Hearts of Iron 2 Review

Over the years I have read numerous 'what if?' articles - essays that propose what might have been if certain historical events had unfolded differently. What would have happened if the Japanese did not attack Pearl Harbour, choosing instead to concentrate on their expansion on the East Asian mainland? What if Nazi Germany had successfully developed a nuclear weapons programme before Operation Overlord took place? Or how would the second world war have unfolded if Neville Chamberlain had rejected the Munich Agreement and launched a war against the Third Reich as early as 1938 with the the annexation of the Sudetenland being the casus belli? Paradox Interactive gives you the chance to answer these questions and many more in their grand strategy game: Hearts of Iron II.

Let me say this before anything else - this is not for the casual gamer. HoI 2 has an extremely steep learning curve, even for those seasoned in the world of war gaming. Despite having spent a significant chunk of my life playing one of Paradox's previous titles, Europa Universalis 2, the engine of which was the basis for HoI 2, I still felt like I was thrown in at the deep end when first starting the 'Road to War' main game campaign. Fortunately however, the game does come with a comprehensive manual and a set of quick tutorial missions to get you started. Once these have given you a feel for the game, you can either play one of the fifteen quick scenarios, such as the Spanish Civil War, the Invasion of Italy, or the fictional Platinean War between Brazil and Argentina, puppets of the United States and Germany respectively, or you can devote several days (and possibly weeks) of your life into seeing the nation of your choice through the entire era of WW2, starting from either 1936, 1939, 1941 or 1944, and ending in 1947.

The back of the Hearts of Iron II box boasts that there are more than 175 playable countries, which although may well be true, you'll likely find that some are much more playable than others. Although the second world war did bring war to most of the world, naturally some nations saw a greater share of it than others. If you have a strong Paraguayan national identity and couldn't possibly bear taking the helm of another country - you may well find that this game provides limited entertainment. If being supreme ruler of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is more your style, you may find yourself completely incapable from defending yourself from the onslaught of German tanks in every single game you play. And if your lack of knowledge regarding the Peoples Republic of Tannu Tuva sways you into leading their country out of curiosity, you may find yourself wishing you had chosen their protectors, the Soviet Union instead. But of course very few people will buy this game to be a barely significant minnow while the superpowers duke it out in the war to end all wars. Starting as Germany in 1936 you'll find yourself with numerous tactical decisions to make right through to the end of the game eleven years later. Playing as rival superpowers such as the UK, France, the Soviet Union, Japan and United States will also provide a fulfilling amount of gameplay. Other intervening nations including Italy, Canada and Australia can also yield a worthy dose of action.

Although warmongering is the primary theme of this game, one may find themselves spending the lion's share of their time in the 'Technology', 'Production' and 'Diplomacy' screens. The research of new technology (including military doctrines) differs from the original Hearts of Iron game in that it now requires money, rather than forcing players to chose between allocating their industrial capacity to production or instead using it to advance their technological capabilities. Depending on the nation you're in charge of, you will be able to have between one and five teams researching at any one time. These teams are historically accurate individuals and companies with varying levels of skill and areas of expertise. For example, as Mexico you could assign Gustavo Salinas Camina (with a skill rating of 4 and expertise in Aircraft Testing, Fighter Tactics and Piloting) to research the air doctrine of Fighter Ace Initiative; or as Great Britain, you could instruct Leyland (skill 8, excelling in the fields of Artillery, Mechanics, Electronics and Technical Efficiency) to undertake the Basic Light Tank project to allow you to add a Vickers Mk. Vlc to your production line. In addition to selecting an appropriate team, you can also speed up your research process by trading for technology blueprints with other nations in your alliance, and in the case of research into rocketry and nuclear power, you can construct the province improvements of rocket test sites and nuclear reactors. Some research paths will give you the opportunity to undertake 'secret weapons' projects such as inter-continental ballistic missiles and nuclear submarines.

The production screen is where you decide how to allocate the industrial capacity (IC) of your nation. Five sliders allow you to increase or decrease your manufacturing of consumer goods, production of units and province improvements, supplies (the stuff that your armies need to keep going), reinforcements and upgrades. I've found these sliders extremely fiddly to use, especially when playing as large countries as moving the mouse just a few pixels too far right or left may produce a seriously different outcome from what I intended. Perhaps an textual input box where one could type the amount of IC to allot to each field would have been nicer to use, if slightly more bewildering when first playing the game. Alongside the sliders is a display of your country's current commodity stockpile (money, oil, manpower etc.), and below is some minutiae regarding your current trade agreements, resource depots and convoys. The primary function of the production screen however is naturally the selection of exactly what you want to be producing. Your current production queue occupies the left of the screen, accompanied with buttons which allow you to add new divisions, air wings, flotillas and the like.

On the diplomacy screen you are first greeted with your country's relationships with other nations in the world, your cabinet and your government policies. The members of your cabinet, like the rest of the game, are historically accurate, as are their possible replacements. As the United States of America, you begin in 1936 with Franklin D. Roosevelt as your Head of State and J. Edgar Hoover as your Minister of Security. Roosevelt can not be changed, but if you decide it's the right decision you could replace Hoover with Frank Murphy. Cabinet ministers have their own political viewpoints (social liberal, paternal autocrat, fascist etc.) and skills which effect your nation in some way; for example as Head of Government of the Soviet Union, Josef Stalin reduces IC by 5%, but decreases the country's chance of being couped by 30%. The policies of your government appear as a sliders as does the IC allotment on the production screen, but due to their nature are infrequently used (may only be used once per year) and only move one space a time, therefore not suffering from the fiddliness issue I have with their counterparts. The other nations of the world can be found on the left of the screen - give them a click to see their relationships, cabinet and policies and to open up diplomatic channels.

Movement and combat orders are issued in map mode. Unlike previous Paradox titles, units do not have to move into an enemy controlled province to attack it - instead allowing them to attack on order from adjacent provinces. Army divisions can be given orders such as 'Support Attack' and 'Support Defence', instructing them to support either an offensive move by another allied unit into enemy controlled territory while remaining in it's current province, or coming to the aid of a defending unit in an adjacent province in the event that is it attacked by your foe. This helps create a realistic front line, as you will see on the Franco-German border before the Axis begins it's march towards Paris. Naval combat has also seen a great improvement, with the ability to order fleets to patrol your chosen sea zones for a specified length of time. Orders for your air wings work similarly.

Graphically, the game has very few faults. The sprite animations on the map haven't really improved from the days of Europa Universalis 2, and they could have been better back then. Other than that the graphics are pleasantly bold and colourful. Each major nation has a unique backdrop for the non-map screens depicting various items and insignia from the wartime era of the country. The ten different mapmodes portray the 2700+ provinces and sea zones in an array of useful and understandable colour schemes. Four levels of zoom allow you to focus on a small group of provinces, or see both Inverness and Istanbul at the same time (not to mention Batman in Turkey and Rybinsk in Russia).

The soundtrack is so-so. It's not bad, it's not great. Naturally with everyone's musical palette differing, some will feel the background music makes them really feel as if they were in the command room of a superpower in 1943, whereas it will drive others round-the-bend after ten minutes. The sound effects are likewise merely reasonable - playing only when the appropriate unit is selected. A nice touch would be to have the sound effects triggered by in game events - perhaps if playing as Great Britain air raid sirens could sound in the event of the Luftwaffe making their way over the straits of Dover.

Fortunately, Paradox managed to release HoI 2 with a minimal amount of bugs. On one occasion my allocated IC to reinforcements got stuck as 2.xx and I couldn't make it budge without saving and reloading, and the screen oddly flicked black for a split second on a few occasions (but didn't appear to cause any real harm), but that's all I cam across in several hours of game play. I found some forum posts with players complaining about mysterious crashes to desktop, luckily however my computer has not suffered from this problem so far, even though it does so regularly in EU2.

In conclusion, HoI 2 is a must-have game for those who appreciate the acquired taste of the Paradox war game. It's not a game which you can jump into, but if you have the patience and interest in the theme this may be a highly satisfying gaming experience. The original Hearts of Iron was described by many as a great concept but a lacklustre game - it's sequel takes that concept and implements in gaming form sublimely.

Overall rating: 4 / 5.

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