[Authoritarian Trope] Casually being questioned/threatened by an imposing authority figure out of nowhere

[u/TheWalkingBag]

One way to really set the oppressive atmosphere of a setting is by having our characters get randomly questioned or interrogated by a soldier/cop out of nowhere, often for very minor reasons

1. "Pick up that can." (Half-Life 2)

When Gordon first arrives to City 17, a Combine Civil Protection officer he's passing by suddenly drops a soda can in front of him and orders him to pick it up. If you comply here and throw the can in the bin he'll amusedly let you pass, but if you don't then he'll proceed to whip out his stunstick and attack you on the spot

1. "I'm just a tourist." (Andor)

In the episode "Announcement" of Season 1, a random shoretrooper on Niamos questions and threatens Cassian (using the fake alias "Keef Girgo") for nervously looking around too much while they're conducting a crackdown. The trooper asks if he's "a part of it" to which Cassian repeatedly protests that he isn't and that he's just a perfectly normal tourist; he's then violently arrested by him anyway and sentenced to hard labor in Narkina 5 without a fair trial

1. "Now, you. Show me your identification papers, please." (Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus)

A Nazi commandant randomly sits down at Papa Joe's Diner, orders a strawberry milkshake for himself and then very casually asks Blazkowicz to show his ID papers to him. Here you can show him your fake IDs (where you use the alias "John Smith") which seems to fool the commandant for a bit before he looks at a wanted poster on the wall and immediately recognizes your true identity, frantically pulling out his pistol before being shot by the diner's owner

[u/afromao]

Half-Life 2: "Pick up that can." Ten seconds into the game and you already know exactly what kind of world you're in.

[u/WillSym → u/afromao]

While also casually showing off their tech. This was a big deal for the time, full physics on any loose object in the world like a random can in the bin an NPC can knock over, and you can pick up, carry, and put back in the bin/donk off his head.

[u/Gebsfrom404 → u/WillSym]

I replayed hl2 this year and sadly it's still impresive. Not a lot of games have player interacting with physics this naturally. Lil seesaw that you need to raise using barrels floating in water feels so good, it feels like lost tech sometimes.

[u/ValkyroftheMall → u/Gebsfrom404]

Old valve and Bethesda games will always be great simply due to the fact the physics engine ensures you never feel ignored as a player and are always able to interact with the world.