History Main / SimultaneousWarningAndAction

* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', guards yell "Who's that?!?" right before they open fire. Given how hard it usually is to get into where they're guarding, you would think capture and interrogation would top the list of priorities, not execution.
** Unless, of course, their orders are to shoot intruders on sight. Which, when dealing with someone like Solid Snake, is entirely reasonable.
** And of course, usual player reaction is A)Run away B) Charge C) Shoot them, so shooting player makes sense.
** While this trope is still prevalent in the game's sequels, it's a little more understandable in ''MetalGearSolid4'', where Snake is infiltrating an active warzone, and the local [=PMCs=] are all owned by his arch-nemesis. The third act plays with this: If you're running around in your sneaking suit waiving weapons you'll be shot on sight. If you disguise your face, wear civilian clothes, and unequip all your weapons, the guards will instead halt you. If you comply, they'll pat you down and tell you to move along, and from then on will leave you alone.

* Averted in ''{{Postal}} 2'', where the cops will actually try to arrest you instead of shooting you on sight if they see you breaking the law. Of course, if you start shooting people, all bets are off, unless if you drop your weapon and quit attacking or running away from them.

* Averted in ''SplinterCell: Double Agent'', where certain enemies will try to capture you at gunpoint (you can escape from them by completing quicktime events).
* [[VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D Schutzstaffel!]]

* In the first two Driver games, if the police see you so much as run a freaking stop light or drive at night with a broken light, they will immediately turn on their lights then BASH YOU with their vehicle until your car stops running. That is some badass law enforcement.
** [=Driv3r=] had the on-foot version, with police that constantly shout '''"YOU ARE UNDER ARREST"''' [[MostAnnoyingSound every few seconds]], in between hails of gunfire.

* Played completely straight in ''MirrorsEdge'', to a pretty disturbing degree. Faith is a completely unarmed [[LeParkour Runner]], as well as visually unimposing. Granted, she's under suspicion for murder... but for the murder of a single man, using a gun that the authorities ''know'' she no longer has, and she has no previous record of even so much as physical assault so far as we know. Yet no matter ''what'' Faith does when the authorities yell at her not to run -- even if she complies and stands ''completely still'' -- they will shoot her dead. Yes, it's all a Government Cover Up, but even ''ordinary police officers'' do this with no provocation at all.
** Actually a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]]. Looking closely enough on their uniforms reveals the supposedly normal cops as Pirandelo-Kruger mercenaries in a uniform resembling a police suit. They're already under orders to kill Faith, and by the second level it's likely Faith is wanted for multiple accounts of murder.
** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in the game to the point of being a PlotPoint. The Runners are surprised by being fired upon without provocation.
* In ''SaintsRow2'', police will arrest the player character they're close enough when he falls down (usually because a patrol car rammed into him) but otherwise either ignore him (if his Wanted level is low enough) or shoot to kill. Rival gangs also ignore the player if he's not currently doing anything to annoy them (except on certain missions), and it's possible to provoke enemy factions into fighting each other.
* ''{{Scribblenauts}}'' has a weird variation of this, since nobody talks. Things you can summon that will have a hostile reaction to each other (such as two boxers, a basketball player and a referee) will always fight to the death, even if that doesn't make much sense. They apparently just can't pull their punches.
* Parodied in RatchetAndClankACrackInTime. [[CardCarryingVillain Dr Nefarious']] robotic minions will frequently say "We come in peace" or "We were just kidding, would you like to go have some pie?" while shooting at you.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'': human enemies will ask the players to stay away from them ("This is a restricted area!" "You don't want none of this, merc!"). Should the players actually comply, the enemies will continue to roam around their station and ignore the players.

* A variation of this in the ''{{Pokemon}}'' games that feature police officers as challengeable opponents. They will confront you, order you to stop what you're doing, under the assumption that you're a criminal, and then send a Pokémon out after you. When the battle is over, they'll say that it was dark enough that they didn't realize you were a 10-year-old until then.

* Used all through the ''StarWars: [[DarkForcesSaga Dark Forces]]'' series. Most hilariously, in ''Jedi Outcast'' and ''Jedi Academy'', when stormtroopers would yell such fearsome battle cries as "Hey, you there." or "Let's see some ID!" before cutting loose with a hail of blaster fire. In fairness, no matter how long their individual line is, the game always waits until the sound file finishes playing before they fire, even the long ones ("Stop, or I'll shoot!"). Of course, it's still pretty amusing to hear a lone member of a swarm of stormtroopers saying in an only half-confrontational way, "Let's see some ID." as your character plows through the squad with a lightsaber.

** While this trope is still prevailent in the game's sequels, it's a little more understandable in ''MetalGearSolid4'', where Snake is infiltrating an active warzone, and the local [=PMCs=] are all owned by his arch-nemesis. The third act plays with this: If you're running around in your sneaking suit waiving weapons you'll be shot on sight. If you disguise your face, wear civilian clothes, and unequip all your weapons, the guards will instead halt you. If you comply, they'll pat you down and tell you to move along, and from then on will leave you alone.
** A particularly funny one happens upon entering Denver in ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' where while driving along the highway, a cop car pulls up along side Raiden, fires a shot through his window narrowly missing, then shouts "Pull over!".

** Averted in GTA 4, where the police generally don't start firing until you shoot at them or otherwise indicate or are indicated as dangerous. Its possible to walk in front of a car, get knocked over, start a fistfight with the driver who steps out, and then when the cop comes, if you don't fight back against the other guy, the cop will arrest him and not you.

* Averted in the ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'' games, where you may choose to put your hands up and surrender if you're caught somewhere you're not supposed to be. Although, seeing as it's 47 we're talking about, this leads to using the capturing officer as a human shield.

* A variation of this in the ''{{Pokemon}}'' games that feature police officers as challengable opponents. They will confront you, order you to stop what you're doing, under the assumption that you're a criminal, and then send a Pokemon out after you. When the battle is over, they'll say that it was dark enough that they didn't realize you were a 10-year-old until then.
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Probably an EnforcedTrope, as giving the player the ability to surrender to the enemies at any time and have them haul him off to a jail cell would be, most of the time, too much work for too little gain.

* Averted in ''MafiaTheCityOfLostHeaven'', where the cops would either try to ticket you or arrest you for breaking the law, and would only switch to lethal force if you fired back with your guns or used your car as a weapon.

** A particularly funny one happens upon entering Denver in ''MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' where while driving along the highway, a cop car pulls up along side Raiden, fires a shot through his window narrowly missing, then shouts "Pull over!".

* ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' Riot cops will order JC to surrender, but will still attack him even if he drops everything.In Deus Ex:Human Revolution, the Detroit Police Department also frequently yell at Jensen to drop the weapon or give himself up, but they still attack.
** In the GameMod for ''Deus Ex'', ''TheNamelessMod'': Cerulean Security will order Trestkon to drop his weapons, but they will continue to attack him even if he drops his entire inventory

* ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' Riot cops will order JC to surrender, but will still attack him even if he drops everything.

** [[FridgeLogic But I used Sunshine!]]

* Partial aversion in {{Oddworld}}. Slig guards will yell "Freeze!" upon seeing you. If you don't, they shoot you. If you do, they wait a fraction of a second and ''then'' shoot you (not surprising, since there's a massive bounty on your head, and it probably takes them that long to identify you).

* In the single-player campaign of ''Operation Flashpoint'', there is a mission in which the player (a US soldier) must make his way alone to an evacuation point, going through territory infested with enemies. Said enemies shoot to kill on sight, except when one reaches the evacuation point. Then a cutscene triggers in which the player character automatically surrenders to a couple of enemies. The camera pans to a field next to them, showing a bunch of dead friendly soldiers, the implication being that they have recently been killed by the very same group of soldiers that capture the player character. Yet the PC is not executed by these soldiers, instead being put into a tent that serves as a makeshift cell, and is shortly afterwards rescued by attacking partisans. In other words, the enemy kill every US soldier they can, except [[WaitingMonster a particular person in a particular cutscene triggered in a particular area.]]

* Exception: SWAT 4's NPC SWAT members did a pretty good job of NOT shooting on sight... until they were quickly incapacitated by hostiles.

* Averted in ''Syndicate''. While armed guards and hostile agents have no problem with shooting you on sight without saying a thing, the police will give you a warning to put away your weapon if you have one readied. If you comply within a few seconds, they'll leave you alone.

* Averted in the ''Hitman'' games, where you may choose to put your hands up and surrender if you're caught somewhere you're not supposed to be. Although, seeing as it's 47 we're talking about, this leads to using the capturing officer as a human shield.
* If you go on a civilian slaughtering spree in ''Baldur's Gate'', the Flaming Fist hit squad that shows up to stop you is pretty good about talking to you and telling you your crimes before attacking you. Of course, since the game world has no jail, ultimately their only action is pretty much to act as judge, jury, and executioner.

** While this trope is still prevailent in the game's sequels, it's a little more understandable in ''MetalGearSolid4'', where Snake is infiltrating an active warzone, and the local [=PMCs=] are all owned by his arch-nemesis. This also holds true for the third act, where the occupants enforce a strict curfew and anyone seen walking around past curfew will be shot on-sight.

* Averted in ''{{Mafia}}: City of Lost Heaven'', where the cops would either try to ticket you or arrest you for breaking the law, and would only switch to lethal force if you fired back with your guns or used your car as a weapon.

* [[VideoGame/TheElderScrolls The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind]] and its successor ''Oblivion'' are notable aversions. Even ''killing a guard'' didn't get you immediately murdered by his fellow officers: you still had the choice of jail, a fine, or resisting arrest. There ''is'' one mission in ''Oblivion'' where guards will attack you indiscriminately, but this is rather [[JustifiedTrope justified here]], as you've just broken into the [[AbsurdlySpaciousSewer classically-styled sewer system]] - ''where the Emperor of all Tamriel was assassinated.''

** Averted in ''TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'': sometimes you'll find giants guarding a herd of mammoths. You can approach them and they'll bang their weapons around and try to intimidate you, but won't actually attack you. But if you get too close to them, attack them or their mammoths, or do anything else threatening, they'll go after you.

* In ''MetalGearSolid'', guards yell "Who's that?!?" right before they open fire. Given how hard it usually is to get into where they're guarding, you would think capture and interrogation would top the list of priorities, not execution.

* ''NeverwinterNights2'' did some LampshadeHanging:

* In the ''GrandTheftAuto'' games, if the character is wanted by the police, they will be calling out that the character is under arrest, all the while attempting to either hit him with nightsticks or shoot him. You can evade them as you see fit, save in a {{cutscene}}, when, of course, GameplayAndStorySegregation steps in.

* [[TheElderScrolls The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind]] and its successor ''Oblivion'' are notable aversions. Even ''killing a guard'' didn't get you immediately murdered by his fellow officers: you still had the choice of jail, a fine, or resisting arrest. There ''is'' one mission in ''Oblivion'' where guards will attack you indiscriminately, but this is rather [[JustifiedTrope justified here]], as you've just broken into the [[AbsurdlySpaciousSewer classically-styled sewer system]] - ''where the Emperor of all Tamriel was assassinated.''
** Played straight with ''Daggerfall'''s guards. Say it with me: [[{{Memetic Mutation}} HALTHALTHALTHALTHALTHALTHALTHALTHALT...]]

* In ''RedFaction: Guerilla'', the EDF forces will demand that you pull over your vehicle bombing a gas station and speeding away, with them trying to ram your car off the road while telling YOU to pull over. The shooting of you after you actually exit the vehicle is [[{{JustifiedTrope}} justified]] because they're massively corrupt and abusive of every miner on Mars to the point of random shootings ''anyway''. However, this does not justify the fact that even in the middle of a pitched military battle, the supporting scout trucks will continue to demand that you pull your tank to the side of the road.

* In ''WorldOfWarcraft'' one of the death knights feature you slaughtering civilians. They will occasionally beg for mercy, while attacking you. Admittedly they stand no chance, but maybe if they want clemency they should stop punching you in the face. This was recently patched over so the mooks in question will instead cower in fear while begging for your mercy.

* In ''SaintsRow 2'', police will arrest the player character they're close enough when he falls down (usually because a patrol car rammed into him) but otherwise either ignore him (if his Wanted level is low enough) or shoot to kill. Rival gangs also ignore the player if he's not currently doing anything to annoy them (except on certain missions), and it's possible to provoke enemy factions into fighting each other.

* During a storyline {{cutscene}} in ''TheChroniclesOfRiddick: Escape From Butcher Bay,'' Riddick runs into an advanced hi-tech guard, who promptly asks him for his identity and the reason for his presence, and then subsequently arrests him when he finally realizes who Riddick is. Interestingly enough, when the player encounters this enemy in-game, [[SimultaneousWarningAndAction they attack on sight]].

* Averted in ''Borderlands'': human enemies will ask the players to stay away from them ("This is a restricted area!" "You don't want none of this, merc!"). Should the players actually comply, the enemies will continue to roam around their station and ignore the players.

* Tasen scouts in ''{{Iji}}'' can say "stop!" or "hold it!" when they see the PlayerCharacter, but they shoot on sight anyway.

* "Halt!" cry the [[PunchClockVillain low-ranking, conscripted, I'm not supposed to be here today]] guards in the ''{{Crusader}}'' series of games, opening fire, while facing down a guy that combines the most frightening aspects of [[StarWars Boba Fett and the Emperor's Royal Guard]].

Except in a {{cutscene}}, of course, in which they are perfectly capable of [[GameplayAndStorySegregation stopping and arresting the player]].

Takes its name from a scene in ''HalfLife'', in which, at one point, Gordon Freeman runs into a security guard and a scientist (they're on his side), the former promptly pointing his gun and yelling, "Stand back! ...Hello," as he realizes who it is.

* During a storyline {{cutscene}} in ''TheChroniclesOfRiddick: Escape From Butcher Bay,'' Riddick runs into an advanced hi-tech guard, who promptly asks him for his identity and the reason for his presence, and then subsequently arrests him when he finally realizes who Riddick is. Interestingly enough, when the player encounters this enemy in-game, [[StandBackHello they attack on sight]].