I had this idea while playing Return to Castle Wolfenstein. There were certain places that you could listen to two soldiers or officers talking. The information was occasionally useful and I thought that if you could capture and interrogate a soldier he may give you extra information.
There are lots of practical problems with this idea, but in principle it could add another aspect to the right game. For example how do you disarm them? Another points is if you have two guards you are unlikely to be able to capture both. So suddenly you have a choice; which guard to kill and which guard to keep alive. Deciding how much violence to use for each given prisoner would be another problem to consider. In RtCW for example, scientists would probably need less persuading than the paratroopers.
It would take a little thought to ensure that the system did not become too difficult to use. Perhaps you have a list of questions to choose from. For example:
How many guards are in this building?
Are there any escape routes?
Where are the alarm stations?
So suddenly you have a choice; which guard to kill and which guard to keep alive.
There could be some random elements thrown in to keep it interesting. For example the information could be false 30% of the time. Some of the information received could be true and some false. Only some of the guards know anything etc. This piece was posted at Rust on 17 January 2004.
This is used somewhat in Splinter cell games. Take a hostage and get them to open doors for you or interrogate them to discover objective locations. Theres also an excellent pisstake of this available early in the game No One Lives Forever 1, an excellent little retro sixties style spy shooter that is akin to the Austin Powers of In Like Flint films
In the Splinter Cell games, how does the interrogation work? Do you always get the same information?
Yes, Its always the same information.
It is mostly used for hints and never is needed to complete a mission.
I can’t really remember, I think I sold my copy. If I recall though you can take anyone hostage if you can get behind them without them knowing. They can then be human shields or used to open retinal scanners. You have to talk to talk to some of them in order to get the codes for doors. You always get the same info yes but you can press for more.