Interrogation, a mature, narrative-driven investigator game, has you trying to figure out who among the people in your office is helping the Liberation Front — a dangerous terrorist group — and what their next target is.
In the prototype, which was being showcased at the Bucharest Gaming Week in Romania, you were thrust straight into the action. Quickly, you were briefed on the circumstances around the case and on the suspects waiting in interrogation. Everyone here was found on a pet forum, where one of them had spoken about a bomb. Why mention bombs on pet forums? That’s for you to figure out.
With only five minutes before the bomb is due to go off, you need to figure out who has placed the bomb and where that bomb is. You only have three suspects, each in their own private interrogation rooms. You can ask questions based on some of the information you already have, finding out more about what each person knows and how that relates to the other subjects.
Each character reacts differently to the questions you ask; you can observe their bodies to tell how they feel about the subject at hand. This gives you some clues as to what topics you can push further with and when they begin to close off to you. You need to study and manipulate each individual to get what you want: the location of a deadly bomb and the name of the terrorist responsible.
Switching between the rooms is key, especially as you learn more things about specific people. You don’t have a lot of time, however, so the pressure is on for you to figure things out fast. Depending on your morals, you can turn off the tape recorder and start using some unpleasant interrogation methods to speed things up. ‘Torture’ is an option, although you need to watch precisely how far you go. You can end up nearly killing innocent people or harming somebody to the point where they will not talk at all. It’s all about balancing your morals and ethics against getting answers fast!
As stated, the version of Interrogation I played was just a prototype, but a very well written prototype which shows off the core mechanics exceptionally well. The developer spoke with me about updating the graphics completely, adding more cases into the game and about the campaign phases which happen outside each case. In campaign phases, you will be able to allocate resources and perks — as well as make major decisions which affect the current chapter you are in, as well as the rest of the game. I very much look forward to the full game and finding out more about the Liberation Front, along with my role in the government.
