Back in its day, Sierra produced a series of first-person shooters for the PC that had gamers working alongside a SWAT team.  The games were actually very good and understandably so.  I mean, where else can you get to fill the boots of the leader of an elite squad of specialized law enforcers that keep dangerous criminal and domestic terrorists neutralized?  Now SWAT: Global Strike Team brings us the same tactical action to the Xbox.  Does this transition work well on our beloved console?  The details, loyal readers, are inside.

Global Strike Team puts you in the role of Mathias Kincaid, an ex-member of the US’s Delta Force and now the squad leader of a team of two other specially trained team members (one is a sharpshooter and the other a seasoned field technician).  The year is 2008 and a criminal network threatens to cause global chaos by attempting to topple Democracy with their terrorist-like ways.  In order to stop them, the UN Security Council forms a Global Strike Team with you as the leader.  So it is up to you and your team to see that the enemy threat is neutralized before they carry out their plans.

The game’s main Campaign mode puts gamers through twenty-one single player missions that have you rescuing hostages from a bank taken over by gang members or a mission that has you attempting to rescue the Mayor’s daughter in a hospital filled with heavily armed thugs.  The missions have a primary goal and some secondary objectives, which is nothing new, but in this game you are graded on your performance and for following strict procedures.  That’s right, you can’t just simply rush into a location and shoot everyone that gets in your way.  This game gives you the option to have a thug throw down his arm while your teammates cuff him.  You are rewarded for not using excessive force during a mission (or using your five continues) and the rewards are actually worth it.  Not only do you get a shiny medal but also points for customizing your firearm of choice.  Before each mission you can choose different firearms (machine guns or a shotgun) and kits (flash grenades or tranquilizer pistols). 

Control-wise, Global Strike Team keeps things pretty basic so gamers can simply pick this one up and start playing right away.  The issuing of commands is as simple as pressing the D-pad and selecting the short list of commands available.  The game also allows gamers to use their Xbox Live Communicator for the single player game mode instead of just pressing the pad and button to make your team perform an action.  All you have to do, really, is just say any of the basic commands and the game will recognize it.  Actually, the novelty of this quickly runs out but it’s good to see a game utilize the Xbox Communicator in such a way. 

The problem with this game is that while your team members are helpful in hacking into secured doors or disarming bombs, you really don’t rely on them as much as you would in the Ghost Recon games, for example.  There are many times throughout the game that you have to cover them during operations and this becomes more bothersome since you are the one that helps them out of scrapes.  Sure they are good at bringing down enemies you might not have spotted, but covering them constantly isn’t exactly fun or interesting.

There are not many extras available in this game either, which doesn’t give a player much to keep playing this one over and over.  That is, unless, multiplayer games are your kind of thing.  Personally the game offers a sufficient amount of deathmatch game modes and the ability to play the game co-op is definitely a welcome feature.  There are six deathmatch games, all of them offering various challenges that work well.  There’s Homicide, Countdown, Survivor, Bag Man, Containment and Secure and Hold.  Many of these game types have been seen before but they’re definitely fun enough to play split-screen fashion with up to four friends on a single Xbox console or through System Link.

While the game is on the Xbox console, it looks more like a PS2 game.  Unfortunately, it looks like a bad-looking PS2 game with its plain environments and lack of details.  You won’t find Xbox exclusive graphical features such as bump mapping but thankfully the game does lighting excellently.  Yet this is spoiled by the fact that the characters are rendered pretty sloppily and they lack realistic movements.  The visual effects are not as spectacular as they should be either.

The game’s sound fairs a bit better than the visuals . . . but not by very much.  The sound of gunfire does sound realistically and nicely detailed (gunshots echo in the narrow corridors of a subway station while they whine loudly in outdoor settings).  You’ll also communicate with your team members, who occasionally chime in with reports or enemy sightings.  The enemies themselves spout out the usual cop-hating slurs such as “Drop dead, pig!”  Unfortunately the game’s dialogue--as well as the accents--is awful.  You won’t mind the repetitive phrases from your teammates after issuing orders so this, at least, works in the game’s favor.  The music is also good, although you won’t be hearing much of it throughout the game.

Unfortunately, SWAT: Global Strike Team doesn’t quite capture the true essence of the tactical squad-based action genre in ways other games before it does.  While the game does possess the right amount of elements that make up the genre, the overall execution just doesn’t make the first-person action interesting enough to hold our attention.  Thanks to the option to play this one co-op and to use the Xbox Communicator headset during the single player mode, this does make for a great weekend rental. 

Gameplay: 6.5
The game’s weak points fall mainly on the poor execution of some of the game’s missions and the fact that, although this is a game that has you working with squad mates, your organization of your team is not essential to the success of your mission. While your squad mates have different specialties, they’re pretty smart and quick enough to hold there own, which means you don’t have to baby-sit them.  You can also use your Xbox Communicator to shout out commands during the single player game much like the PS2’s SOCOM.

Graphics: 7.0
Visually, Global Strike Team isn’t quite the gorgeous-looking Xbox game out there and much of what is seen here really doesn’t take advantage of the console’s graphical capabilities.  Sure there are wonderful lighting effects throughout the game but it is overshadowed by the blandness of the game’s environments such as the long and narrow corridors you’ll encounter throughout the game.  The character models are also pretty bad and their movements are hardly what you might call realistic.

Sound: 7.2
While the gameplay doesn’t rely heavily on teamwork, you’ll certainly communicate with them throughout the game and it’s the voices and issuing of verbal commands that make the game’s sound really work.  While many of the commands are often repeated throughout the game, it never becomes an annoyance.  The sound effects are also pretty good, with gunfire really sounding authentic and loud enough to put a smile on your face.  The game’s music also works well enough for the game even though it’s a bit standard.

Difficulty: Medium
The game follows strict rules of conduct that mirror those of an actual SWAT team so you can’t just rush into a building shooting everything and anything that casts a shadow.  In fact, you’re penalized for not at least giving the enemy a chance to put their weapons down and surrender peacefully while your teammates cuff him.  The enemy can also be a bit smart at times and will not rush out into the open so you have to make some strategic decisions before deploying a member of your team through a door.

Concept: 7.8
Global Strike Team isn’t a major departure in the SWAT series and it’s conversion to the Xbox console was not the smoothest as well, but all the elements long-time fans have come to expect are all here.  The ability to secure hostages and disarm bad guys so you can cuff them is pretty cool but the novelty of doing this quickly runs out.  And, if you want to make the game just a tad more exciting, you can use your Xbox Communicator to issue commands to your squad.

Multiplayer: 7.5
Unfortunately this game doesn’t offer Xbox Live multiplayer fun (although you can download some good extras), which is something that might have worked in this game’s favor seeing as it’s a tactical squad-based action game.  Still, the game does offer co-op play for up to four players seen in split-screen fashion and the six different deathmatch-type game modes are actually pretty fun.  You can also post your mission score on the Xbox Live for the Cooperative Time Attack mode that has you racing against the clock to complete each mission before the timer runs out.

Overall: 7.0
Fans of this growing genre will find that SWAT just doesn’t fit well in the growing line up of squad-based titles already available.  While there are a few moments that are quite enjoyable in this game, all the things that don’t work for it holds the game back from being a truly interesting and exciting game.  With that being said, I suggest you turn to other titles--such as Rainbow Six 3, for example--for your fix of tactical fun for your Xbox.