This time players can take the role of leader of a five-man assault team or take on the persona of the terrorists and attempt to go head-to-head with Los Angeles' finest. In co-op up to five players can take out the badguys, and the gameplay is very similar to the single player mission where the squad goes into the situation and must save the day. However in the "deathmatch" and "last man standing" settings only five people can take part at one time for reasons that don't seem fully clear. Additional computer-controlled “terrorists” can be used to round-out a team but it seems strange that the game couldn't support at least six players – more so when Rogue Spear can support up to 16 players.

More annoying is the fact that when players are killed they are left with a view of their dead body and can't follow the action until the mission ends. While this pushes home the dire consequences of close combat situations like these in the game, it is very annoying since it is possible to be ambushed in the first seconds of play. Like Rogue Spear there is no re-spawning so players shouldn't assume that this is the quick and over-the-top experience that one would get in Unreal or Quake but some will no doubt find this all too slow, especially when they get taken out early.

The equipment, including those nifty new weapons, help with the re-playability and it is interesting to retry some of the hostage situations with a different assortment of gear. One annoying factor that certainly caused some confusion was that the uniforms for the SWAT teams and the terrorists sometimes don't vary that much. In the single player and co-op missions players can expect to see well-dressed men in business suits as well as military clad extremists, but in the multiplayer game there is little to differentiate a hostile from a friendly. This could be said that the same holds true in the real world but most SWAT team members probably can recognize their friends after all.

As far as the single player gameplay goes, SWAT3 certainly gives the Rainbow Six series a run for its money in the anti-terrorist gaming arena. Even the co-op play offers a truly impressive and enthralling experience but the game certainly won't be the end-all for multiplayer gaming. Recent mods, including the Half-Life mod Counterstrike, and the over-mentioned Rainbow Six have the same style of gameplay and in many ways do it as well and even better. But at the price – which is a free download for owners of the original SWAT3 – the Elite Edition is certainly worth the price. And even for those who have not committed, the game is probably worth checking out, but the multiplayer gaming does fall just a bit short.

Peter Suciu
Contributing Editor