Building comparison
head to head
SWAT 4vsTerra Nova: Strike Force Centauri
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is execution, and it is a single point.
SWAT 4
Optimization · Practiced Mastery
A tactical police shooter where careful, methodical tactics against randomized threats defines mastery.
Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri
Execution · Practiced Mastery
Looking Glass's 1996 squad-command sim of powered-armor combat on alien battlefields.
SWAT 4 leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
SWAT 4Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri
Axis by axis
Execution5 vs 6
Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri leans a little harder on execution, though the gap is small.
SWAT 4
precise aim and careful movement required
Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri
Piloting powered armor and aiming under fire is demanding
Reads1 vs 0
SWAT 4 leans a little harder on reads, though the gap is small.
SWAT 4
suspects react but don't truly adapt
Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri
Enemy forces follow mission scripts, never adapt
Variance3 vs 3
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
SWAT 4
suspect placement and behavior randomized
Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri
Unknown enemy placements on first mission attempts
Optimization6 vs 6
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
SWAT 4
tactics and equipment loadouts solvable
Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri
Squad orders, loadouts and approach routes are plannable
A matching score does not mean a matching test. Two games can both sit at 10 on execution and demand completely different things of you - which is why the reasoning above matters more than the number beside it.