209.9 hours played
Written 19 days ago
UNFINISHED EARLY ACCESS TITLE / LOST POTENTIAL >
Jesus christ Void, I wish it was just censorship that was the problem with this game.
The game has been an absolute unfinished mess since the initial early-access steam launch a while back HOWEVER, there was always the context of "so much potential" and we had a lot to look forward too.
Fast forward a couple of years and they've done f*** all, more maps and guns, but none of the meat and bones...
so theres two massive problems with this game and the censoring is actually a secondary problem.
This game is an excercise in mediocrity and has been from day 1, been a supporter for a long time and these guys made ALOT of money on the production of this with the early access release and virality but almost none of it filtered back into the game and ill explain why I feel this is the case:
Years have passed and while they have delivered some stellar maps there are bugs still present to this day and it still feels like an early access title.
- presentation:
Many things promised and not delivered on, most of the maps in these games don't have bystanders/onlookers/reporters, no proper perimeter cordon or auxillary police units for most maps, no paramedics on standby, no swat snipers, police helicopters, trailer units don't show up in multiplayer still, you kinda feel like your just dumped on the map and it really pulls away from immersion. You cant rappel from any of the rooftops. for a game that supposedly touts its authenticity it often feels like they are almost there but never quite nail it. Many maps have come and gone like the fast-food map.
Maps are often way bigger than they need to be with little objectives or stuff to do or see, lots of big empty open spaces or parts of the map that are wholesale never utilized.
I don't actually have a problem with the use of AI textures in the game, a lot of them look surprisingly apt BUT it does highlight a lack of competency or willingness to produce content in the staff.
lighting bugs and clipping models in the game often feels temporary or work-in-progress, whilst stellar in other areas.
- removal of content / censorship:
Many tools that were promised never came: halligan bars, helicopter IR optics, drones etc.
Varying scenarios on maps like bomb defusal and active shooter have been removed in favour of unique curated objectives with little creativity that amount to terrorist hunt / hostage rescue and little else.
You wont arrive to see first-responders and patrol officers shooting it out and setting up a cordon or proper barricade/siege scenario.
A lot of features have been removed that extend further than censorship, great stuff like the ability for enemy NPC's to hide in closets and ambush SWAT
have been removed for supposedly difficulty choices and yet hostages can still hide but can get stuck and brick your run. Don't seem to see any NPC's committing suicide when cornered anymore.
the censorship is disgusting and highlight the already major lack of authenticity with the presentation in this game. They sold out their loyal long-time userbase for crossplay with console players on controllers, given the nature of gunplay in this game I can imagine most of us aren't interested in carrying people staring at the ceiling, Most people will turn crossplay off if presented with the option.
- gameplay:
Rules of engagement are confusing and often seem straight up bugged, S-rank runs are defined entirely by going non-lethal even when circumstances present justified use of force.
Janky movement and Interacting especially when arresting subjects often leading to player death (it can be cancelled but even that is cumbersome), AI combat ability seems to fluctuate between that of a star wars stormtrooper and john wick even when the NPC's profile does not match their skill, ending missions will often consist of 5-10 minutes of awkward item hunting, backtracking and running around a map trying to find the gun that dropped and clipping into a table leg or behind a wall.
for all the amazing animation work done, the fact that there is few interactions that get repeated over and over make them feel cheap.
This game pretends to be "realistic" but very much sits in the "cinematic" category and exists in its current form as an ode to "lost potential".
Its like the devs just gave up or couldn't figure it out and never really cared which is at odds with the enthusiasm and funding they received throughout its development. It feels like rather than driving this product to its peak and hiring more staff they instead kept the team super small so they could
receive a larget cut of the sales, There no point in a sequel becasue you never finished the first game...
regarding recent censorship, No reputation has been destroyed becasue VOID never established one in the first place, alot of community engagement but little actual substance.
Considering how much money they've made they can absolutely do alot more for this game and maintain split versions for console and PC, this is an example of enshitification, lazy developers who have moved on to other projects and abandoned the product.
Miss this one, if your looking for some more appealing swat simulators, older games like SWAT 4 mods like First Responders SEF fill that niche and hopefully one day we get the swat simulator we've dreamed of, because this aint it, it could be, but it aint.