The interaction between your fellow team members, the suspects and any innocent civilians is so vital to making the game that the AI must obviously be up to scratch. Poor AI would have resulted in a shocking game, but hats off to SWAT 3 which comes up with the goods. Your officers will seek cover, carefully stalking around the rooms, leaning to one side to take advantage of doorways and so on. Similarly suspects will behave in the same way once they see you. Perfection is hard to achieve, however, and some of the officer AI is a little 'unusual'. Occasionally, one of the boys will insist in getting in the way - not much of a problem while walking around, but a bit embarrassing when a fire fight is in progress and you fill him full of lead. Carefully keep an eye on them, though, and the teamwork is a treat to participate in.

The graphics and sounds further emphasise the realism of the game. Detail in the buildings is impressive, featuring furniture, ornaments and even the little things like loo paper.

The only real problems with SWAT 3 are the fact that it's single-player only, so there's no online action and there's not much longevity, and the 16 scenarios are unrelated so although the placement of people changes every time you play, there isn't a lot of replay value. The pre-action planning involves only weapon selection and entry point, which might also detract from the fun if you're expecting complete tactical control.