| Berlin by Night | |
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| Mission guide | |
| Previous Requiem for a Spy |
Next Unexpected Turbulence |
"Berlin by Night" is the fourth level and second mission in the critically acclaimed video game The Operative: No One Lives Forever. UNITY field operative, Cate Archer is sent on a top-secret mission to East Berlin, to carry out the safe extraction of a scientist who wishes to defect to the West. The level consists of three scenes and is immediately followed by the mission Unexpected Turbulence.
Briefing[]
We've been contacted by Dr. Otto Schenker, an East German Biophysicist who we believe is working on a top secret biological weapons program for the Soviet Union. Dr. Schenker has a desire to defect. He has asked us to assist him in exchange for information on his research.
This opportunity couldn't have arisen at a worse time. After that embarrassment in Morocco, you're hardly our first choice to handle this affair, but all of our other surviving operatives are tied up to equally critical assignments. If we want a chance at Schenker, it has to be now and it has to be you, on your own.
Synopsis[]
Scene 1[]
- 8:27 pm. September 17
- STASI Records and Research Facility
- East Berlin, German Democratic Republic.
On arrival, Archer gets in contact with four different agents who each provide her with pieces of information regarding Dr. Schenker's whereabouts. Bribing the guard at the entrance soon after, she ventures further into the compound.
Scene 2[]
Archer now finds herself at the main garrison and library of the compound. Trying to remain undetected, she photographs some of Dr. Schenker's work and sets the timers on explosive devices to prepare for her escape. She then meets her contact Werner von Haupt, who provides her with an ID card identifying her as the commandant's niece. Von Haupt warns that even if the staff ignore her, she still has be careful of the guards and security cameras. From there, she locates the entrance to the secret facility, which is behind a shelf in the library's basement.
Scene 3[]
Dr. Schenker is found waiting in his office and is not at all impressed that a woman has been sent to get him out. He gives in after a brief run-in with the guards, thereby following Archer out of the building. They escape from the military compound just as the explosive charges go off. Moments later, a brawny Scotsman steps into view, quietly citing, "Good girl.", while they run off into the night.
Intelligence items[]
There are a total of 24 intelligence items in this mission (19 of them can appear in Intelligence gallery). 1 item is inaccessible if you don't have Code Breaker, which becomes available later in the game, and if you raise the alarm during Scene 3 before obtaining it. Replaying the mission with customized equipment is required. Additionally, 1 item requires certain dialogue choice.
Scene 1[]
3 items:
| Item | Contents | Location |
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STASI MEMO To: Building Maintenance From: Lt. Dietrich The subtunnel beneath the STASI Records and Research Facility is flooded again. Please send crew. The stench is unbearable. I have already fainted twice today. |
In the phone booth |
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Herr Mueller, At last! We have deciphered a portion of the super secret UNITY code. The message is: "Want to go out for a rack of fizzle." Does anyone in your section know what this might refer to? Thanks, Viktor Mihm, Cryptography |
On a shelf in the guard shack (where you bribe the guard) |
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STASI MEMO: As of today, manual 47a supercedes all previous employee manuals. Refer to page 1158 for the correct procedure for returning obsolete manuals. Remember to obtain the correct authorization for requesting the appropriate submission forms. You are being watched. |
In the room just next to alarm shutoff switch |
Scene 2[]
10 items:
| Item | Contents | Location |
|---|---|---|
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Ms. Archer, if you find yourself in dire need of a certain gadget, such as a lighter, that you elected not to bring with you into a mission, you'll most likely find one somewhere in the area. Werner von Haupt |
On the wall just at the beginning |
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To: All Personnel As of the 3rd Friday of this month, manual 49f supercedes all previous employee manuals. Refer to page 1607 for the correct procedure for returning obsolete manuals. Remember to obtain the correct authorization for requesting the appropriate submission forms. Failure to follow these procedures will result in your immediate imprisonment. You are being watched. |
In the room next to 2 guards talking about Dieter |
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Labeled "Director Gerhardt with specimen 227g." | On a desk in the office overlooking room with crates |
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To: Human Resources From: Foreman Finkel Employee 78892, Willem Vandervoort, has been participating in illegal arm wrestling matches. Please discipline immediately. |
On top of a crate in the room that you access by picking gate lock and climbing in through window |
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To: All Section 7 Personnel From: Director Gerhardt I regret to inform you of the recent death of employee #679147, whose demise can be blamed only upon his own incompetence. Services will be held Saturday from 11 to 11:05am. If you wish to attend, make sure to bring a signed copy of form 1173-A. |
Near the sink in the kitchen |
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On desk in the 1st library room. Acquired by taking a photo of it with Spy-Glasses | |
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On desk in the 2nd library room. Acquired by taking a photo of it with Spy-Glasses | |
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STASI MEMO: From: Direktor Von Stein To ensure the well being of our Animal Sanitation Engineers, each of you will be assigned a "safety partner," to whom it will be your responsibility to apply inflammatory ointment three times a day. Remember, your lives are in each other's hands. |
On table in upper area of the library, overlooking the front desk |
| Can be acquired from Werner von Haupt (Requires choosing the polite option in dialogue and watching the cutscene to the end) | ||
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Contains encrypted files: wirmp nliv lezogrmv | On a box in the last room in the basement |
Scene 3[]
11 items:
| Item | Contents | Location |
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On a drawer near woman scientist in the starting hall. Acquired by taking a photo of it with Spy-Glasses | |
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INVOICE: 697 Cases of CCCP Soda, grade B. Payment due 10 days |
On a shelf in 1st room with scientist and periodic table chart |
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STASI MEMO: To: Animal Services From: Lab 42 What have you done to the version four animals??? The explosion ratio is significantly smaller than the version three animals. Please investigate immediately! |
On the bench in locker room |
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A blueprint for new goat pens in sub-basement 42. | On a desk in the second room off the hall with 3 desks where 2 scientists are talking about Batman |
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Project Log: Beltzer, Jurgen Had trouble applying ointment to subject 227g. Possibly related to yam incident? |
In the area with gigantic goat. It is accessed through code-locked door from the area where scientists are experimenting on a regular goat and one of them says "over" repeatedly (Requires Code Breaker and can not be acquired on 1st playthrough. Also requires not raising the alarm, otherwise the door to previous area with scientists gets hardlocked, unless the alarm is raised while inside) |
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Dear Bettina, I think you are very pretty. Would you go out with me? Manni |
On a table just after exiting the elevator |
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Jurgen's Task List Finish animal fatality report for Director Gerhardt Apply inflammatory ointment to Mannfred Grueber Order scrub brushes Contact Produce Section regarding spoiled yams |
On a countertop in the room with hazardous chemicals |
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Contains an unidentifiable animal part. | Upstairs, in the room with scientist and green-lit devices |
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MEMO: To: Lab 42 From: Lab 37 cc: Animal Services We are aware of the explosion ratio problem and have been working with great urgency on an updated reagent. There is no need to involve Animal Services! |
Upstairs, on a countertop in the dining area |
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MEMO: To: Lab 42 From: Animal Services cc: Lab 37 After extensive comparison, we have found there is no difference in the explosion ratio between the version three and version four animals. Perhaps the problem lies in the reagent from Lab 37? |
On a bench in lecture room off the hall that leads to Dr. Schenker |
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MEMO: To: Lab 42 From: Animal Services cc: Lab 37 After extensive comparison, we have found there is no difference in the explosion ratio between the version three and version four animals. Perhaps the problem lies in the reagent from Lab 37? |
On a countertop in the lab across the hall from Dr. Schenker (Of the last 2 items only 1 appears in Intelligence gallery. It is unknown if this happens due to the fact that their contents are erroneously identical or for some other reason) |
Memorable Quotes[]
Scene 1[]
(Funny code phrases)
Contact 1: "Guten Abend Fraulein, do you make love to strangers?"
Archer: "Certainly not!"
Contact 1: "Then allow me to introduce myself..."
Archer: "Why not introduce yourself to a police officer and spare me the trouble?"
Contact 1: "Who makes up these ghastly code phrases anyway?"
Archer: "Someone in the cryptography department. Someone in need of a girlfriend apparently..."
Contact 2: (through a pay phone) "Are you free tonight or will it cost me?"
Archer: "More than you can afford!"
Contact 2: "Why must I be made to say such idiotic things? [...] Tell the person who wrote the code phrase to grow up!"
Contact 3: (over a doorbell intercom) "Want to come in for a game of Twister?"
Archer: "I'd rather run over you with my car!"
Contact 3: "These code phrases have a somewhat confessional tone to them, don't you think?"
Archer: "Yeah, now that you mention it."
Contact 4: "You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. Can you cook and clean too?"
Archer: "No, but I can put you in the hospital if you want. Maybe you can find someone to take care of you there. Maybe."
Contact 4: "What sort of imbecile says things like this?"
Archer: "I'm afraid to find out"
Contact 4: "By the way. I am supposed to tell you this...Behind the shelf."
Archer: "Thanks."
Contact 4: "Please don't think that I enjoyed saying those things to you. Even though the words were not mine, I am so disgusted with myself that I must return home and wash myself with soap."
Archer: "Don't worry about it."
Contact 4: "You are a kind young woman. I wish you luck."
Scene 2[]
(after locating Werner von Haupt)
Archer: "Care for a light?"
Von Haupt: "Danke. I seem to have lost my phone number. Can I have yours?"
Archer: "I'm in the book. Just look under: Police Department"
Scene 3[]
Guard 1: "Want anything to drink?"
Guard 2: "Sure"
Guard 1: "What do you want?"
Guard 2: "Very funny!"
Guard 1: "I have to amuse myself somehow. One "3CP Soda" coming up!"
Scientist beside vending machine: "I don't even know why we have this machine. Did you know there is only one beverage in the whole Soviet Union? "3CP Soda". And you what? It's just tap water! It's not even cold!"
Scientist in office: "I don't understand it: The goat should explode but it does not! Jurgen's goat explodes but mine does not. Why? Is it a problem with the goat or with the reagent?"
"That's the stupidest thing I ever heard. You can't expect to reconstitute a dehydrated human being without serious side effects."
"I know that. Especially if you reconstitute the subject with heavy water."
"Heavy water? The mixture would be completely unstable."
"That's exactly what happened! The mixture was so unstable that the moment anyone touched the subjects, they vanished. Poof."
"Of course they did! They atomized. It's obvious."
- STASI Scientists
Scientist 1: "Test! 1, 2, 3 Test!"
Scientist 2: "Turn it down!"
S1: "How's this? Over"
S2: "I can't tell, I'm deaf!"
S1: "Proceed with the experiment. Over"
S2: "You don't have to say "over". It's not a radio!"
S1: "I like to say it! Over"
S2: "Fine!"
S1: "How is the goat? Over"
S2: "The goat is nervous. How do think the goat is?!?"
S1: "You don't have to shout. Over"
S2: "Can you come down here for a second?"
S1: "Why? Over"
S2: "I have to tell you something..."
S1: "I don't trust you. I think you are planning to hurt me. Over"
S2: "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to tell you... a secret."
S1: "What kind of secret? Over"
S2: "A good one. About Bettina. Something she said about you."
S1: "I don't believe you. Over"
S2: "Suit yourself..."
S1: "What did she say? Over"
S2: "If you want to know, you have to come down here..."
References[]
AK-47 • Ammo box • Animal Services (STASI) • Barrette • Beer • Berlin • Bettina • Biophysicist • Biological Weapons Program • Body Armor • Body Remover • Building Maintenance (STASI) • Canteen • Car • Cate Archer • CCCP Soda • Cigarette Lighter • Coin • Cryptography Department (STASI) • Cryptography Department (UNITY) • Defection • Dieter • Dietrich • Dog • Domino Effect • East Germany • Explosive • Finkel • Gerhardt • Goat • Hampton MPL 9mm SMG • Hana • Human Resources (STASI) • Jurgen Beltzer • Lipstick Explosive • Lock • Magnus Armstrong • Mannfred Grueber • Manni • Morocco • Mueller • Otto Schenker • Periodic Table of the Elements • Petri .38 Airweight Revolver • Police • Produce Section (STASI) • Radio • Searchlight • Security Camera • Shepherd Arms 9mm • Smooth Cigarettes • Soviet Union • Spy-Glasses • STASI • STASI Records and Research Facility • Telephone • Twister • Viktor Mihm • Von Stein • Water • Werner von Haupt • Willem Vandervoort • Yam
Trivia[]
- This mission marks the first appearances of Dr. Schenker and Magnus Armstrong.
- It is also the first mission to feature scientists in a hostile location, who may be killed without consequences. Civilian casualties will still be incremented but not result in mission failure, supposedly because they end up being responsible for the creation of the later revealed "human time-bombs".
- The German Democratic Republic was the official name of East Germany and lasted from 1949 to 1990 when it was reunified with West Germany, thus forming today's Federal Republic of Germany. The 2003 film "Goodbye Lenin" deals with the subject of reunification and highlights some of the major differences between Eastern and Western politics and society.
- The guard in the gatehouse to the facility can only be bribed after Cate has met with all four of her contacts. Going to him before this results in him raising the alarm, thus failing the mission. This also occurs upon killing him.
- In a conversation between two STASIs, one of them says "Geh zum Teufel" which is German for "Go to hell" (literally the "devil").
- One of STASI guards hints to another about dreams of sex. Ironically or not, but this is joke 'no sex in USSR' (and socialist countries), where the information about sexual behaviour was forbidden in publicity.
- The STASI (or Ministry for State Security) was the secret police agency of East Germany and is often credited as being one of the most efficient intelligence services to have ever existed. Their methods of interrogation and excessive use of wiretapping private residences have since been widely regarded as human rights violations. The 2006 film: "The Lives of Others" provides an accurate insight into life in East Germany and the work of the STASI.
- Inside the compound, there is a cage containing three German Shepherds, which are still the most popular breed of police dog in Germany.
- A large East German flag can be seen hanging on the wall of the garrison's cafeteria in Scene 2. While the colors were the same as its West German counterpart, the emblem consists of a hammer and compass surrounded by a ring of rye. The emblem of both West and modern day Germany is a black eagle.
- In the research facility, there is a lot of talk about CCCP Soda, supposedly "the only beverage in the Soviet Union". While this is a clear exaggeration, it provides some more comic relief and contributes to the game's clever use of Cold War humor.
- The CCCP Soda vending machine also appears in the game's sequel, most notably in the missions set in Siberia.
- CCCP is the Russian abbreviation for the "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" (U.S.S.R.) more commonly referred to simply as the Soviet Union. It was founded in 1922 by the Communist Bolsheviks and was dissolved in 1991. Its dissolution is commonly regarded as the formal end of the Cold War.
- The new bio-weapons program that is being researched in the facility is used on goats as test subjects. There is a special test area in Scene 3 (see quote above) which contains several goat pens and a room (accessed using a Code Breaker) containing a gigantic goat, possibly the result of a faulty reagent. If the alarm is raised, this area cannot be accessed.
- Dr. Schenker takes a picture of his wife with him before his escape. However, if the cutscene is skipped, the picture is left behind. This picture can be later seen in his office at UNITY Headquarters in the sequel.
- One of the Intelligence items found in this mission is the coded message "wirmp nliv lezogrmv" the translation to the message is "Drink more Ovaltine" (a reference to the 1983 movie A Christmas Story).
- Two of the STASI scientists, who are discussing the re-hydration of a human being with saturated water, indirectly reference the 1966 Batman movie.
| Missions in The Operative: No One Lives Forever |
|---|
| The Assignment · Misfortune in Morocco · Requiem for a Spy · Berlin by Night · Unexpected Turbulence · Nine Years Ago, Scene 1* · Care to Explain? · Rendezvous in Hamburg · Visit to Santa's Workshop · A Tenuous Lead · Nine Years Ago, Scene 2* · H.A.R.M.'s Promise · The Dive · If Our Demands Are Not Met · A Man of Influence · Further Investigation Required · Safecracker · An Ounce of Hope, a Pound of Despair · Rescue Attempt · A Stern Warning · Trouble in the Tropics · Low Earth Orbit · Good Luck and God Speed · Alpine Intrigue · The Indomitable Cate Archer · Nine Years Ago, Scene 3* · A Very Large Explosion · Such Is the Nature of Revenge · Rest and Relaxation** * Only in PlayStation 2 version ** Only in Game of the Year edition |