Hearts of Iron IV Updated Preview

It’s been a whole year since my last update on Hearts of Iron IV, with 2014’s gamescom providing my first in-person look at the latest WW2 grand strategy title from Paradox Development Studio. This year’s show gave me a chance to see the game in action once again, and while not all that much has changed on the surface since that original viewing, it’s clear that HOIIV is getting much closer to completion. Gamescom 2015 also gave me a chance to see some of the newer features of the game in much more depth. If you’ve yet to read much detail on the latest entry in the series, or fancy reminding yourself, then it’s well worth checking out my preview from last year first. If not, then allow me to take you through my single most enjoyable developer session at this year’s show.

Hearts of Iron IV still presents itself extremely well on first sight. The Clausewitz engine, while entering its twilight years by now, puts in an incredible showing; the world map when both zoomed right in or out looks fantastic. The colours are so much more vibrant than in previous HoI games, and of course the detail in the terrain and unit sprites is far beyond anything we’ve seen from a Paradox grand strategy title. In the past, visuals haven’t been an especially important part of the game, but I can’t help but feel as though the beautiful map will only help players to become immersed within the game world. Paradox grand strategy games have always been about letting the player’s imagination run wild; exceptional visuals only help to make things more exciting and interesting.

I touched on a lot of the newer features in my last preview, but this time I got to see a couple of them in detail. Perhaps the most interesting is the national focus system that essentially works like a much deeper and more intricate version of the national missions mechanic from EUIV. Once you have completed a certain set of parameters you can activate a national focus that will make a significant change to your nation. For instance, while playing as Germany you can turn the tide of history and become friendly enough with Poland that you sign an alliance with them pre-WW2. Or as France you could adapt your government and relationship with the USSR so far that you join Comintern, a move that will greatly change other nation’s opinions of yours.

Each major nation in the game (perhaps even every single nation), has its own set of national focus choices that reflect both historical changes such as Anschluss or wacky history-warping scenarios like those aforementioned. Of course, it was possible to make unusual changes to your nation in previous games, but this new system should be a great way to give players specific goals during their play time. It’s just another sign of increasing accessibility, yet accessibility that also gives veteran players new challenges and points of interest. I’m really excited by the possibilities of the national focus system, and certainly look forward to seeing the goals for each nation.

Another newer mechanic that I was pleased to be shown again was the doctrine tree that lets players decide on the style and tactics of their military. I’ve previously mentioned how the likes of mobile warfare, superior firepower and mass assault can be implemented by any country, but what I didn’t realise at the time was just how deep these doctrine trees go. There are a lot of options, each of them allowing you to either use your troops in new ways or boost the fighting power of those forces. Seeing the doctrines, however, did give me my only reservation of the session as it seemed as though it would be foolish to force a nation down a doctrine tree that they didn’t follow historically. Each nation starts with part of one tree already unlocked, relating to the doctrine they followed in reality. That’s not to say it’s impossible to change track, it just seems as though it would be harder to forge your own path.

Other little bits that stood out to me this time included the amazing level of detail in relation to individual unit statistics, and the ability to change them ever so slightly with ever-improving technology. Or there was also the neat General abilities system that sees your commanders improve in specific areas of warfare. Stick a leader in Africa for a fair while and see them take the ‘desert fox’ moniker away from Rommel, or keep one commander in charge of airborne operations to see their paratrooping leadership improve. Oh, and the small mention of 32 player online was a nice little addition to the session!

One last thing I want to note before wrapping up this little pit-stop are the scenarios Paradox will launch with the game. Consistent with previous titles, players will be able to either start the game in 1936, allowing them time to prepare for war or change the course of history, or start right before WW2 in 1939. That’s all well and good, but I can’t help but feel as though there could be a lot more options. Not necessarily realistic time points later in the war, but rather fictional scenarios like Germany controlling all of Europe, or Japan never attacking the US. It’s certainly something I’d love to see and jump into, and perhaps it’s something that should be opened up to modders - afterall, Paradox has always had a close affinity with the modding scene.

When I pleadingly asked the devs for a release date, all I got in return was a tragically generic ‘early next year’ - the same info we were given at last year’s Gamescom. Honestly, the game looks about ready to go right now, but I personally have a lot of faith in the Paradox team to deliver a great product at a time that suits them; a sensible decision, despite my selfish needs. Typically, I wouldn’t write a preview like this in such a personal and direct fashion, but Hearts of Iron IV impressed me so much that it’s difficult not to get a little over-the-top about it all. It’s still my most-anticipated game, and based on the gameplay I was fortunate enough to see this time around, it could well be the best Paradox grand strategy game yet - and that sure is saying something.

Hopefully it won’t be too long until we can get our hands on at least the beta version of the game.