1960’s Berlin (Stealthy and Free)
After World War II, the allied nations split Germany up. The Soviet Union took the east side and the other allies, the United States, Great Britain, and France, took the western half. The city of Berlin, sat completely in the Soviet half of Germany but the city was split amongst the allied nations during the Yalta and Potsdam conferences. The Soviets took the east side of Berlin while the other allies shared the western half. As the cold war intensified, Berlin became increasingly more important to both sides and became the likely birthplace of World War III.
The Soviets built the Berlin Wall in 1961 to prevent the herds of people flocking from the communist east into the west. The wall itself was an imposing twelve foot tall monster that was difficult to climb, and the death strip on the Eastern side further complicated escape attempts.
The death strip was a nasty bit of hell. Armed guards with kill-on-sight orders patrolled the eastern side of the wall along with vicious dogs. Soft sand designed to show footprints and floodlights would assist the guards in spotting any escapees. If somebody was able to avoid detection, they could accidentally set-off a trip-wire rigged machine gun. Just think about what that may look like in a game.
In this game you would play as a secret agent tasked with assisting East Germans cross the wall into West Berlin. The game would allow players to accomplish the missions in a number of ways. Do you attempt to sneak through the death strip or do you make your escape in the sewers? Grab a car and race it right at a weakly defended section of the wall or find a hot air balloon and attempt to stay low enough to avoid radar detection but high enough to avoid sniper fire. This choice reflects the freedom desired by the escapees that you’re attempting to help.
The protagonist for this game could easily be a flag-saluting American patriot or some puckish CIA operative, but why not add a little soul to the game? Imagine a former East German school teacher who attempted to flee to the west with his wife. He made it but she was gunned down. This haunted soul helps others escape but he cannot escape his grief.
It doesn’t always have to be escape missions. This game could be filled to the brim with covert operations. Sabotage, assassinations, and intelligence gathering could be included to vary the game play.
Are there any periods of history that you feel would make for some great games? What kind of game would you like to see? Feel free to share.
