Monday 21 August 2017

Trevelyan's Mainframe - FILE: Bunker, Severnaya / Twenty Years Removed



Now that you’re finished trudging through the snow, you have found yourself deep underground in Severnaya. If there is a stealthy bone in your body, now is the time to get it in working order. If you plan to survive and escape this Russian bunker alive, you’ll need to be smart about it… So, screw on your silencer and get ready. Alarms are within a hand’s reach, and so are plenty KF7 Soviet assault rifles, on level five of GOLDENEYE! 


This mainframe has organized its files on the fifth level of GOLDENEYE 007 but it is customary that we sift through the pile of paperwork MI6 supplied at the time. Once again, here are the original transcripts we were able to intercept from Her Majesty’s government. 


BACKGROUND:
A spy satellite has detected increased levels of activity at an old observatory complex near Severnaya (62.08n, 102.58e) in Russia. Other sources have confirmed the shipment of a large amount of computer hardware to that location, and an influx of skilled personnel.  

M BRIEFING:
007, I want you to infiltrate this base and find out what the devil’s going on there. The satellite photographs reveal that there has been recent underground excavation. We’d like to know the exact nature and planned extent of the workings. By the way, this is a covert operation. You may have to neutralize the security, but try not to be too obvious about it. 

Q BRANCH:
You’ll be doing some computer hacking on this mission, 007. I know you’d rather be cracking open a bottle of bubbly than cracking passwords, so I’ve taken the liberty of putting together a little gadget which will do the hard work for you. If you attach the data thief to their mainframe it should override any computer security measures and download the information we require.  

MONEYPENNY:
Underground in Siberia, James? Some of us don’t get further than the Northern Line. 


With that bit firmly out of the way, allow me to recite the real story of Bond in the bunker. Now, it is no secret that he had somewhat foiled us on the surface of Severnaya. However, once he was allowed admittance to the ‘secret’ underground bunker, he placed himself in the grasp of Janus once again. Any intel Bond was able to steal from the Russians in the bunker was coded with viruses intent on allowing our computer people to cross hack into his equipment. Once plugged into one of MI6 shoddy pieces of hardware, we’d worm it for data that we could use to our advantage! So really, Bond was working for us. Once he tapped in, it was only a matter of time before he delivered us to the doorstep of MI6’s entire secured network. Of course, as you may know, our associate Boris Grishenko did a smashing job as an unsuspecting computer programmer for Bond to stumble upon, when in fact, it was him that assured all went according to our plan! Sounding the alarm on Bond after the deed was done, was just icing on the cake. Even I must admit, he is pretty good at what he does… 

The last pieces of our report states that other than Boris Grishenko, the Russian Soldier, Russian Commandant, and Janus Special Forces (as reinforcements if needed) characters possibly engaged Bond in the bunker.



Several items of intelligence collected by the Janus Syndicate have been highlighted as I’m seeing them here. There isn’t much, but each should be noted in your own report. Firstly, it is noted that at this time, according to the game’s model, the bunker was under construction. This differs greatly from the film version of the bunker. This explains why the bunker only houses a small amount of computer hardware in preparation for the GoldenEye program that will be located there in the near future. Janus is unsure at this point why this direction was taken with the level, but we have a sneaking suspicion it was because housing a plethora of computer hardware and items in the bunker the first time Bond visits it would take away from the second time he visits its completed version later in the game. It is odd to think that both Again, how’s that for Russian efficiency? 


Another interesting tidbit includes that according to Bond’s watch, the mission takes place at 1020 hours, or approximately 10:20 in the morning. This sets the surface level pretty early in the morning. Another thing to keep in mind for the bunker level of GOLDENEYE, especially for our friends that enjoy the cheat code portion of the game, is that in order to unlock 2X Rocket Launcher for the single player mode, one would have to complete this mission on 00 Agent difficulty in four minutes or less.



I always found the bunker level of GOLDENEYE to be rather difficult. As a kid, it wasn’t necessarily self-explanatory. Of course, I’d figure out how to take pictures of the main satellite imaging screen, and to copy the GoldenEye key, however, when it came to getting Boris to work the mainframe computer, I’d find myself lost. In fact, I didn’t even know it was him who had to access it for me to do what I needed to do objectively. Then, when the alarm would sound every single time he used the computer, I thought I had done something wrong. After all, Bond never trips the alarm! Little did I know, that was all part of the situation with Boris in this level. I hated dealing with the Janus reinforcements and would often end up out of bullets. 

Otherwise, bunker was one of my favorites. I definitely preferred the smaller version of the bunker compared to bunker 2, just for the sake of variety. All the levels up to this point in the game felt massive, and I found it nice to come to a level where you knew the limits. It was one area sectioned off into several rooms, and that was that. In other words, you couldn’t be flanked or find enemies spanning behind you. Once you cleared the rooms, all you had to worry about was the staircase and tunnel leading down from the outside. Oddly enough, If I failed the mission, I wouldn’t mind. I’d just try and destroy all the destroyable objects in the level. I’d lay waste to every pane of glass, computer screen, crate, and even the tables scattered throughout. I’d pretend that the Russians had fired the GoldenEye and everything had been destroyed with me as the only survivor of the blast. Yes, silly, I know. I was having fun with it. 

Moving right along, we’ve come to the end of our information on the fifth level of GOLDENEYE 007. You made it through with quite a bit of easy… Good for the readers, bad for you. With the first five levels of GOLDENEYE 007 behind you, your cockiness just may cost you. After all, the soviet missile silo has been known to go nuclear, old boy. Will you emerge alive, or melt under the pressure? 

- End transmission, Trevelyan.

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