An Interrogation is a cut-scene that follows any Arrest that Max Remington manages to pull off.
Depending on whether or not Max has managed to gather sufficient information about the Arrested Agent (and assuming the agent is involved in the plot to begin with), Interrogations may culminate in Solid Evidence again other Participants, automatic Decoding of Messages and revealing the content of Meetings in which the agent was involved, and potentially even the Turning of the Arrestee into a Double Agent.
The Cutscene[]
The Interrogation Cutscene plays immediately once an Arrest has been successfully pulled off - that is, Max either Broke Into an enemy Hideout, nabbed the Agent residing in that Hideout, and made it out the door without being Captured by the enemy guards, or followed their car and ran them off the road.
The Cutscene begins with a check to see whether Max has collected the required Evidence to keep the Arrested agent in jail. This is called "Making the Arrest Stick". The required piece of evidence is the agent's Role in the current Criminal Plot. If a Suspect's File shows their role to be "Unknown", "Not Involved" or "Red Herring", they will automatically be released at the very start of the Interrogation.
The next step is to check whether Max has managed to acquire Incriminating Evidence about this agent. Only Incriminating Evidence collected during the same Break-In as the Arrest itself has any relevance. If it has indeed been collected, the agent will immediately be Turned.
The third and last step is the Interrogation itself. The agent is confronted with the evidence Max has gathered about that agent's activities - specifically any Messages sent or received by this agent, and any Meetings this agent participated in. If Max has managed to collect enough details about such events, the Arrested Agent will confess to the action and will reveal all the data about the other agent involved in that specific message/meeting - including their location, affiliation and role in the plot! Otherwise, the agent will deny that the event took place by claiming he/she "doesn't remember". Note that Turned agents will reveal all events they participated in, regardless of whether or not Max had any data about those events.
Finally, the Agent is placed in Jail (assuming the arrest "Sticks") or returned to their Hideout (if it didn't, or if they were Turned). The CIA Chief will give a short comment about the progress of your investigation, and you'll be returned to the lobby of the CIA Office.
Making the Arrest[]
- Main article: Arrest
To get to the Interrogating Cutscene, Max needs to Arrest an enemy agent. This can be done using two methods. One is done by Breaking into that agent's Hideout, locating the agent, picking him/her up, and exiting the building alive. The second is through Observation, following their car, and running them off the road.
During a Break-In, Max has to leave the building without being Knocked Unconscious by the guards. If she fails to do so, the agent she nabbed will be released automatically, and Max would then need to either escape the Hideout or agree to an Exchange of agents. In either case, the agent she attempted to arrest will not be brought in for interrogation.
A Note about Wounds[]
For Break-Ins, note that if Max can make it safely out of the building with the arrested agent, any Wounds that Max has suffered during the same Break-In will be "forgotten". You will not be subjected to the "Recover from Wounds" cutscene, nor will you lose any extra time as is normal when recovering from wounds.
Making the Arrest Stick[]
Successfully acquiring the Role of an agent will make the arrest "Stick".
While interrogation will begin immediately after any successful Arrest, it will end prematurely if Max has failed to prove that the agent is a Participant in the current Criminal Plot.
You can easily determine whether you have the required information to arrest an agent by looking at their Suspect File - specifically at the Role of the agent as displayed on that file.
If the agent's Role field shows "Unknown", then Max does not yet have enough information to make the arrest "Stick", and the agent will be released at the start of the interrogation.
This causes the agent to be returned to their Hideout instead of being thrown into Jail. In addition, the location of that Hideout will disappear from the list of known locations in the same City, and must be re-acquired if you wish to visit it again!
Red Herrings[]
- Main article: Red Herring (Agent)
- If an agent has been identified as a Red Herring, it is impossible to make the arrest stick - they'll be released at the first stage of the Interrogation cutscene.
- Of course, there's really no point to arresting such an agent in the first place. Since they are not involved in the plot to begin with, they have no information to reveal, and offer no bonus points to your Score anyway.
- Agents revealed to be Red Herrings are marked with the words "NOT INVOLVED" or "Red Herring" on their Suspect File, in the "Role" field. That is, assuming their role isn't marked as "Unknown", which basically gives the same exact result.
The Interrogation Itself[]
Max confronts the suspect with details about a known event.
Once an agent has been confronted with conclusive evidence about their involvement in the Plot, the meat of the interrogation begins.
During this stage, Max will confront the agent with information about Messages sent or received by this agent, as well as Meetings the agent participated in.
To be able to ask about any specific message or meeting, Max must have knowledge of that Event already recorded in the agent's Suspect File. However, unless Max has collected enough information about the Event, the agent will simply claim that he doesn't remember the event, and no additional information will be revealed.
To successfully interrogate an agent about an event, Max needs to have at least two of the following details about it
- The Name of the other participant at the event.
- The Location of the other participant at the event.
- The Affiliation of the other participant at the event.
- The date on which the event took place.
If all that data about any single event has been collected prior to the arrest, the agent will confess that he took part in that event. You'll then be treated to a view of a page showing all the details about the event:
- The sender/visitor's Name, Affiliation, Location and Role.
- The receiver/host's Name, Affiliation, Location and Role.
- A complete transcript of the Message/Meeting.
This process is repeated for every single Event Max has recorded on the agent's Suspect File.
Turning Agents[]
- Main article: Double Agent
If, during the same Break-In in which the agent was Arrested, Max has managed to acquire Incriminating Evidence about that agent from a Floor Safe, the agent will not actually be Arrested, but rather Turned into a Double Agent.
There are many benefits to this (read the main article for details). For the purposes of the interrogation, what you get is a fully-cooperative suspect. They will reveal information about every Event they have participated in, regardless of how much information Max has gathered about those events - or whether or not Max even knew those events had taken place at all!
A Turned Agent will be returned to their Hideout once the interrogation is over. You will not lose the location of that Hideout however.
It is not possible to Turn an agent during the Driving minigame - only Arrest.
Interrogating the Mastermind[]
- Main article: Mastermind
There are several reasons why capturing a Mastermind is the best possible thing you can do during a mission, and chief among these is the chance to interrogate one.
If a Mastermind has been successfully arrested (that is, Max has their Role listed on the Suspect File), they will reveal information about all of the other Participants in the current Criminal Plot!
This includes each agent's Name, Affiliation, Location and Role in the plot. It is basically enough information to go and Arrest each and every Participant straight away, though careful players will probably still want to do this in a way that doesn't break the Plot too messily, otherwise some agents may be unable to complete their missions and will go into hiding before they can be arrested.