That last one was the mistake that cost me my first campaign. Very important things such as how the composition of army divisions worked, the importance of updating production lines, and my personal favorite, not telling you how to increase your available manpower. I took what little I learned from the tutorial, and tried to apply it to the game. Allies seemed to do very little to prevent themselves from getting annihilated. I was also shocked at the ineffectiveness of the AI, particularly on the side of my allies. Nothing had prepared me for the pace at which things would happen. My first play through of Hearts of Iron 4 was a complete disaster. Once the tutorial cuts your safety rope and allows you to plummet into the pit of menus and popup windows you’ve never seen before, you realize the tutorial hasn’t actually taught you anything. I find tutorials like this to be very ineffective. It holds your hand through some basic objectives, telling you step by step which buttons to click on. I played through the tutorial twice to get a feel for the game. The manual for the game is nothing more than a series of Wikipedia pages, accessed from an in-game browser. The digital quick start guide provided to me was basic to say the least, missing as many important mechanics as it covered. If you’ve ever played a Paradox Grand Strategy before, such as Crusader Kings 2 or Europa Universalis 4, you should instantly find some aspects of the UI and its layout familiar. If you’re the sort of person who prefers to get right into the action, then the 1939 start will have most of the historical alliances already in place, with the world on the cusp of war.Īs with all Paradox games, I looked at the UI, and I thought to myself, “this is going to be a lot to learn”. You may even wage a few wars of your own in those early years. The early start will give you time to form alliances, research your own technology, and prepare your industry. The year you choose is going to determine the type of game you play. You can either start Hearts of Iron 4 in January of 1936, or August of 1939. (Hearts of Iron 4, Paradox Development Studio) The national focus trees for the major powers are quite extensive. Playing as the minor nations does allow for some interesting spins on history, but they all use generic events, units, and national focus trees. If you prefer more of a challenge you can select one of the minor nations, of which there are close to fifty to choose from. Not to mention taking political actions, both friendly and hostile, against other nations. You can also improve your industry, granting bonuses to research. These allow the spending of political power to perform such actions as boosting your government. The major powers also have unique and extensive “national focus” trees. They also have unit names and models for infantry, armour, planes, and ships that are historically accurate for their nation. All of these nations have their own specific events within the game. You can select from one of seven “major powers” - USA, UK, German Reich, Japan, France, Italy and the Soviet Union. Certainly, some of these are more important than others, but they all play a part in the grand scheme of warfare.Īs the player, you can select which country you’ll lead to glorious victory. You have to manage your manpower, your industry, your resources and your political influence. To successfully win a war you have to manage so many things. This is the interesting thing though war is about management. Yes, war does feature in there somewhere. While I am no stranger to the complexities of a Paradox Grand Strategy game, this was my first delve down the rabbit hole that is the Hearts of Iron series of WWII games. Hearts of Iron 4 is the fourth and latest installment of the Paradox Development Studio franchise. I am no exception, but for a change of pace I was recently introduced to Hearts of Iron 4. For most people, that probably involved running around in the first person, shooting enemy soldiers with an M1 Garand. I would be willing to bet that most gamers, at some point, have played a WWII inspired game. The Second World War has always been a popular topic for video games.
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