SWAT 4 announced :)

No reference to platform, but I gather from context that it must be PC.

From the press release:

VIVENDI UNIVERAL GAMES AND IRRATIONAL GAMES TEAM-UP TO TAKE A BITE OUT OF CRIME IN THE UPCOMING

SWAT™4

VUG Enlists Award Winning Irrational Games to Develop Latest SWAT Title

LOS ANGELES, CA (April 28, 2004) – Vivendi Universal Games sets its sites on the latest edition of the popular SWAT franchise with the announcement of SWAT 4. Developed by Irrational Games, SWAT 4 allows players to take control of a squad of up to five police officers tasked with performing dangerous operations such as high-risk arrests, hostage rescue and counter-terrorism. As the unit’s commander, players must follow authentic police tactics as they breach and clear a concrete jungle filled with armed felons and innocent bystanders alike. SWAT 4 is expected to ship in Q1 of 2005 and has not yet been rated by the ESRB.

“We are working collaboratively with Irrational Games on SWAT 4 to develop one of the best games in its genre,” says Michael Pole, EVP, Worldwide Studios, Vivendi Universal Games. "SWAT 4 delivers a tactical first-person squad-based shooter experience that is a worthy successor to this hit franchise.”

Featuring graphics courtesy of the Vengeance engine powered by Unreal, SWAT 4 delivers 16 authentic environments set in stunningly rendered locations representing a wide variety of operational environments. Realistic ballistics and Havoc defined object physics will further heighten the experience for the player by providing an added layer of atmospheric authenticity.

As S.W.A.T. officer, players will have access to authentic assault gear including tactical mainstays such as the Colt M-4 carbine, the Benelli M4 Super 90 shotgun and Surefire tactical lights. However, as with their real-world counterparts officers in SWAT 4 have to hit hard-and-fast in order to take down the bad guys and keep the innocent out of harms way. SWAT 4 will also ship with three competitive multiplayer modes as well as a cooperative campaign mode.

An addendum: VU Games confirms that it’s for the PC.

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So this is actually the second announcement of the game or was the first version of SWAT 4 ever “officially” talked about.

There never was a SWAT 4 until now. There was a SWAT: Urban Justice, but that is long gone.

‘Bout friggin’ time!

Edit: Screens! http://www.10-david.com/?p=news_item&id=578

Wow. Irrational is making not one but TWO shooters now… SWAT 4 and Tribes. Cool.

etc

Hilarious. I’ll believe it when it ships.

Well, I like Irrational so… am having high hopes finally. But yeah, when it’s taking up space on my hard drive will be when I fully believe it.

— Alan

I hope the formula doesn’t get changed too much. I just want SWAT 3 with a new engine and new environments, and more hysterical babes in bath towels to 'cuff. :P

No Rod Fung. :(

Agreed, now I have another game to pre-order. Hell, I still play Swat 3 to this day.

Great news ! :-)

Shame they’re not using the Farcry engine though. :roll:

SWAT: Brando’s Island is next year! :lol:

Yeah, it is a shame that we couldn’t go back in time and start working on an engine that wasn’t even close to ready back when Irrational started working on SWAT 4 almost two years ago.

Not to mention the fact that the Farcry engine, while really nice, isn’t exactly perfect for a corridor shooter like SWAT 4, and the additional fact that Irrational has created a fantastic engine based on Unreal technology (The Vengeance Engine).

I’d have called it the Vengine.

Does it have a teleport key? I wanna be a magically teleporting angel of death.

Wasn’t that a suicide key?

Shouldn’t this game be called Police Quest 9: SWAT 4? :D

Interesting, I didn’t realize SWAT 4 was built on top of Tribes: Vengeance’s tweaks of the Unreal 3D.

I figured they had started from scratch using the sourced Unreal 3D engine.

Is it really fair to call the tweaks to the Unreal Engine as a new engine?