The Cold War is a perfect setting for video games, thanks to the intrigue brought by the underground conflict between intelligence agencies, proxy wars and so on. While most video games released so far focused mostly on the open war scenarios of the era, few have allowed players to take part in the conflict between intelligence agencies. If you ever dreamed of being a CIA or KGB operative during those turbulent times, you definitely need to take a look at Phantom Doctrine: very few games have managed to get as close as possible to being a spy simulator.

Phantom Doctrine is set at the peak of the Cold War. Players will take on the role of the leader of The Cabal, a secret organization which is charged to prevent a global conspiracy to break out in the open. Players have the opportunity to choose the background of their main character between CIA and KGB, with a third one available after completing the game once, slightly changing the opening sequences of the game, but this doesn’t influence their main task, which is to recruit secret agents with varying backgrounds from all over the world.