DD1000 - war games (interesting video games set in the cold war)

A lot of games have incorporated war into them in some fashion, sometimes subtly.

For example, rather than the boisterous and violent World Wars, some games emphasise the quieter Cold War.

The third Metal Gear Solid game (a series I'm not particularly fond of) was set during the Cold War in 1963, which seems fitting as the franchise is about espionage and stealth. As the Metal Gear Solid games feature over-complicated, bizarre, and confusing stories, the game being set in the Cold War can often be forgotten, and it's often overshadowed by ramblings about the Patriots and the Philosopher's Legacy (or whatever all that was), only really obvious due to the xenophobia toward Americans characters in the game tends to have, as you play an American spy deep in the Russian jungle. The game does directly mention aspects of the Cold War in cutscenes, more to establish the time period than to add anything to the story, mentioning Nikita Khrushchev leading the Soviet Union, and the occasional mentions here and there of the Cuban Missile Crisis and Yuri Gagarin being the first man in space. It's not relevant information, and the actual story has nothing to do with it even being set in the Cold War, it's essentially a game about a man forced to murder the only person he ever cared for, with a lot of crazy and bizarre things tacked onto the side, and a fairly interesting healing system.

A character in the game, the Fury, is also a reference to a conspiracy theory from the Cold War: the lost cosmonauts, failed space missions that ended in disaster and tragedy the Soviets wanted to cover up. The theory probably is completely false, but it is interesting nontheless! A speculated recording of a lost cosmonaut mission can be found here. I really enjoy this theory!

Regardless, at its core, a stealth game being set during the Cold War is an immensely interesting idea.

Speaking of the Cold War, Bioshock was also set in 1960. Again, the Cold War setting is not entirely relevant as you play the game, but it is relevant to the backstory of the world, and is subtly always there. Early in the game, as the player descends into Rapture, two of the slides presented in Andrew Ryan's speech refer to Communism and Capitalism, as well as religion. A little while later, Andrew Ryan taunts the player and questions why they're there, asking if he's a 'KGB dog' or a 'CIA jackal'. Andrew Ryan himself is a man who fled Russia for a better life in America, and hating how that Capitalist state is no better than the Communist one he escaped from. Rapture was his escape to create a state for him and others like him, people who want freedom and are fed up with the constant fighting between Communists and Capitalists. However, the game is built heavily on the ideals of objectivism,a philosophy coined by Ayn Rand in her books during the Cold War. Objectivism is essentially the idea that the key to one's own happiness should be the one true pursuit in life, that there should be full respect for one's individual rights, like the laissez-faire mentality Capitalism had: if it doesn't bother me, then I don't care. Or at least, that's my understanding!