Police Quest: SWAT

About

Police Quest: SWAT is a tactical squad-based simulation game. Players lead a SWAT team in various high-risk missions, using strategic planning, precise tactics, and teamwork. The game features tense hostage situations, dangerous drug operations, and intense bank heists, with the ultimate goal of serving and protecting the community.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

58%

Audience ScoreBased on 105 reviews

humor6 positive mentions

gameplay4 negative mentions

The game has a lot of charm and nostalgia, making it enjoyable for those who appreciate retro gaming.
It offers an interesting mix of full motion video and tactical gameplay, providing a unique experience for players.
The game runs well on modern machines without compatibility issues, allowing for easy access to its content.

The gameplay is overly complicated and frustrating, requiring very specific actions that lead to trial-and-error gameplay.
There are only three missions, and the game lacks clear instructions, making it difficult for new players to progress.
The controls are clunky and unintuitive, leading to a frustrating experience that detracts from the overall enjoyment.

story
56 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
5%
89%
5%
The story of "Police Quest: SWAT" is centered around the player taking on the role of a rookie in the LAPD SWAT unit, tasked with completing three tactical missions. While the game attempts to blend elements of classic point-and-click adventure with interactive movie mechanics, it is criticized for its limited mission count, convoluted gameplay, and questionable acting, leading to a mixed reception regarding its narrative execution. Overall, the educational aspects of police work are noted as a highlight, but the game's structure and mission design leave much to be desired.
- “You take the role as a new rookie member of the famous LAPD unit to complete three increasingly tactical missions.”
- “Your actions as a member of your unit will directly impact the efficiency (and potentially safety) of your entire team and the outcome of the mission.”
- “Anyway, in this title there are several 'call ups' which are missions you get a call to go to, each have a couple different ways for the scenario to play out.”
- “This isn't really a point-and-click adventure game like the original Police Quest games; it's an overly complicated mess of an interactive FMV simulator.”
- “The acting is dubious at many points in the game, and there are only a small handful of missions.”
- “The final mission is an insult to the player.”
gameplay
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
57%
29%
The gameplay is criticized for being random, frustrating, and lacking accessibility, with clumsy controls and slow pacing that detract from the overall experience. While the game has educational value and can be completed quickly if one knows what to do, many players find it more amusing than enjoyable due to its poor gameplay polish. Overall, it seems to be a mixed bag, appealing more for its novelty than for a satisfying gameplay experience.
- “This game is a respectable effort, but likely more of a game to get for the laughs than the actual gameplay experience.”
- “My litmus test for if an adventure game is worth it is if the gameplay is worthwhile.”
- “If you know exactly what to do, the whole game can be completed in 2 hours, but even with a (in my opinion absolutely obligatory) walkthrough it took me more than six hours to finish it because of the clumsy controls, snail-paced gameplay, and generally random and unpredictable nature of the game.”
- “Police Quest: SWAT is an outstanding piece of edutainment and serves as an impressive 1990s SWAT simulation in terms of the scenarios, overall realism, and depth of technical details... but the gameplay is atrocious.”
- “The game has a ton of educational and historical value; it's just completely missing any semblance of gameplay polish.”
music
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
60%
30%
The music in the game is highly praised for its energetic and nostalgic 90's soundtrack, particularly the title screen music, which is described as impactful and heroic. Reviewers consistently highlight its ability to evoke strong emotions and enhance the gaming experience.
- “Dank soundtrack.”
- “The kind of music that makes you feel like a hero.”
- “Banger 90's soundtrack.”
- “- dank soundtrack”
replayability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
33%
33%
The game offers a moderate level of replayability, primarily through the opportunity to explore different solutions for missions. While this approach is appreciated, some drawbacks may limit the overall replay value.
- “This is a pretty cool approach that creates a ton of replayability, if not for the game's drawbacks.”
- “This game still has some mild replay value to it.”
- “It even has a tiny bit of replay value in trying to figure out different solutions for the missions.”
humor
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's serious tone creates a humorous contrast when players engage in mischievous actions, particularly during "bad behavior" sequences involving an elder suspect. While the humor may not be consistently strong, it offers moments of laughter, especially for those who enjoy poking fun at the game's serious nature.
- “The game takes itself very seriously, so it's funny to mess about.”
- “I can recommend this game only if you want to make fun of it and laugh out loud with 'bad behavior' sequences, especially those involving an elder suspect you can kill as much as you want.”
- “Otherwise, it's kind of funny.”