Hearts of Iron 2 PC

Hearts of Iron 2 is the second installment the grand strategy game series for PC that simulate not only the military activities but also all kinds of economic, political and social dependencies of a country’s functioning.

Plot

Similarly to its predecessor, the game map spans the entire Earth, and we can lead one of over 130 contemporary nations, including the biggest superpowers: Germany, Great Britain, Russia, or Italy. Hearts of Iron 2 not only allows us to recreate the events that preceded the World War II but also to completely change history.

Mechanics

Generally, the game bases on the solutions of the original Hearts of Iron, although it received a large number of new features and enhancements. The modified interface and improved audiovisuals are the least significant ones. First and foremost, the gameplay mechanics were modified, giving us considerably more possibilities of manipulating countries. Thanks to new diplomatic and political options, we can try to inculcate Marxist ideas to Germans and see how the war events would go. Moreover, our possibilities in forming alliances are no longer limited to siding with the Allies or the Axis since we can ally ourselves with any country. It is especially helpful when we decide to govern less significant countries as Sweden, Romania, or Columbia. The developers also expanded the diplomatic maneuvers with such elements as negotiation system or trade agreements that enable trading between two states.

Military units gradually gain experience in combat, changing from greenhorns to veterans, which significantly influences their combat abilities. However, should we reinforce the personnel after battle with new recruits, a unit’s experience level decreases. The player can freely automatize the process of reinforcement and upgrading their equipment if we invent better kinds of weapons. Similarly to the first Hearts of Iron, the player determines the direction of scientific research but the speed of discovering new technologies depends on the quality of our research teams (every country can have 1 to 5 such teams located somewhere within its borders).

The system of issuing orders and controlling the air and naval forces was changed. Currently, we give objectives to pilots while they are on the ground and once their planes took off, we can just observe their performance. The naval forces work similarly though the player can help the artificial intelligence, especially if large and complicated sea landing is being conducted.

Compared to the original Hearts of Iron, the importance of special battle scenarios, which are 15 in number, was increased. They were designed so as to take no more than 1 to 3 hours to complete. At the beginning, we can decide whether we want to govern the economy and conduct warfare or to just focus on commanding armies alone, receiving only historical reinforcements. Their design also allows us to combine them (meaning, completing them in a given order) which lets us, for example, see the entire World war II through the eyes of a famous general such as Rommel or Patton.

Game modes

Hearts of Iron 2 offers an interesting multiplayer cooperation mode that lets players control a single country together.

Last updated on 14 February 2024