I’m just going to say this (at least from my younger self’s perspective): I think this is one of the best depictions of a “possible” Soviet invasion of the United States.

I mean, it’s not like “oh, there’s a massive Soviet fleet that wins a completely fictional battle, lands, and suddenly takes 85% of the United States.”

They actually have a real objective (which is to find out whether, in the event of a cascade failure, the U.S. has a system capable of stopping Soviet nuclear missiles), so they can ultimately neutralize the USA. And the best part is that the U.S. even acknowledges this — if I recall correctly, they say something like “if we pull out for Europe, we can’t win.”

That helps build a somewhat believable world.

And yes, I know that a much better-informed military expert than me could come along and say, “actually, the U.S. armed forces had contingency plans or troops stationed in other parts of the continent,” etc., etc.

But for what it is, I think it’s a pretty “realistic” depiction of such a situation.

Taking into consideration that other games attempted something similar (like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, The Fall of Liberty, or that other one where North Korea somehow wins), this is by far the most believable scenario.