Arrest

The objective of the game is to stop Criminal Plots from taking place, and the most straightforward way to do so is to Arrest all the Participants. Arrests are performed by Breaking into the Hideout where the agent resides, snatching the agent, and leaving the building, or by running them off the road during Driving. To make the arrest "stick", you need to know the agent's Role in the plot.
An "Arrested" participant can no longer perform actions to further the plot, nor can he go into hiding. On higher difficulty levels, the enemy may attempt to commit a Prison Break in order to return an agent to active status to complete his mission.
==Making an Arrest==
To Arrest an enemy agent, Max will typically Break Into that agent's Hideout. He must then locate the agent, walk up to him, and press the "ENTER" key. The agent's Suspect File comes up, along with a prompt asking whether or not you wish to confirm this action.
If the action is confirmed, the agent will "disappear" from the chair where he was sitting, and is now considered being carried by Max. The Arrest is only completed once Max leaves the building, although you may continue exploring the building freely for more information before leaving. The Arrest will only fail at this stage if Max is captured by enemy guards.
Alternatively, Max is able to engage in Observation and follow a agent's car. During the ensuing Driving minigame, if Max is able to overlap one of his cars with the agent's, and press F1 during the brief window of opportunity, then the agent will be arrested immediately.
In either case, he heads directly to the local CIA Office to interrogate the agent.
===Solid Evidence===
To make an arrest "stick", Max requires one piece of solid evidence against the agent - the agent's Role in the current Criminal Plot. Agents whose Role is currently unknown will be released at the start of the interrogation, and will go right back to their Hideout as though nothing has happened.
Acquiring this evidence can be tricky, although it is easiest to find in the Agent's own hideout, especially by Hacking Terminals and searching for the agent's name. If the agent was in posession of an Item during his arrest, and the Item was confiscated by Max during the same Break-In, the agent's Role is revealed automatically.
Red Herring Agents, whose role is marked as "NOT INVOLVED" or "Red Herring", can never be properly arrested - they do not participate in the plot, so there is nothing to arrest them for. They will always be returned to their Hideout before their interrogation can occur.
==Interrogation==
:Main article: Interrogation
If you have Solid Evidence against the arrested agent (see above), the game proceeds to his/her interrogation. The agent will possibly reveal the names, locations, affiliation and/or role of other agents he has been in touch with so far during the plot, and may reveal the content of messages sent/received by him and/or meetings in which he participated.
==Effects==
Once the Arrest is completed, the agent's Suspect File will note this by having the word "(Arrested)" appear next to his Role. This also appears on the Suspect List for at-a-glance reference.
Your score is increased by a certain number of points depending on the agent's Role in the plot. Review the individual Plots to see how many points each participant is worth when arrested.
Once arrested, the agent can no longer Go into Hiding. They will remain Arrested until the end of the mission, unless freed during a Prison Break (see below).
===Effect on the Plot===
An Arrested agent will no longer perform any remaining task he has not yet completed. He will not send messages, attend meetings, perform Crimes, or acquire Items for the remainder of the plot.
If the plot depends on an Item or piece of information this agent was supposed to acquire but has not had the chance to do so yet, the plot will begin to break apart, unable to come to fruition. This is particularly true for low-level agents such as Inside Contacts or Minor Agents. Naturally, arresting the Major Agent of a plot will automatically prevent the Primary Crime from being committed.
As a result, other agents who discover that the next step in their action list cannot be performed will attempt to Go into Hiding if not arrested as well. Subsequently they will cause other agents to go into hiding, unable to complete their own missions, until all agents are either Arrested or In Hiding.
Some agents are only required to perform their tasks after the Primary Crime has been committed. In this case, the Primary Crime may still take place, and only then will other agents realize that they cannot complete their tasks due to this agent being Arrested. This is a partial breaking of the plot, which allows Max more time to arrest the late-stage participants.
==Prison Break==
:Main article: Prison Break (Event)
On higher Difficulty settings (specifically "Regional" and "Global"), the enemy may attempt to break the agent out of prison in order for him to complete his mission. This only occurs if the agent has not yet completed his part in the plot, and only occurs once per every agent (unless freed and re-arrested, in which case it can occur again).
A Prison Break is a Combat Mini-Game taking place in an unknown building. Max is in a room with the arrested agent, and enemies begin streaming in through the building's outer doors, going straight towards the room where the agent is held. They will attempt to grab that agent and head for the exit. If they cannot be stopped by Max, they will free that agent, who returns to At Large status immediately and may freely continue his part in the plot.
It is possible to arrest an agent again after a Prison Break, though naturally this takes time. Fortunately, the agent returns to the same location where they were before being arrested, which makes it easy to track them down and arrest them again.
===Prison Breaks as Strategy===
On occasion, it may be a good idea to allow a Prison Break to occur. While it does cost time, the arrest also delays the enemy plot by a day or two, giving Max time to locate more information about other agents. The Prison Break ensures that the plot will not break apart due to this one agent being Arrested, as normally occurs.
It also gives Max a second chance to try to turn the agent, a preferable outcome to a simple Arrest.
==Turning an Agent==
:Main article: Double Agent
Turning an enemy agent into a Double Agent is done almost exactly the same as a regular Arrest - by breaking into his Hideout, picking him up, and leaving the building. The only thing that sets them apart is acquiring Incriminating Evidence just prior to the Arrest.
This sort of evidence can be found in a Floor Safe at the agent's hideout, and much be acquired during the same Break-In where he is Arrested. If this is done, the agent will be Turned instead of Arrested.
Turning an enemy agent is in all regards preferable to simply arresting them. Aside from a bonus of double the points you would get for a normal arrest (see above), a Double Agent is also free to continue performing his part in the plot, will inform you of his every move and reveal any agent he contacts, and will not cause the plot to break apart whether or not he has completed his mission. It is even possible to Turn the Major Agent of the plot, preventing him from performing the Major Crime without breaking the plot apart.
Note also that since Turned agents pretend to still be working for the enemy, a Prison Break will never occur for them.
Category:Break-In
Category:Combat
Category:Events
Category:Agent States
Category:Actions