Under the microscope: Nuclear Strike (PlayStation)

Stop the war before it goes nuclear!

Nov 06, 2025

In this edition, I’m examining Nuclear Strike for PlayStation. This is the follow-up to Soviet Strike, which I wrote about in a previous article. Like that game, this one uses a password system. Cheat sites like GameFAQs list several passwords that enable special effects. But do they have all of them? I decided to check.

Answer: no! There are several previously-unreported passwords for Nuclear Strike. Details on how they work are below.

The reverse engineering

When you type into the password box, your entry is visible in plaintext in RAM. In the NTSC-U version, the password buffer starts at 801fff48. After you press X to confirm, that buffer gets read by the function at 800a0618.

This function checks your entry against a hardcoded list of passwords. These are stored in an obfuscated format — the same one used by Soviet Strike. This Python function deobfuscates them:

def deobfuscate(x):
    return bytes((b ^ 0x0C) - 0x3C for b in x[:10]).decode()

Each password entry is associated with an array of 8 key/value pairs. These determine the password’s effects:

Key type 0: Changes the number of attempts (lives) you start with.
Key type 1: Changes the flags that implement cheat effects (like unlimited ammunition).
Key type 2: Changes the starting stage.
Key types 3 and 4: For the passwords that you get during gameplay, these types encode your performance on certain missions.
Key type 5: Signals the end of the effects array.

For example, password PHOENIX looks like this:

Scrambled text: 80 88 87 8d 86 89 98 66 66 66
Effect 1 key: 0 (attempts)
Effect 1 value: 4
Effect 2 key: 5 (end of effects)
Effect 2 value: 0

4 attempts on the HUD after the PHOENIX password

With this knowledge, I wrote a script to decode all 35 passwords and effects. It’s on GitHub here! Below I’ll highlight some of the more notable effects.

New cheat effects

Enter the password DEATHCAM or GODVIEW to get new camera angles. The former is a 3/4 view of your helicopter. The latter is a top-down view. You can switch with the Select button.

Left: The “death cam.” Right: The “god view.”

The password JACKIECHAN also enables an alternative camera angle. Transfer to the Hovercraft (locate it on the map under Assets), then press Select to use it:

The passwords TREMORS and FATBOY alter how your shots affect the ground. The formers make shock waves emanate from the point of impact. The latter leaves craters in the ground.

Left: Shock waves forming. Right: A crater in the ground.

These passwords will make your playthrough easier:

.THE.TICK: Note the period in the first position. This gives you unlimited armor.
.FUGAZI666: There’s a period in the first position here, too. This gives you unlimited attempts and unlimited ammunition.
LAIBACH: This gives you unlimited ammunition, unlimited armor, and unlimited fuel.

The passwords SPAMGOD and ANDREA will cause the opening FMV to play.

BEERGUT reduces your plane’s fuel consumption rate, similar to the already-known MPG password.

NOSURROUND and NOSS disable the stereo effects that are used to indicate where enemy fire is coming from.

Remaining mysteries

The password LOMAPRIETA is recognized, but it doesn’t seem to have any effect. Maybe it was meant to enable another version of the TREMORS effect (because of the earthquake in Loma Prieta)?

These passwords start you on different operations:

SABREJET: Operation 4, DMZ.
PIRATES: Operation 2, Island.

What’s the difference between these and the other passwords for the same operations? It’s unclear. The walkthrough from user Oversuperfluous notes that the game will give you a different password for Operation 4 depending on your performance on the missions:

You may let one of the radars [escape] without [failing] the mission, but then the password for the next level will be PUSAN instead of MACARTHY. I still haven’t found out what’s the difference between them (the next level seems the same).

I don’t think there is a difference. The function at 800a053c determines which password to give you based on your mission performance, and the function at 8004e390 records which password variant you put in. But nothing seems to refer to the recorded data — possibly these passwords are the remnants of an unfinished branching paths feature?

I think it’s possible to get the password PIRATES instead of CUTTHROATS after you finish Operation 1, but I’m not sure which mission you need to do differently on.