There's a feeling you get, a sense of danger, the unknown, before you go in. What lies on the other side? You set positions, steel your nerves, and prepare to bust in. There's no turning back… now you find out how good the game inside the box actually is.

Frequently expansion packs are disappointments - nothing more than a few tacked on levels and bug fixes, stuck on a shelf and slapped with an over-priced tag. The "awesome new weapons" turn out to be clones of guns already in the game, the "intriguing new plot" is a dull extension of the old story, and "improved AI" means that your team doesn't get stuck in open doorways… quite as often.

Unlike so many other soldier-sim expansion packs however, SWAT 4: The Stetchkov Syndicate expansion (SSE) doesn't fail to deliver on promises, especially in the equipment section. From the very start you have access to the Cobra, a vastly improved taser weapon. Not only does the Cobra allow you to zap baddies from a greater range, it can fire twice before a reload and can also be used as a contact weapon. A P90-style submachine gun delivers accuracy and power in a single package, while the new grenade launcher delivers demoralising (and painful) grenades of all types in an "up close and personal" kind of way. It's amazing fun to bounce a gas grenade at high speed off some chump's head, then watch him cop a double dose of pain when the gas pours out around him. Really great stuff. A 50. cal handgun and sniper rifle round off the package, though their utility is questionable.

Extra gadgets are also offered, like an ammo bag to double your ammunition, light sticks to mark paths and cleared areas, and a much needed night vision camera. SSE has what I consider to be the best implementation of night vision ever featured in a game - once switched on, the world becomes a green fuzzy place, with the chunky low-res graphics that real digitised night vision has. It's amazing how crisp and clear the graphics look when you finally take them off. One small issue here though - night vision is mapped to the same key as your flashlight, so you can't have both.

For once, the game AI really is improved. Bad guys pick up guns and resume shooting if you turn your back without restraining them and they also finally have enough sense to notice flashlights shining on nearby walls, alerting them to your presence. Your squad has smartened up too though - give orders while holding down the shift key and your comrades will wait for a final signal before all moving together. This new command makes executing more advanced tactics, like breaching a room from three directions, very simple.

The most useful addition though, is a simple "punch" command. In the original SWAT 4, if you didn't have any non-lethal munitions, there was no way to force a suspect into surrender. Now, you can beat your enemies into submission without the need for expensive taser cartridges or gas grenades. It really makes you feel like a genuine officer of the law!

Those of us familiar with the original SWAT 4 won't need a refresher on the quality of graphics and sound. SSE continues the fine, realistically gritty graphics of the original, and adds more clever dialogue and team chat. There's more inter-squad talk this time around, as your men discuss the environment and pass witty (and not so witty) jokes amongst themselves. The humour from the bad guys however is quite amusing; armed men surrounded by drugs saying "You got it all wrong officer, we are just baking cookies," in ridiculous Russian accents, are just one of the many giggles you'll find. Try arresting the old folks at the homeless shelter for more gags.

This game is just so much fun to play and it's a real shame it's not longer. Only seven levels come with SSE, all of which can be completed in a single afternoon. What's more, the expansion is considered a separate program to the original, so you can't use the advanced weapons and controls on the original set of missions. It's a simple oversight that really should not have been missed - the original levels were brilliant and it's a shame we're not able to run through them again with new weapons. This would certainly have increased the lifespan of the expansion. Also, a little more thought on some of the equipment would have been good. As I mentioned before, mapping the flashlight to the night vision key is quite restrictive. The sniper rifle is, quite frankly, totally useless for close combat and the 50. cal handgun is a bit of fun for a while, but otherwise useless if you're trying for a good score. Interesting to note is the lack of licensing for naming some of these weapons - neither the P90 nor the Desert Eagle are referred to by their real names. It's not a huge issue, but it detracts from the realism just a little.

For fans of the original SWAT 4, The Stetchkov Syndicate is a must have. Although it's short, the high replayability factor and some brilliant additions to both equipment and gameplay, make this is one of the best solider-sim expansion packs ever released. Period.

Reviewed by Steve Rosenthal for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).