14 DAY TRIAL // Our Incoming 2015 series focuses on the most important game launches of the next 12 months and next up we talk about Hearts of Iron IV.
What we know
Hearts of Iron IV marks the return of the Paradox Development Studio to World War II, which might just be the conflict most portrayed in video games.
The company has already delivered three takes on the era and the new title will keep the core elements, allowing players to pick any country in the world and then guide its destiny, including political, economic, military, espionage and diplomatic matters, over the course of the entire worldwide conflagration.
For Hearts of Iron IV, the team is aiming to make the experience more strategic, with each choice having a clear impact on the evolution of a campaign, and more accessible, with plenty of systems that can be controlled by the Artificial Intelligence instead of the player.
The new game engine that’s being introduced looks beautiful and delivers more information than ever before, blending the political and the terrain map in order to make it easier than ever for the player to see the state of World War II at a glance.
Paradox Development Studio is also trying to simulate the big choices that leaders of the period had to make, and they are tweaking both naval and air warfare in search for more realism.
The tech evolution system is also being re-worked and the studio wants to make production matter more, with gamers asked to decide between long and efficient production runs of older equipment and short but consuming new hardware.
Hearts of Iron IV is at the moment set to be launched in the first few months of 2015 only on the PC.
Why it matters
Hearts of Iron IV follows in the footsteps of Crusader Kings II and Europa Universalis IV, which has seriously expanded the mechanics that characterize the grand strategy space, and the World War II title needs to fulfill the expectations of a highly demanding fan base.
The previous installment in the series and its expansions were solid experiences and the complexity level increased even more when mods are taken into account.
Hearts of Iron IV can be the game that will bring grand strategy to a wider audience, if the company focuses on the popularity of World War II, but it might feel too shallow for long-term fans of the franchise.
