If you love picking things from tech trees, there's a whole world of joy waiting for you at the core of HOI4. In addition to choosing technology there are doctrine trees for air, sea and land, and the addition of National Focii - basically a form of narrative tech tree that allows you to pursue historical or a-historical approaches to the war one at a time, from remilitarising the Rhineland to spreading democracy throughout Republican Spain. The idea seems to have been to handle much of the day-to-day grind for the player, and instead focus them on making tough decisions that will alter the course of the war. Lots and lots, and LOTS of numbers on-screen all at once. Thing is, though, this is still a Paradox grand strategy title. The tutorial is far better than the travesty that was the HOI3 tutorial, and core concepts are fairly easy to get a hold of. Industry and government have both been given overhauls that have resulted in interfaces that, to me at least, seemed easier to understand. The order of battle in particular has been dramatically simplified, and HOI3's clunky espionage system has been removed (and replaced by almost nothing). To be honestly fair to Hearts of Iron IV, many of the hugely complex systems that have acted as a block to new players have been simplified or outright removed.
"When do you actually start playing the game?" he asks, as page after page of numbers flood past on the screen. My six-year old son is watching the game in a state of stultified bewilderment. But they have a cunning general and his tactical mastery is making it tough for the Allies to advance, and every hour that passes, their supplies dwindle and, with them, their chances of victory. There's a war raging across central Italy, and British tanks are rolling over crumbling old buildings as artillery barrages the fortified Italian defenders.
Because what I see isn't necessarily what everyone else sees, But Hearts of Iron 4 delivers the player a world of cohesive strategy. I'm really not sure if my well-documented love for all things Paradox makes me the best possible reviewer for their games, or the worst.
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