SWAT 4 in crunch period, looks 'incredible'
Irrational Games' fourth title in the SWAT series is in the final stretch of development, and reports coming out of the Aussie developer suggest that it's going well.
SWAT 4 "is going to be incredible," according to a progress report from Irrational Games' Meredith Levine this week, as the PC game nears completion ahead of its Q1 2005 ship target.
According to Levine, the team is "busy perfecting both the single and multiplayer modes, as well as balancing the gameplay so that SWAT teams and suspects are competitive," with many of the team playing the game for "four or five hours a day" according to producer Sara Verrilli.
"Programmers have been seen brutally dragging team members away from their computers to help fix bugs," Levine adds, before explaining why SWAT "is going to be incredible."
"I have spent an unnatural amount of time around game developers. I know that when people work on a game for two or more years, they are usually sick to death of it by the time they hit crunch no matter how amazing it may be. Once they are in crunch, forget them ever wanting to see the game again. And yet here's what crunching Irrational team member Bill Gardner has to say when asked how the game is progressing:
"'We're having entirely too much fun playing this game. There's a borderline unhealthy amount of trash talking going on and a whole lot of random shouting.' I can vouch for the random shouting; it can get very loud in the SWAT room."
For more on SWAT 4, including screenshots, check out our previous coverage of the game's announcement. Judging by Levine's comments, it's well on track for release in early 2005.