Hearts of Iron 4 and Killer Ponies is an Absurd But Madly Enjoyable Mix [Update]
A new version of Equestria at War, a project that takes Hearts of Iron IV into a dark version of the universe made famous by the My Little Pony animated series, has been released.
Update
Version 2.2.1.4 of the Equestria at War modification has been released. The update fixes bugs, improves game balance and introduces couple new eleemnts, like extra achievements.
Previous article (October 3, 2023)
Despite being seven years old, the strategy game Hearts of Iron IV continues to enjoy great success, remaining the the most popular game in Paradox's output. This is helped by a large and active modding community. Most of its members focus on creating new realistic scenarios and fixing historical bugs. However, there are a few modders who have gone in a completely different direction. The most twisted of these is a group that for several years has been developing the project called Equestria at War, inspired by the My Little Pony franchise.
The idea sounds absurd, but the authors managed to turn it into something surprisingly enjoyable. Instead of developing a simple interactive joke, the developers approached their project ambitiously. In the mod, the titular land of Equestria differs strongly from what fans of the cartoon are familiar with. It is a darker place, full of wars and corruption, where the industrial revolution has already taken place. However, all this is shown with a light touch, so, for example, ponies committing genocide against their enemies amuse instead of frightening.
- Equestria at War - download the mod from our FTP server (the author has given us permission to host a mirror)
Such a solution in world design enabled the author to provide gameplay in the typical Hears of Iron IV manner, while retaining strongly unique setting. The design subverts virtually all elements of the game, including the map, factions, technologies and characters, as well as heavily altering the gameplay. All in all, we get a truly unique fan work, not only for My Little Pony fans.
The latest major update is version 2.2, released at the end of September (a small patch 2.2.0.1 was also released a few days ago, fixing a few bugs), which added development trees for several factions and expanded the ponies' technology options. In addition, many temporary visual elements have been improved.
Recall that Hearts of Iron IV was released in June 2016. The game is available exclusively on PC.
