One of the core strengths of Hearts of Iron is not only how you can accurately follow the events of World War 2, but also act out alternate history scenarios. For example, start a civil war as Germany against the ruling facists and emerge as a democracy. These alternate history scenarios however are not entirely fictional as Paradox based certain events and options on real life political figures as well as protocols. For example the “Nero Befehl” to destroy German infrastructure given by Adolf Hitler as the Allies marched into Germany also happens when Nazi Germany loses the civil war.

Speaking about [civil] war; the gigantic armies mobilized by countries can be profoundly customized, through the in-game “Template Designer”. One can utilize various units based on the players research and logistical accomplishments and create Divisions for their specific needs, such as Marine Infantry or Mechanized Divisions.

Nowadays it is common for games to expand their base game with paid DLCs. [In some extreme cases, DLCs are required to uplift a game into a playable state] Of course, Paradox is no exception and has created a great number of paid DLCs for its audience to buy. This might initially be frightening, as the expected cost of the game is exaggerated tremendously, however Paradox offers a unique feature for its Hearts of Iron IV multiplayer experience. Only the host of a Multiplayer Session needs to own a DLC for it to active for every participating player in said lobby. This feature helped me establish the game as one of the core activities in my peer group, as the amount of money that needs to be spent in order to enjoy the entirety of the content is significantly reduced. In addition every new paid DLCs bring free content updates.

Furthermore the game offers great potential for roleplaying activities. Creating new alternate history alliances or the effort of preserving the flow of time can lead to interesting scenarios for you and your friends.

As one enters the world of Hearts of Iron IV, one will also gain access to the games profound history of Patches and Workshop Mods. If you dislike certain aspects about the base game, such as the rather questionable decisions of your AI companions when it comes to peace conferences, there is a mod available to address this problem. Furthermore, some countries do not offer individual focus trees or unique military equipment. If you wish to play as e.g. Brazil and establish a facist regime, there exists a mod called “Road to 56”. This modification provides and expanded technology and focus tree for various nations and functions as an overhaul that adds at least 10 years of content to the original version of the game.
It has to be said that the game does not run nearly as smooth in its late game as other strategy games. There is a noticeable and annoyingly present late-game lag when it comes to multiplayer sessions. At the moment, this might be the only problem that might hinder your experience.


TLDR; The game provides [alternate] history trees which are fleshed out as well as various possibilities for you to customize your own army. In addition most problems or needs that one might have playing Hearts of Iron IV can be addressed with opening and downloading content from its workshop area. However, the performance of the game steadily and noticeably decreases as more and more armies traverse the battlefields of Hearts of Iron

[h1]Hearts of Iron IV - A Strategic Masterpiece[/h1] One of the core strengths of Hearts of Iron is not only how you can accurately follow the events of World War 2, but also act out alternate history scenarios. For example, start a civil war as Germany against the ruling facists and emerge as a democracy. These alternate history scenarios however are not entirely fictional as Paradox based certain events and options on real life political figures as well as protocols. For example the “Nero Befehl” to destroy German infrastructure given by Adolf Hitler as the Allies marched into Germany also happens when Nazi Germany loses the civil war. Speaking about [civil] war; the gigantic armies mobilized by countries can be profoundly customized, through the in-game “Template Designer”. One can utilize various units based on the players research and logistical accomplishments and create Divisions for their specific needs, such as Marine Infantry or Mechanized Divisions. Nowadays it is common for games to expand their base game with paid DLCs. [In some extreme cases, DLCs are required to uplift a game into a playable state] Of course, Paradox is no exception and has created a great number of paid DLCs for its audience to buy. This might initially be frightening, as the expected cost of the game is exaggerated tremendously, however Paradox offers a unique feature for its Hearts of Iron IV multiplayer experience. Only the host of a Multiplayer Session needs to own a DLC for it to active for every participating player in said lobby. This feature helped me establish the game as one of the core activities in my peer group, as the amount of money that needs to be spent in order to enjoy the entirety of the content is significantly reduced. In addition every new paid DLCs bring free content updates. Furthermore the game offers great potential for roleplaying activities. Creating new alternate history alliances or the effort of preserving the flow of time can lead to interesting scenarios for you and your friends. As one enters the world of Hearts of Iron IV, one will also gain access to the games profound history of Patches and Workshop Mods. If you dislike certain aspects about the base game, such as the rather questionable decisions of your AI companions when it comes to peace conferences, there is a mod available to address this problem. Furthermore, some countries do not offer individual focus trees or unique military equipment. If you wish to play as e.g. Brazil and establish a facist regime, there exists a mod called “Road to 56”. This modification provides and expanded technology and focus tree for various nations and functions as an overhaul that adds at least 10 years of content to the original version of the game. It has to be said that the game does not run nearly as smooth in its late game as other strategy games. There is a noticeable and annoyingly present late-game lag when it comes to multiplayer sessions. At the moment, this might be the only problem that might hinder your experience. [b]TLDR; The game provides [alternate] history trees which are fleshed out as well as various possibilities for you to customize your own army. In addition most problems or needs that one might have playing Hearts of Iron IV can be addressed with opening and downloading content from its workshop area. However, the performance of the game steadily and noticeably decreases as more and more armies traverse the battlefields of Hearts of Iron[/b]