10: Hassan's Shop

10: Hassan's Shop

Character: Scott Shelby

Unlock the Negotiator Trophy

Fade to black and we are now back with the Detective, Scott Shelby.  We enter the small Mom & Pop Bodega - a type of store that New York City has a lot of - and talk to the guy behind the counter, who is yet another parent of a victim of the Origami killer.   The man's initial reaction tells you all that you need to know about his attitude and likely willing participation in your investigation.  No matter what I said I was not able to get anything out of him. 

Before we leave the bodega we remember that we need another asthma inhaler - and the owner sends us to the back of the store and to the right.  On the way there is a door marked employees only - but it is locked - and as we grab the inhaler someone enters the store!  Yes, it is a hold-up.  Man we seem to have all the luck!  The textbook hood pulls a gun on the clerk, and we overhear the demand. 

The nature of this game is that there are many paths to the end - and each choice you make represents a variation on the theme.  From where you are standing the matter appears to be simple enough - the guy has a gun on the Bodega's owner, and the simple solution is for you to sneak up behind him and disarm and/or disable him, right?  Yes, but it is not as easy as it sounds - remember, each choice you make is fraught with different peril.

From where you are standing in the medicine aisle, you have several choices...  Picture the store in your mind with the aisle's numbered from where you are standing now so that the one that runs along the wall that has the employee only door is Aisle 1, the next one Aisle 2, then Aisle 3 and finally, Aisle 4 which runs along the front of the store to the door and counter.  The optional paths are numbered below based upon the Aisle number:

(1) You head directly back along the path you came from, past the employee only door heading towards the counter.  If you get close enough without him noticing you, you can jerk down on the controller and  grab his gun arm and then using the X and Circle buttons, take him down to the ground and knock him out, disarming him.  The thing is going down Aisle 1 means you have a longer distance to travel, which means that he is more likely to see you.  If he sees you skip to the paragraph after Aisle 4.

(2) This is the aisle directly in front of you.  The aisle is clear and when you get to the other end, a little closer to the thug, which means you have slightly improved your chances of not getting spotted.  Sneak up behind him and jerk down on the controller, take him down to the ground and disarm and disable him using the X and Circle buttons.  If you fail, skip to the paragraph after Aisle 4.

(3) This is the next aisle up, and shortens the distance between you and the perp considerably at the other end - but unfortunately someone ripped open a bag of potato chips and the floor is littered with them!  Once you get towards the end of the aisle you end up stepping on chips, the thug hears that, and your sneaking cover is blown!  He points his gun at you and orders you to raise your hands in the air or be shot.  Skip to the paragraph after Aisle 4 now.

(4) The aisle farthest away from you that runs along the front of the store - a logical place to head for if you want to appear directly behind the bad guy and minimize your chances of being spotted, right?  Well, not so much really...  You see along the aisle you get an arrow to grab a glass bottle off of the shelf that you can use as a weapon - which is fine as far as that goes - but a little further on, whether you grab the bottle or not, there is a display of boxes on the right and you will brush it with your sleeve and knock a box over, and it hits the floor, blowing your ninja cover!  The thug demands that you raise your hands - so skip to the next paragraph now!

BUSTED!  If you got to this point without having taken the thug out, it means you blew your cover or it was blown for you by something in the store.  At this point you need to raise your hands (L1 R1) and do what the nice robber demands of you. 

At this point you have two options - try to talk the thug down, or try to overpower and disarm him.  You should be aware that there is a trophy connected with this chapter that is awarded for successfully talking the bandit down.

Eventually you will get some dialogue options to use - so go ahead and use them!  A rather lengthy conversation will now take place in which you try to use psychology, fear, persuasion, or your mad negotiating skills as a retired cop to talk him down.

To pick up the trophy all that you need to do is first calm him down (X), and then tell him your name (Circle).  That should cause him to tell you his name - not real smart for a thug but what can I say.  After that, Reason with him (Square) and then Affective (Circle) to get him to think about the other people in his life that this decision could impact.  Now you just tell him to put the gun down (Triangle) and he will run out of the store.  When the chapter transition happens you will unlock the trophy "Negotiator" (bronze).

If the thug sees through your efforts - though in several different ways depending on the tactic you chose - and you get physical, using the different buttons to fight and, hopefully disarm and knock out the thug.  That is how it is supposed to work you know, him knocked out, you not so much.   You might be thinking that if you ended up at this point that you did the chapter wrong.  I do not believe that this is the intended point of view that the developer had - you just made a decision that was different than the one that leads to the trophy is all - the chapter still concludes the way it should.  You can always go back and replay the chapter later if you want the trophy.

Mister Hassan is now very grateful to you, and unlike the hooker in the sleazy hotel he actually has a change of heart and is willing to cooperate with you - sort of.  Basically he tells you about a letter that he received shortly after his son was taken with a key to a locker in it.  When he went to the train station and used the key he discovered a box in the locker - and he now shows you the box - explaining to you that he believes it is a message from the man who took his son from him.  He took the box home with him but he never opened it and examined the contents, but he is willing to give you the box - if you want it? 

Does the Pope wear a white hat?  Does Martha Stewart have PR problems?  Does root beer taste great with vanilla ice cream?!  Of course we want the box!  Sheesh!  Gingerly you accept the box and you look inside it - and you find a small green and black origami figure - Pay dirt!   Hassan hopes that you will find the box helpful to your investigation, that it will help you find the other little boy, and as you leave the camera fades-to-black.