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  • Gameplay Derailment: Maybe; it is possible to "farm" popularity by intentionally invading other countries that you know you can conquer or by repeatedly performing surgical attacks on "rogue" nations. No matter how dubious the take-over of the nation seems, there is a good chance that you'll gain a boost to your popularity. It's like Alexander the Great becoming president of the USA.
  • Good Bad Bugs:
    • It is possible to hide out in your "War Room" like a bunker if your popularity is not high enough, only coming out briefly enough to give orders to correct the situation. It does not work every time, but does seem to improve your chances of evading assassination if you've become hated.
    • If the USA is ever about to be invaded by an opposing army, the game amusingly gives you the option to "be on their side of the conflict". This means that you have a bizarre "option" to invade your-self.
    • The game's logic does not seem sane at times. Besides the USSR occasionally picking bizarre target to nuke, sometimes a country decides to figuratively say "what the hell" and nuke a target just because another country did it first. Hilarity Ensues as the nuclear powers freak out and start retaliating against one another with nukes and overthrow attempts against each other.
  • I Am Not Shazam: You are not the Shadow President in question, the game title refers to the name of the virtual command software you use to play the game.
  • Memetic Mutation: "Your <Advisor> has resigned due to policy disagreements." note 
  • Moral Event Horizon:
    • Playing the game as a war criminal will make your allies feel like this towards you. That is, unless there are certain circumstances, such as USSR performing something worse in comparison such as launching a nuclear strike, in which case they are the ones crossing the Moral Event Horizon.
    • If the USSR crosses the "Horizon", expect to see reports of a variety of countries sending assassins into Russia, as they lower their own ethical standards to go after the leaders who are more unethical than they are. You know you've really crossed the Moral Event Horizon when a wide variety of countries try to shut you down by spamming assassination attempts on your country.
  • Nightmare Fuel:
    • There are three ways to lose the game. The first, being voted out of office, isn't scary. The second, getting impeached and having access to ShadowNetwork revoked, can be pretty startling. The third and final way, being assassinated, can be quite scary as bullet holes and blood splatter the ShadowNetwork console. The latter two can be particularly jarring if you don't see them coming.
      (upon impeachment) Attention! Lockout activated! ShadowNetwork access denied!
    • The end result of going through with a nuclear strike, likely a Moral Event Horizon for the player. After the missiles are launched you're treated to the sight of a city being reduced to ash before being confronted by the sound of heavy breathing and a green figure whose head slowly raises and turns into a skull as the number of people you killed tallies up beneath it.
      • If you choose to drop several hundred thousand nukes, you'll get a simple, yet chilling message before this cutscene: "Bad idea."
      • The sequel, CyberJudas, is even worse. You are given the option to view the damage done by your nuclear strike. During this audio ranges from what seems to be construction for rebuilding, and a baby crying.

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