Cheap SWAT 4: The Stetchkov Syndicate Expansion Pack (Software) (Windows NT 4, Windows XP, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me) Price

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Customer Reviews of SWAT 4: The Stetchkov Syndicate Expansion Pack

Guess I'll buy a different game
Pros: <
>The new maps and features are very good. If you liked Swat 4, you will like the expansion pack. Almost all of the new maps are pretty big, which is nice. <
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>Cons: <
>The spyware is not a good feature. See K-Bass's review if you don't know what I am talking about. If the game were slightly less fun, the spyware would be enough to convince me not to buy it at all. <
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>There are quite a few new maps, which is good. My only gripe is that there should have been more maps in the original game. I hate it when you buy a video game like Swat 4 which has only a small number of maps, and you have to buy an expansion pack to make it seem like a full game.

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Spyware included in this game
In their quest for ever more intrusive advertising, Sierra and Irrational Games have stooped to a new low. After applying version 1.1 of the patch for this, one of the changes in the patch update was 'Added Massive Streaming Ad Support'. What is this? Well... <
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>Everytime you run the game, Swat 4 Stetchkov Syndicate contacts a server and downloads advertisments that show up on posters and signage inside the game world. In addition, everytime you run the game and how long you play is sent off to this server, most likely to measure the effectiveness of the advertisements and collect stastics about your personal playing habits. And even more insidious, the game keeps track of how long your character in this first person 'shooter' has an advertisement within your view. The number of seconds is reported back to the advertisement server, perhaps as a way to charge advertisers for 'eyeball' time. <
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>Other than modifying your windows 'hosts' file to disable the servers it contacts, there is no way to opt-out of this. Examination of the network traffic to the adserver includes some encrypted data. Therefore it is not possible to know what, if any, personal information is being sent to the ad servers.

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Stetchkov Syndicate Rocks!!
You cannot beat this expansion pack for $30!! SWAT 4 has been a great FPS - but Stetchkov greatly improves upon it. The AI is significantly better - no longer do you walk into a room and find a baddie just ambling around. More weapons have been added - I have really enjoyed the FN P-90. The levels (seven new ones) have that lived in/realistic look - no more dozens of pristine rooms with only a few things in them. The new On My Command is great - you can put each team at an entrance and have them bang and clear at the same time. Ok, some downsides: Still not many poly's for the bad-guys - they look a little blocky even on the highest settings. And, speaking of which, even with a $200+ 256-mb graphics card, this game still bogs my system down when there's a lot of action. And, believe me, there will be a lot of action! Oh - the file structure is unchanged so you can get into it right away and modify weapon reticle bloom, etc. And, unlike the original - I've not yet had a crash to desktop during gameplay. I highly, highly recommend this game for those who want a realistic FPS shooter - its what R6 lockdown should have been. Go out and get this game immediately - you can't go wrong.