Plausible deniability is at the heart of what we do, argues one of the idiot spooks on your squad. It is incoherent numbskullery, tasking you with avoiding nuclear war, while at the same time insisting that gunning down the entire staff of Moscow’s KGB headquarters will not be interpreted as an act of war in itself. The story is set in 1981 and it does not take a revisionist pen to history so much as it wraps a cloth bag over history's head and hoses it down against a chainlink fence. As ever, Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will see you wordlessly slaying any number of Iranians, Turks, Vietnamese, Russians, Germans, Cubans, all in the name of Uncle Sam and, this time, under the approving, wrinkled eyes of Ronald Reagan.

Heads up, your yearly package of guns and gimmickry has been incoming ever since we discovered its name from that most reliable of informants: a Doritos packet. A predictable and po-faced ride through explosive missions, with plenty of gimmickry but no self-awareness or depth

Call of duty cold war steam deck