Hearts of Iron IV: No Step Back

Another big expansion pack for Hearts of Iron IV, a real-time strategy game set in World War II. No Step Back focuses on the Eastern Front, adding new opportunities to lead Poland, several Baltic countries, and the USSR.

Mechanics

The DLC focuses on expanding the content available in the game rather than revolutionizing the gameplay. The game mechanics introduced are intended to detail and reflect the nuances of eastern politics while providing more military options to select countries. Thus, the USSR, Poland, and several smaller Baltic countries received new national objectives, and in addition Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania can join forces in an alternate history scenario.

An "officer corps" mechanic has been introduced, where we use their talent and skills to adapt the nation to evolving technologies and implement the strategies required in these changing times. In addition, through the use of the " army spirits", we can strengthen certain elements of our armed forces or change the designs of divisions to make them more effective in battle. Furthermore, logistics has been expanded in terms of the supply system. It now allows for scorched earth policy, the creation of floating harbors, and the recruitment of special supply units.

Further minor additions to the gameplay are the designing of tanks and rail guns. Using special modules, we now create our own unique armored units, setting their speed, armor thickness, firepower and production cost by ourselves. In turn, we can use the railguns, which have a huge firepower, perfect for driving out entrenched enemy soldiers.

Game modes

The game can be played alone or in multiplayer mode, where up to 32 players take part in the fun.

Technical aspects

DLC does not introduce graphical improvements to the game. So we are still dealing with a simple audiovisual setting referring stylistically to various military objects. The add-on is not stand-alone and requires the basic version of the game to run.