suspect is on his face, he'll be dead.
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Cover and Blow
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This particular tactic for team control is terrific for entering into rooms
where you expect to find a lot of suspects.
Simply place a door charge (c4) on the door, and order your teammates to cover
the doorway. Give them time to encircle the door, and then get to a spot so
that you have an angle once you switch back to your gun. When you're all set,
hit the BOOM button and start hitting the compliance button. By the time you've
hit it twice, your teammates will probably have already found the baddies,
and possible subdued them with some well-placed shots. You can rush in and
clean up any baddies that are particularly nasty.
Most importantly, the C4 placed against the door gives you the upper hand
by blinding the bad guys just long enough to take the suspects down.
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Team Control
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Engaging, Neutralizing, and Arresting.
Despite what your first inclinations may be, SWAT3 is a squad-based sim. While
you may want to go through the levels head-strong, the fact remains that your
SWAT element remains one of the best teammates ever available in a computer
game. If you've played other games, you know that SWAT3's AI is superb. For
that reason, you've got to really know how to use your element to beat the
game. Let's go over some of the things that your AI quite frankly does better
than you (with the exception of the really good SWAT3 players -I doubt they
need to read this anyway):
Fire and hit targets.
Fire and call for compliance at the same time.
Knowing when to use deadly force or not.
Using well-placed shots to subdue a threat.
Obtaining compliance.
Slicing the pie.
Meanwhile, you're probably better at some other facets of the SWAT3 gameplay:
Neutralizing overly aggressive terrorists.
Handcuffing suspects/hostages.
Moving (in just general terms of speed).
Strafing and firing.
Knowing where to go.
As the game structure demands, you've been established in the game as the leader of four other SWAT team members. Your role reflects that. I've broken them up into 3 different activities, each with demanding different element control. They are Engaging, Neutralizing, and Arresting.
1. Engaging.
For the purpose of this article, I'm going to call "engaging" the primary and initial contact made with either suspects or hostages. Initial contact is the defining moment for most battles, so you need to treat this with the utmost of importance. By and large, the best method is to let your buddies do the work see them first. In almost every case imaginable, they will offer the best first response or engagement. On some occasions, they have a supreme advantage. Specifically, you (the player) may not be able to tell if a certain suspect is a hostage or not. Sometimes hostages wander about, and won't initially drop to the floor: this makes them difficult to distinguish from real terrorists. Fortunately, your computer teammates are told by the game if this is a suspect or hostage.
There are, of course, scenarios in which you'd probably be better off taking the lead in the engagement. Specifically, instances when you're dealing with an overly aggressive suspect who thinks he can take on all five SWAT team members. The problem is that he can sometimes take out at least one or two members, which is something that you do NOT want to happen. Bottlenecks are classic bad-news locations which could easily ruin your leadership score. For that reason, you'll want to step in front of your teammates if think your teammates are being outgunned. As an aggressive leader, you can engage this threat with authority, and probably eliminate the problem.
So, what's the summary? Make your teammate take the lead by using the commands "element -->clear" and "element -->breach/move and clear" through most primary engagements. First contact is key and they generally can deal with hostages and suspects in a much better way. However, when things go to hell, or you're facing off against an especially nasty villan, take charge of the situation and put down the baddie.
2. Neutralizing (removing threats)
As I said in the previous section, your teammates are very good at first contact, especially with terrorists. They can usually place a few good shots and force the terrorist to comply to their orders. They are also superb tacticians in yelling and getting hostages and civilians to the floor. However, your computer AI is not necessarily the best at removing the threats quickly.
When I say "neutralizing" I'm going to be referring to the method by which suspects are forced to comply and hostages drop to their knees. Arresting them and keeping control over your element in those arresting situations will be saved for the next section. Right now, I'm going to look at the point between which you've spotted a suspect, and are moving towards them to get them to submit to your compliance orders.
Obviously, we need to look at the compliance order. This is quite possibly one of the most crucial commands in the game; it's used to bring order to chaos, the SWAT team's primary function. Specifically, the compliance order is context-based command given to either suspects or hostages in an effort to get them to enter under the control of the SWAT officer. Before we talk about the usage, I want to make a point about the key location of the command. All your commands are located on the main keyboard's top row. I personally use the arrow keys to move about (in the classic FPS format), so that means that I have to lift my fingers off the movement arrows to hit the compliance command. If I could, I would have moved the key commands over to like my scroll button on my mouse, to make for more effective movement and compliance shouting, but that's not possible. Because of logistics, you have to STOP to issue your compliance orders, which makes for some hairy fights at times when you're trying to get an excuse to use deadly force. The best thing for you to do is to hit the compliance command while ducked behind a corner (to avoid the possibility of the suspect firing on you). You might also try doing this as your entering a room, in anticipation of encountering an enemy, while you're reloading your gun, or while doing any other activity that would not require you to use your mouse (in other words, switch hands). On the other hand, your teammates do not have to worry about this some problem, as they can just yell and shoot at the same time. This is yet another reason why your teammates can often be the best option for making the primary contact with a suspect.
But back to the compliance order. I tend to recommend to use it aggressively, so tap it at least a few times before walking in on a room full of suspects and/or hostages. That way you can be yelling, watch their reaction, and yourself react appropriately. Sometimes, suspects can be "unsure;" issue the compliance a bit more and you'll sometimes get them to drop to their knees. It especially works well when your teammates are yelling at them at the same time. Remember, you need to focus your sights on the suspects, especially when there are hostages in the room. If things feel too out of control, fire off some warning shots around the suspect. This is not always the best procedure, since your shots have to be fairly well placed to garner a reaction. And when I say well-placed, I mean that they need to be fairly close to the subject. If nothing else, go ahead and take out a suspect. The last thing you want to have is a firefight with a suspect in a room full of hostages. Fire first: you are protecting the lives of the hostages FIRST.
Above all else, remember that you must concern yourself with neutralizing all the threats, and that will on occasion include both suspects and hostages. If you do encounter a hostage wandering about, order your team to continue moving forward while you make sure the hostage stays put. The specifics of situations like these is touched in the next section, arresting.
3. Arresting.
The final stage of a contact with a suspect or hostage is the arrest (if all goes as planned). I say that with a great deal of reservation because there are situations when obviously there will be a dead subject. Obviously, if that subject is a hostage, you screwed up. On the other hand, a suspect who is dead...well, he's not a problem anymore. After neutralizing the threats in a room, there are basically the following conditions in which suspects and hostages might be:
Dead.
Hurt, on the floor.
Hurt, on their knees.
On their knees.
The first scenario is quite convenient for you because they require little to no attention (besides calling in the morgue to pick up their body).
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