SWAT 3SWAT 3

Close Quarters Battle

Game Details:  Action/RPG, 1999

Links:  Moby Games, Steam

Walkthrough Updated:  11/3/2003

Suggested Listening:  Where There's Smoke (Ash 25)

SWAT 3 is a squad-based tactical first-person shooter. It presents you with a series of 16 missions during which you are provided with detailed briefings and can plan your careful infiltration and completion of the mission objectives. It rewards non-lethal gameplay.

Mission 1: Northeast, Barricaded Suspect

Briefing

The single suspect here is Martin Brenner, who can be found almost anywhere in the house - he needs to be arrested. His wife is also inside, and she must be subdued. Finally, all weapons (either 1 or 2) must be secured.

Active Duty

Pick the lock and enter the building, having your element clear the ground floor. When you meet the wife, yell a few compliances and she will kneel. Now head up the stairs and have your element check each of the doors. If Brenner fires on you, down him. High ground may report the suspect passing an attic window - if this is the case, go right up the stairs and open the attic door. Either go in yourself or send your element in to clear. Put on the handcuffs if he is still alive. You then need to collect a pistol if Brenner was carrying one, plus the sniper rifle located in the attic near the window.

Mission 2: Hollywood, High Risk Arrest

Briefing

Another single suspect here, Victor Getts. He is in his single level home, with a secret basement hideout. His son Albert is also home, and both subjects must be subdued. There is a bomb set to detonate if you try to open the door to Victor's office (marked with red and green lights).

Active Duty

Enter the building through either door - pick the lock to get in silently. Have your element clear the first few areas. Victor may run into the living room and kneel down to be cuffed at any point. Albert is likely to be down the hall in his bedroom, or in the basement beneath the garage - in either location he is likely to draw his gun and shoot, so be prepared to take him down. There are 4 guns to collect, one on each of the suspects, and two in the garage/basement. Once all suspects are subdued, call for evac to complete the mission.

Mission 3: Newton, Hostage Rescue

Briefing

There are 5 suspects to be contained on this level, and 1 hostage to rescue. There is no point using a silent entry, as the shopkeeper just inside the entrance will probably start firing when he sees you.

Active Duty

Breach the front door and either subdue or shoot the first suspect, the shopkeeper. Sometimes there is another guy in the front room as well. Clear this area, then head through the door to the back. The left side here is a small bathroom, and the right side holds another door to breach. Go down the stairs to the basement and have your red and blue teams split up to search the area. There are several more suspects who will shoot on sight, so be prepared to take them down. The hostage may be injured in the firefight, so call for evac as soon as you find him. Once you have cleared the basement completely, call in all the suspects and the mission is over.

Mission 4: West LA, Hostage Rescue

Briefing

This is a hostage situation, with 6 suspects holding 4 people hostage in their home. It is much safer approaching the house from the rear, although either way you will be meeting suspects before you even get inside the premises.

Active Duty

From the rear of the house, send your element in to the backyard - the first suspect may start shooting straight away from the top of the stairs, so down him if necessary. Clear the area around the pool, then go back down the stairs. Breach the rear door, and watch out for a guy on the stairs. There may be another enemy or a hostage in the room down here. Now send your men up the stairs and clear the kitchen and adjoining rooms. Open the large double doors to enter the main living area, where you will find at least 2 guys, as well as more out on the front lawn. You may lose one of your officers here, so make sure you call for evac when you can.

Once this area (including the study with the glass doors) is clear and you have found a second hostage, go upstairs. The 2 children will be in their bedrooms (you don't need to handcuff them before evac). There will likely also be another 1 or 2 suspects up here, including 1 possible extra unforeseen bad guy.

Mission 5: West LA, Hostage Rescue

Briefing

This church currently houses 7 hostages, being held by 5 suspects. There is also a security force guarding the clergy - this group can be neutralised if need be, but it's not essential to complete the mission. Most of the hostages will be located in the upper part of the church. Also keep a look out for 3 secret passages throughout the building.

Active Duty

There may be one or more suspects in the garden area when you enter, so be prepared. Breach the first door, then have your element clear the entryway and climb the stairs. Go along the balcony, where you are likely to find at least 1 hostage. At the other end, breach the doorway and get compliance from the security forces or shoot them. Have your team clear the ground floor of this area while you search upstairs - there is usually at least 1 hostage and 1 suspect in your area and the same goes for the ground floor. Once the region is clear (including all closets and bathrooms), head back over the balcony and down that first stairway. Go through the next door and send your element through to clear - this is a large open area that can hold a lot of people (both good and bad) so be prepared for a decent fight. Clear the area, including the 3 smaller rooms behind the altar - the central one has a secret doorway. In the right room you will find another secret doorway in the left part of the room. Send your team up the stairway this reveals, as there is almost always someone hiding inside. It will lead back up to the office upstairs. By now you should have found all the enemies, it is just a matter of cleaning up, evacuating all hostages and you are good to go.

Mission 6: Pacific, Rapid Deployment

Briefing

In this mission there are 9 suspects to bring to justice, and 3 SAMs to disable. You will probably want some heavy guns with you, and the best entrance to use is the front one. Note that the aircraft will fly overhead around 4 minutes after you start the mission, so all SAMs need to be disabled by then or the mission is a failure.

Active Duty

Pick the lock on the gate and head straight, looking out for 1 or 2 suspects entering from the left, and another one straight ahead. Disable them all, then bang and clear the doorway to the left. Head down the ramp and disable the first SAM. Leave this building via the other ramp, having your element clear the exit first. Go straight ahead to the boundary of the area and turn right, having your team quickly proceed through the area until you see some green portable toilets. Turn right and clear the area ahead, noting a fenced-off area with a ramp leading down. Rush the area, shouting for compliance and getting backup from your team. There may be 1 or 2 guys down here to subdue. Walk down a slope beneath a pipe into the next open area and disable the SAM. Go up a ramp and through a pipe into yet another area and disable the 3rd SAM. Get your element up the ramp leading from this area and clear the area to the right. If there are any suspects remaining, they will be in one of the buildings back near the portable toilets, so clear them carefully.

Mission 7: West LA, Hostage Rescue

Briefing

Starting from the roof of the bank, there are multiple entries in to the top floor (ventilation area), then there is the main floor of the bank. There are 4 suspects holding multiple hostages, including 2 unknown civilians.

Active Duty

You can go down any of the doors at the start, but the best option is door C, where your team will automatically assemble. Pick the lock and go down the stairs, then have your element clear the whole area. There are sometimes 1 or 2 suspects patrolling this area, so be on the lookout. There is a single door with a stairway symbol on it that you can find here. Open this door, but be ready as there is often a guy directly behind the doorway, so either have your men cover you as you pick the lock, or execute a bang and breach. Go through the 2 small rooms just down the stairs, then split up to clear all the small offices. Send your team through to the main room out the front and neutralise the rest of the bad guys. You will find the rest of the hostages in the 2 vaults. Evacuate them all to complete the mission.

Mission 8: Wilshire, Hostage Rescue

Briefing

This is a TV station that was in the middle of shooting the Donna Briggs show when it was taken over by 9 suspects (1 unexpected), some dressed in normal clothing. There is no point being stealthy in this mission, so enter through side 1 in dynamic mode.

Active Duty

Breach the first door, then go along the walkway and have your team breach bang and clear the double doors. There is always at least 1 suspect here ready to fire, and there are sometimes up to 3. Once the immediate vicinity is cleared, get your element to rush through the doors on the right into the sound studio and kill the 2 or so suspects here. Watch out for hostages - don't shoot them and don't give the suspects time to turn and shoot them.

Go back out to the corridor and approach the end - look out for guys on the stairs and on the ground around to the left. Just outside you will likely find a group of hostages and 1 suspect - get all of them ready for evac. Go up the stairs to the control area and search each of the small rooms with your element, again being careful to distinguish between suspects and hostages - if you see a gun, shoot. Go back down the stairs and through the dark passage. The next area contains a studio, where there will be lots of people, mostly hostages. Sometimes the suspects will be right at the back of the studio, and if you are not fast in killing them hostages will be shot. Probably the best tactic is to throw lots of tear gas and flashbangs in the room first, then send your whole element rushing in and hope for the best! Then it's just a case of securing the hostages and getting them out of there.

Mission 9: Hollywood, High Risk Arrest

Briefing

The Phoenix Club contains 4 suspects, 1 civilian hostage, and an awful lot of weapons scattered about. It is safest to use the rear entrance to the building, starting off in stealth mode.

Active Duty

Pick the lock on the door, then get your team inside. Have them cover the left while you enter the room on the right - sweep the bedroom and the bathroom, where you are likely to find 1 suspect and perhaps a civilian hostage. Make sure you pick up all the weapons you see, there are 14 in total in this mission. Now head over to the room on the left of the entrance. There is a storeroom through the door to the right - have your men clear it. Bang and breach the other door in the storeroom, which leads to a large open area. The suspects here are unlikely to go quietly, so be prepared to shoot. Have your men clear this area while you search the 2 bathrooms and collect all the guns (and find the civilian if you haven't already). Finish collecting guns to complete the mission.

Mission 10: Wilshire, Hostage Rescue

Briefing

The Russian president and 6 other hostages are being held hostage by 20 armed terrorists. The major danger in this mission is that the hostages will be shot by the terrorists while you are trying to save them. It is much easier to enter by the rooftop in stealth mode than any other way.

Active Duty

Pick the lock on the first door, then go down the stairs and breach the inner door. Look out for a single suspect who sometimes stands guard in this first room. Open the next door ahead (ignore the right door to the stairs) and get your element to go through the first door on the left while you go through the second. Quickly neutralise any suspects, being careful not to shoot hostages or give the suspects time to shoot them. Enter the main room and kill 4 or 5 terrorists in the area, securing all hostages. Check both balconies, shooting through the glass to kill enemies - there is usually at least one guy out there. Now check the kitchen and bathroom for suspects, having your men clear the entire floor. Return to the door you ignored earlier. Going down these stairs is tricky, but much easier than trying to go up from below. There is just about 1 terrorist on each landing, so make sure you aren't going to run out of bullets by reloading as necessary. Tear gas cannisters are often a good idea - throw them down before rushing each flight. At the bottom, clear the laundry, bathrooms and kitchen, being careful not to shoot the single hostage who is often down here.

Mission 11: Rampart, VIP Detail

Briefing

This mission begins as VIP detail, protecting the Russian President, but once you get inside the Convention Hall there are lots of bad guys to eliminated. You should start off at the Humvee, in dynamic mode.

Active Duty

As soon as the mission begins the action is on - eliminate the terrorists surrounding the bus, being careful not to shoot any civilians. Approach the entrance to the Hall by going up the long ramps, and get your element inside to help clear the lobby. Clear the kitchen on the right, being careful to kill the blonde woman and the dark-haired man, but leaving the chef alone. Detain all the civilians running around here and in the rotunda, then go to the opposite hall and clear the toilets and office. Now approach the central escalators. Throw a couple of tear gas cannisters up there, then have the element go up with you. There are 2 groups of conference rooms here, A-C and D-F. It doesn't matter which half you tackle first, just be careful to clear each conference room and not let anyone run past you into the hallway, as it is often difficult to find them later on. Conference Room F is the most difficult one, containing at least 2 terrorists and a hostage.

Mission 12: Pacific, Hostage Rescue

Briefing

There are a total of 13 suspects and 5 hostages in the LAX Tower, along with a SAM installation on the roof. You need to prevent the launching of the SAM first and foremost, then worry about saving the rest of the hostages and killing the bad guys. You can start in stealth mode if you like, but will be quickly changing to dynamic when you meet the first suspect.

Active Duty

Disable the alarm system, then pick the lock on the door and head inside. Go through the first few corridors and open the next door and double door to enter an area with lots of doors. Ignore the small stairwell here, but clear out all the other rooms. There is another dark door in the furnace/electrical room that you can take to find a red corridor. Follow this to find at least 1 suspect and 1 hostage, then start climbing the stairs. You need to get out at the Kitty Hawk level and clear it, but don't cross over the walkway just yet. Return to the stairwell and get out at the Red Baron, Flight Deck and Opersations levels, having your element clear them. At the top level, titled Big Top, open the door and go out to the roof. Carefully climb the stairs with your element mirroring, then have your team clear the tower control room while you run to the left and disarm the SAM. Return down the stairwell to the Kitty Hawk level and go across that walkway. Clear the first area, then go down the stairs and clear the levels below to complete the mission.

Mission 13: Hollywood, VIP Detail

Briefing

You may as well start in dynamic mode for this mission, as you will encounter resistance very early on. There are a lot of civilians running around in the building, and also quite a few suspects, so be prepared for a firefight.

Active Duty

Send your element through the double doors while you clear the stairwell. Catch up with the team and turn left on reaching the main hallway. There are several conference rooms to clear (in here you will find that Chinese diplomat) and two bathrooms which almost always house a few suspects or civilians. Be careful around the large staircase leading down, as there is always someone at the bottom waiting to shoot you or your teammates. Throw a tear gas cannister down there, then charge down and take them out. Have your element clear the downstairs area and the bathrooms, then head behind the concierge's desk and through to some back offices. Go carefully through here and then to the service corridors that will eventually lead back to your first stairwell that you cleared - look around to find the remaining hostages or suspects.

Mission 14: Central, Hostage Rescue

Briefing

This mission involves rescuing 5 civilians, arresting Tobias (and keeping him alive), killing 16 terrorists and defusing a bomb. There are 3 large staircases to navigate, and lots of narrow corridors and dark passages to navigate. You will want to start in stealth mode.

Active Duty

Climb the stairs and have your element stay by the first door, then go up yourself and make sure there is no one above you. Drop a tear gas cannister near the top door to keep enemies away. Now breach that first door and go through the first few passageways, most likely killing your first terrorist here. Clear the next few small rooms, then enter the law library (best way is to blow the door with some C4 and rush in). Clear this large room of several suspects, then go back outside and find another staircase. Climb up one flight and get your element to breach the door, while you go up one more flight and drop another tear gas cannister. Return to your element and methodically go through each of the small rooms on this floor. When you have this area secured, go up the stairs again to reach the top floor. There is nearly always an injured civilian right here, so call her in, then proceed to an open area where there will be suspects waiting on paired staircases on either side of the room. Kill them all, then enter the double doors to the mayor's office. You may find the mayor in here with one or more suspects, but he is more often in a side passage just to the right of the office. Finally, climb up those staircases and enter the final room. Be careful who you shoot here - Tobias has a light blue shoot and you need him alive. Kill the other terrorists (there may be one outside on the balcony), then arrest Tobias and secure the hostages. Finally, disable the security around the bomb, and disarm the bomb itself.

Mission 15: West LA, Rapid Deployment

Briefing

There are 7 bombs scattered about in the sewers beneath the campus of UCLA. This is a very long mission and it is quite difficult to find all the bombs and enough suspects to complete the mission successfully. Make sure you pack M4's for everyone and start off in dynamic mode at the West Campus entrance. Keep your team together as there will be plenty of ambushes requiring your team's full fire.

Active Duty

This is a huge map, and will take at least 30 minutes to complete, probably more like an hour the first time. The following is a quick list of locations of the 7 bombs you must defuse:

  • At the West Campus entrance, under some barrels
  • At the bottom of a stairwell near the West Campus entrance, under a wooden plank
  • On a shelf, just down the stairs from the one above
  • In the largest poisonous gas room, on top of a tyre, behind a barrel
  • Over the tunnel with a bridge over some water, in the same hallway as the one above
  • In a shopping cart in a room filled with graffiti on the lowest level
  • In the middle of a 4-way intersection, behind some rubbish

If you don't kill all 9 suspects in this mission, you will be forced to play the following mission.

Mission 16: Rampart, VIP Detail

Briefing

This mission only gets played if you don't find all 9 suspects in the previous one (or you can select to play it as a single mission). In this one, you must protect 3 known dignitaries and 12 unknown civilians, while killing 12 suspects and defusing a suitcase bomb. Be aware that there are multiple fake bombs in the level. Also note that this is the same map as that used in mission 11, but without the same number of civilians walking about.

Active Duty

Go up the ramp and breach the door, still in stealth mode. There is likely to be one dignitary in the first room for you to evacuate. Now head up the escalators and be prepared to go dynamic as you take out 1 or more suspects, usually hiding behind desks. Turn right and clear each of the conference rooms, which will each contain at least one suspects or civilian. Make sure you keep an eye out for the suitcase bomb, as it could be in any of the conference rooms or back rooms.

Now turn your attention to the other half of this area, clearing the 3 other conference rooms with the assistance of your element, then heading through the open area with the cafeteria and kitchen. There is usually someone in the bathrooms here for you to find. Head through to the back area and you will find the Russian President in the room with the stage. Evacuate hi, then follow the small passageway to the right with good cover from your element as there will be multiple terrorists back there. Also check out the small partially hidden room beneath the stage.

Finally, return to the middle of the Convention Hall and take the maintenance stairs down. Clear each of the small rooms in this area to find the final suspects and hostages.