Dammit! I left the key to my safe deposit box in my other riot suit. Game Info Publisher Sierra Studios Developer Sierra Northwest Genre Action Origin U.S. Number of Players 1 Accelerated YES Release Winter 1999 That's one way to break up a board meeting. A few early design sketches for the characters in SWAT 3. Hey, that guy at the bottom kind of looks like Trent. I always thought he had the face of a criminal. The deadly Bed & Breakfast raid. Keep an eye out for Granny and her evil cat Mittens.

We recently had a chance to check out Sierra Studios' upcoming entry into the first-person tactical shooter genre, SWAT 3: Close-Quarters Battle. Those of you who remember the previous two entries in the SWAT series are urged to get a lobotomy at a local sanitarium so those horrid images will be permanently erased from your brain. SWAT 3 looks and plays totally differently from the previous two entries, which is a very good thing since SWAT and SWAT 2 aren't exactly what you would call "fun" games.

The game is set six years in the future in the City of Angels, Los Angles. You're in command of a five man anti-terrorism element in the Special Weapons and Tactics division of the LAPD. Like the name implies, SWAT 3 will focus on SWAT tactics used in cramped spaces, like the interiors of buildings. There will be 20 missions included in the final game set in a variety of locations such as LAX, a hotel, a television studio, a bank and the Los Angeles Convention Center.

When we met project producer Rod Fung at E³, he continually stressed that SWAT 3 was a tactical simulation rather than a strategic action game. The development team is trying to simulate the real world tactics of the LAPD SWAT team as accurately as possible. "Since it's set in the real world, you'll want to try to get people to comply first," says Rod. "The best tactic will be ending a mission without firing a shot, but since this is a game, we still want players to have some action, so there will be situations where compliance won't be an option." Sounds good to us. What would a shooter be without a few shots fired?

Unlike its closest relative in the gaming world, Rainbow Six, you won't be able to plan your actions before going into a hot zone. Instead you'll have to make quick, dynamic decisions just as it would be if you entered a building that was packed full of gun-toting terrorists. Although you may have internal plans of the building, you won't know where your opponents are located, so you'll have to be on your toes as you peak around every corner looking for bad guys.

The development team is being advised by Ken Thatcher, a former SWAT member with over 30 years experience in the LAPD. Ken was also the principle actor used for the motion capture sequences in SWAT 3, so you can be assured that the moves you see onscreen are the actual tactics used by modern day SWAT teams.

To add to the simulation aspect of SWAT 3, Sierra Northwest is promising realistic firearm physics, modeled down to the individual pellets from a shotgun blast. Bullets will ricochet, make lasting trails on the environment and even punch through doors and walls. This makes holding your fire to a minimum and going for the sweet shots extremely important as you'll have to be careful not to hit innocents who may be standing in the next room.

The development team is also promising some pretty advanced AI. Instead of following pre-determined routes, the in-game characters will make their own decisions and determine by themselves the best route to take. "The terrorists and the members of your team will read the 3D world and react accordingly," says Rod. "We didn't just script out a bunch of points and nodes for them to follow, they'll actually learn the environments and use them to their advantage." In addition to on the fly path determination, the members of your element will seek defensive position and provide cover for the other members of your team while they are moving to a new vantage point.

I fall of this sounds like a lot to handle for one lone commander, don't fret too much. You won't be entirely responsible for feeling your way around each building. During the mission you'll get updated intelligence reports from your support teams who are keeping tabs on the windows from the outside. For example, you may be told of suspicious movement near the third floor fire stairwell. Listen to your support teams carefully, it may cost you your life (or the lives of a few innocents) if you just run in with guns blazing.

SWAT 3 is looking quite good at this early stage, scoring a notch above Rainbow Six when it comes to visuals. The art team is using photographic textures and utilizes such techniques as authentic lighting, reflections and high-polygon object models to surround you with a highly realistic environment. And each of the characters in SWAT 3 sports skeletal animation with the top torso independent of the legs, so your team will not only look good, but they'll move realistically as well.

From what we saw of the game at E³, SWAT 3 is going to give Rogue Spear a run for its money. Visually, things are coming along quite nicely and, if the development team accomplishes everything they hope to, gameplay should be solid as well. Keep an eye out for its release later this year and keep checking back to IGNPC for an upcoming interview with Rod Fung.

-- Tal Blevins