Northside Vending and Amusements is the seventh mission in SWAT 4 and the eighth in SWAT: Elite Force. The SWAT team is needed for a high risk warrant service and a rescue mission after contact was lost with Undercover Detective Jeremy Walsh. Detective Walsh had initially gone undercover to gather evidence on an illegal casino operating at the Northside Vending and Amusements. After contact was lost, Walsh did not return at the appointed time and it is assumed his cover is blown and he is in grave danger.
Mission Briefing[]
This one's a little sticky. Vice has been keeping an eye on Northside Vending and Amusements for the last three or four weeks. They've been building a case against an alleged bookmaking operation going on in the basement of the business. Undercover Detective Jeremy Walsh has been working closely with the suspects, and today received an invitation to enter the bookmaking area.
All went smoothly until Walsh was out of sight. Walsh's wire reported that he was still talking to the suspects, who showed no evidence of suspecting him. Less than ten minutes later, there was a sudden burst of static, and then Walsh's wire went dead. If everything was going as expected, Walsh would already be back, since he was supposed to go in, place one bet, and come right back out. With no way to determine Walsh's actual state, we're assuming he's in danger and it's time to go in after him.
We know at least three individuals are present. The first, Louie Baccus, is the owner of the business. The other two are Allen Kruse and Simon Gowan. Kruse and Gowan are believed to be the movers behind the bookie operation, with Baccus providing cover and space. Vice believes there are additional suspects inside, acting as bookies and runners. Numbers are unknown, but could go as high as ten suspects total. That's one reason Walsh was sent in, to determine the exact number of players.
Kruse and Gowan have extensive records, ranging from petty larceny to assault with a deadly weapon. Assume both are armed and dangerous. Baccus is an unknown, but given his compatriot's histories, better to assume he is armed as well. Note that Walsh's last recorded statement was one of surprise at ''the size of your setup.'' Sounded like he was impressed, which can't mean anything too good for us.
We have a layout for the shop, but we don't have anything on the basement. We know it's accessed through the storage areas, but we don't know anything about the bookie's territory. Keep your eyes open; there could be any number of surprises. Time to get Detective Walsh out, and get the suspects under control. Choose your gear carefully and move out.
Timeline[]
- 14:03: Walsh checks in - Detective Walsh checks in with his handler and notifies him that he will be entering the shop at 12:45.
- 15:30: Walsh's wire signal lost - Walsh's wire suddenly goes to static with no clear indication of what the malfunction is.
- 16:30: Walsh's Lieutenant briefed - Lieutenant Collins is briefed of the situation and the missed call. All officers involved believe Walsh has been made. DA is notified.
- 17:05: Warrants issued - Arrest warrants are issued. SWAT dispatched to scene.
- 17:28: SWAT arrives - Containment perimeter and high ground established.
- 17:32: Tactical entry begun - Decision made to go tactical. Entry team assembled.
Entries and Snipers[]
The team can only enter the building through a single entry point, which is the back door that leads into the establishment. For aesthetic purposes, the door is barricaded and this barricade will be removed by the SWAT van once the team approaches the door.
There is one sniper available on this mission. Sierra 1 covers the back warehouse area of the establishment.
Map Layout[]
Given that the suspects had spent considerable efforts to hide their operations, the intel on this map does not provide any insight on the overall layout of the map. What little information that are available only provides a layout of the first floor business entrance facing the street.
Northside Vending And Amusements deals and lends arcade games, pinballs and other kinds of games. The shop is rather small. The front part of the shop located on side 1 is a main shopping area with cash desk and items intended for sale. Behind the cash desk is a door that leads to a small corridor with the toilet and the back door that is located on side 3. The main warehouse of the shop is rather spacious and contains two garage doors and bigger items intended for sales or deliveries such as billiard tables. The more important thing is that the warehouse contains a door to the basement that leads to the illegal casino. The casino is located beneath the establishment is more spacious and contains many rooms. The western part of the casino located on side 2 is designed more for games. The rooms in the western part contains amenities such as tables for playing cards, gaming machines or Craps. The eastern part of the casino located on side 3 and side 4 is designed more for betting with rooms filled with TVs and armchairs that are separated from each other via cubicles. There is also an employees only area that connects the two parts and has a security office. Finally there are stairs from the TV cubicle area that leads to a closed laundromat next door and it is apparently used to launder the proceeds from the casino.
Tactical Approach[]
As the suspects on this map are trying to run a casino as part of organized crime, they are armed with low key and concealable weapons such as pistols and machine pistols while devoid of any protections such as body armor or gas masks.
Through the back door, the team is led into a corridor bearing two doorways each opening into the washroom and the establishment's front entry. Louie Baccus is almost always found in either of these two rooms or in the warehouse area that Sierra 1 covers and he is never found beyond this point. He may also be accompanied by Allen Kruse and one or two additional suspects. The warehouse area also bears an additional, less extensive floor above it that overlooks the majority of the large room. Allen Kruse is often found here. The room then continues behind leading to a door that bears the only passage to the basement of the establishment and apparently the laundromat as well. Assuming that campaign settings have been applied to the map, when the player reached the bottom of this passage and begins to explore the basement, the team will be tasked with an additional objective to investigate the adjacent laundromat in response to recent gunshots that were heard being fired from this place.
The layout of the basement is what concerns the player the most, as it is densely occupied by a large number of suspects and clutters such as privacy screens, and it contains the only path leading to the laundromat for the team. The basement, to some extent, forms a loop that contains numerous other passageways, interconnecting doorways and rooms that cut across this path. CS Gas grenade is recommended here to work around the clutters while door wedges are needed to turn the loop into a linear path to prevent ambushes (or lock doors as in the case of SWAT: Elite Force).
As the player proceeds to enter the laundromat from the TV cubicle area of the basement, they will be led into a small room that bears two doorways each leading into the laundromat itself and an adjacent washroom. Jeremy Walsh may be found incapacitated in either here or anywhere else in the adjacent laundromat. The laundromat itself is a large room partially divided at the center by a row of washing machines with an additional dryer room besides it.
Changes in Elite Force[]
- The map now contains alarm traps that were initially cut from the original game. These traps are often found on the doors at the bottom of the only stairway that leads into the basement of the building, which can only be feasibly disarmed with C2 Explosives. Similarly, a cut conversation between Lead and TOC was restored when the team had tripped the above mentioned traps.
- Suspects now start to carry XDM, P226 and Browning Hi-Power pistols in addition to their default loadouts.
- All of the suspects are also assigned the polite personality so that they would be more hesitant in shooting civilians when they had threatened to do so.
- The morale value for all civilians on this map, including Louie Baccus, have been raised so that they all become very stubborn when encountering police officers. This is to reflect the fact that they are all caught red-handed while participating in an illegal casino.
- Louie Baccus now has a 5% chance to suffer cardiac arrest. He is also set to fearless.
- Depending on the area where the doorway is found, respective "Make Entry" commands are assigned.
- This mission unlocks the FN P90 submachine gun and its suppressed variant.
Trivia[]
- The briefing suggests that Louie Baccus is armed. It's reasonable to assume this since he is responsible for providing space and cover for organized crime and thus has a strong motive for self defence. However, in the mission he plays the role of a regular, stubborn civilian that was never armed. He also never attempts to hinder player's progression.
- Although active gunshots can be heard as the team is introduced with an additional objective to investigate the laundromat, there is no active shooting that actually took place. In reality, the mission begins with Detective Walsh already incapacitated. This is clearly evident when the player checks the procedures tab as the mission begins, and there will always be a single unreported status to TOC which is Detective Walsh's incapacitation that the team has yet to report.
- This mission is the only mission in the game to explicitly feature an objective to arrest an identity rather than to rescue an identity as civilian or neutralize the identity as a suspect. The reason for this is understood since Louie Baccus is, to an extent, indirectly involved in the bookie operations.
- According to the comments in the game code, this mission was originally meant to take place in a barber shop. There is even a barber chair in the warehouse.
Gallery[]
Soundtrack[]
| SWAT 4 Missions | ||
|---|---|---|
| SWAT 4 | Original | Riverside Training Facility - Food Wall Restaurant - Fairfax Residence - Qwik Fuel Convenience Store - A-Bomb Nightclub - Victory Imports Auto Center - Red Library Offices - Northside Vending and Amusements - DuPlessis Wholesale Diamond Center - Children of Taronne Tenement - St. Michael's Medical Center - The Wolcott Projects - Old Granite Hotel - Mt. Threshold Research Center |
| The Stetchkov Syndicate | FunTime Amusements - Sisters of Mercy Hostel - Sellers Street Auditorium - Department of Agriculture - Drug Lab - Fresnal St. Station - Stetchkov Warehouse | |
| Extra Missions (SEF) | Meat Barn Restaurant - Brewer County Courthouse | |