Chris Kline: The co-op MP mode is meant to provide (nearly) exactly the same experience as the single-player missions, except that all the SWAT element members will be controlled by you and your friends rather than being AIs. I.e., you and your 4 friends play the single-player missions against the AI enemies and hostages. [NOTE: No AI officers in multiplayer]
SWAT4 will have 3 head-to-head MP modes as well, in which there are no AIs, only humans (up to 16), and you are playing special MP versions of maps (not the single-player missions). One of these is your basic free-for-all deathmatch mode. Obviously it's the least SWAT-like, but we had to put it in there for completeness.
However, there are two other MP modes which are head-to-head but also team based and cooperative. To win those modes you really need to work as a team and use real SWAT tactics. You either play as suspects (armed suspects) or SWAT. There are no AI or human civilians, sorry.
I'm not sure if the cooperative nature of the other 2 MP modes came across in the previews. Just wanted to make sure you guys knew that we specially design for some 16-human-player cooperative MP experiences, even though the human-versus-AI co-op mode only supports 5 players. Of course we've put a lot of thought into trying to encourage cooperation and end the run&gun of usual TDM games. In fact, in the VIP Escort head-to-head game mode you absolutely cannot go lone wolf and expect to score well.
Can you arrest other players?
Chris Kline: In the head-to-head modes, suspects and SWAT also cannot surrender, but they can be arrested if they are temporarily disabled from being hit with less than lethal weapons.
Three points to make about this:
1) In order to arrest someone, they have to be incapacitated due to use of less than lethal weapons (we call this being "non-lethaled").
2) While they are "non-lethaled", they cannot fire their weapons. We implemented this explicity to counter to "spray and pray" problem you mentioned.
3) Once SWAT successfully initiates an arrest, the arrestee is helpless. Arrests take a certain amount of time to complete, and they only way the opposing team can stop the arrest is to kill, injure, or non-lethal the arrester (or the arrested can stop the process himself if he wants to).
Wont these games just be run and gun DM?
Chris Kline: Of course we've put a lot of thought into trying to encourage cooperation and end the run&gun of usual TDM games. In fact, in the VIP Escort head-to-head game mode you absolutely cannot go lone wolf and expect to score well.
In the head-to-head modes there is an optional "Arrests Only" mode wherein lethal weapons do no damage, and you are forced to use non-lethal weapons to incapacitate and arrest the other team.
Also, in Rapid Deployment (bomb diffusing game mode) for example, even if all the Suspects have been arrested or neutralized, SWAT will still lose if they fail to diffuse the bombs.