The game of cops and robbers is a playtime staple, albeit one that changes forms over time. Video game versions include Rockstar’s extreme take on freedom through crime and narrative indies like This is the Police. Interrogation: You Will Be Deceived is more on the narrative indie side. It aims to question why well-meaning people commit crimes, and how hard police are allowed to fight back. It bites off a bit more than it can chew in its ambition, but still manages to put the player at the center of an engaging crime drama.
Neo-Noir, With An Emphasis On “Neo”
Interrogation is in many ways a firmly 2019 game. Players are cast as a police interrogator who takes on a fairly simple murder case. It doesn’t take long, however, for the suspect to reveal that they’re part of a domestic terrorist group. The rest of the game becomes you leading a task force to stop this “Liberation Front.” What makes it an effective modern commentary is that the Liberation Front are diverse and realistic. Most people you interrogate are yoga teachers, army vets, or stay-at-home moms. Seemingly average joes who just want less debt or an actual voice in society.
The gameplay also aims to be topical. As a police interrogator, your interactions are recorded. You’re supposed to do things by the book, asking the right questions to lead the subject to a confession or juicy info. But you can choose to not do that. At any point, you can stop the recording and engage in a little police brutality. There are some consequences to this. Your superiors will come down on you and the press might publish unfavorable articles. This may cut you off from certain resources, but others might secretly agree that the ends justify the means.
The final component of Interrogation is its noir art style. It’s very evocative and lends itself well to the largely text-based story. It’s mostly 2D pictures, but interrogations have great animations for the suspects’ reactions. At the same time, however, it throws some archaic visuals into this very modern tale. Your menu is your desk at the police station, cluttered with old-school manilla folders and paperwork. Updates on the Liberation Front are delivered via newspaper. It fits the noir tone and is easy to navigate – a plus for any menu – but I found myself wondering why a game that tackles terrorism in the social media age has newspapers play such a big role.
By-The-Numbers Interrogation
Now that all the pieces are laid out, what sort of case do they make for the game as a whole? A somewhat uneven one. The setup of Interrogation is strong. A lot of thought is put into the ideals of the Liberation Front. The player can even choose to study them in hopes of out-debating members. Every interrogation starts with case files that help paint a clear picture of each suspect. Details like photos pulled from social media and one suspect being deaf ground characters in reality.
Then the interrogation starts, and the game begins to show its limits. You’re given a heartbeat meter and a gauge of how much they’ve opened up to you. Essentially, you see if you’re succeeding at being a good cop or bad cop. Supposedly, you have the option to coerce or persuade info out of the suspect, but really, it seems to come down to word puzzles. Did they drop a clue about their family? Follow up on that. Did one suspect call the other a fool? Tell them that, and use their anger to loosen them up. The character diversity does make each interrogation feel different. The system just falls short of being as in-depth as you’re lead to believe.
The supporting cast suffers from the same mixed execution. You’re given a squad for your task force. They all have their own backstories and reasons for getting into police work that you can unravel through conversation. These conversations can be awkward, however, such as a recurring bit where the team plays “Kiss, Marry, Kill” at the bar after work. The dialogue just isn’t quite sharp enough to make these scenes as endearing as they’re trying to be. The thing is, you also can’t skip them. The team has morale that you must maintain so that they feel motivated to do side-quests like tracking leads or securing funding.
Interrogation: You Will Be Deceived uses dialogue-heavy gameplay to remind us that many extremists start as frustrated people. It mostly succeeds by pulling from all walks of life for its characters. I would’ve liked to see the gameplay dig just as deep.
A PC review code of Interrogation: You Will Be Deceived was provided to TheGamer for this review. Interrogation: You Will Be Deceived is available on PC.
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