Hearts of Iron IV is an endlessly entertaining grand strategy game that allows you live out your alternate history fantasies over the course of World War II. With the option to take control of dozens of countries, each with their own unique politics, battle strategies, allies and enemies - the resulting product is an immensely enjoyable strategy game with plenty of replayability.

Hearts of Iron IVs biggest hurdle is learning how to play the game. If you have never played a grand strategy game before (like I hadn't) then jumping straight into the game will be a confusing experience. With so many different systems and mechanics to manage, take the time to slowly learn how they all work before attempting to properly play a full game. Unfortunately the in game tutorial is pretty awful so I'm going to recommend playing multiplayer with someone who is experienced with the game and have them explain. Otherwise consult the plethora of tutorials of Youtube. The more you understand, the longer you can last and the bolder you can become during the war.

User interface aside, the visuals of Hearts of Iron IV are very easy to grasp. When not using the user interface, 90% of your screen will be our world map (or at least how it was back in the late 1930's and 40's). From this map you can view the location of your borders, your armies, naval units, air bases, factories and most importantly every other country on the map.

The interesting thing about Hearts of Iron IV is that every country on the map can be considered its own player. They each have their own motivations, goals, strengths and weaknesses. When picking which country you want to play as you must carefully consider who you will be sharing yours borders with. For example, if you choose to play as France or Poland then you had better be ready for Germany to come knocking on your doorstep - whether you are ready or not.

As you control your country, you can choose multiple unique and interesting objectives to pursue (known as focuses). These can allow you to rapidly build up your armies, reclaim land through diplomatic decisions or pursue a particular political path. A sprawling technology tree allows you to prioritise research into specialised technologies such as industry, vehicles or infantry. Once researched, new technologies or units can be produced or trained respectively. You'll need resources and infrastructure for production however, which you can trade for or take by force. All these systems play into each other wonderfully leaving you with a lot of decision making.

Hearts of Iron IV really shines in multiplayer. While the games AI is mostly competent, having real players as your enemies or allies is the real highlight. In the many games I have played with up to 10 players, I have witnessed a spectrum of emotions from devastating betrayals to tense invasions and successful victories. If you can get a small group of friends together, you are in for a great time. Just be prepared for a lot of desyncs.

Overall I'm thoroughly enjoying Hearts of Iron IV; So much so that I purchased all the DLC shortly after buying the game. The majority of DLC adds more complex focus trees to lesser countries so If you find yourself attached to a particular one, you should consider looking into if it benefits from any DLC. History may be written by the victor by in Hearts of Iron IV, history is written by the player. Highly Recommended.

Hearts of Iron IV is an endlessly entertaining grand strategy game that allows you live out your alternate history fantasies over the course of World War II. With the option to take control of dozens of countries, each with their own unique politics, battle strategies, allies and enemies - the resulting product is an immensely enjoyable strategy game with plenty of replayability. Hearts of Iron IVs biggest hurdle is learning how to play the game. If you have never played a grand strategy game before (like I hadn't) then jumping straight into the game will be a confusing experience. With so many different systems and mechanics to manage, take the time to slowly learn how they all work before attempting to properly play a full game. Unfortunately the in game tutorial is pretty awful so I'm going to recommend playing multiplayer with someone who is experienced with the game and have them explain. Otherwise consult the plethora of tutorials of Youtube. The more you understand, the longer you can last and the bolder you can become during the war. User interface aside, the visuals of Hearts of Iron IV are very easy to grasp. When not using the user interface, 90% of your screen will be our world map (or at least how it was back in the late 1930's and 40's). From this map you can view the location of your borders, your armies, naval units, air bases, factories and most importantly every other country on the map. The interesting thing about Hearts of Iron IV is that every country on the map can be considered its own player. They each have their own motivations, goals, strengths and weaknesses. When picking which country you want to play as you must carefully consider who you will be sharing yours borders with. For example, if you choose to play as France or Poland then you had better be ready for Germany to come knocking on your doorstep - whether you are ready or not. As you control your country, you can choose multiple unique and interesting objectives to pursue (known as focuses). These can allow you to rapidly build up your armies, reclaim land through diplomatic decisions or pursue a particular political path. A sprawling technology tree allows you to prioritise research into specialised technologies such as industry, vehicles or infantry. Once researched, new technologies or units can be produced or trained respectively. You'll need resources and infrastructure for production however, which you can trade for or take by force. All these systems play into each other wonderfully leaving you with a lot of decision making. Hearts of Iron IV really shines in multiplayer. While the games AI is mostly competent, having real players as your enemies or allies is the real highlight. In the many games I have played with up to 10 players, I have witnessed a spectrum of emotions from devastating betrayals to tense invasions and successful victories. If you can get a small group of friends together, you are in for a great time. Just be prepared for a lot of desyncs. Overall I'm thoroughly enjoying Hearts of Iron IV; So much so that I purchased all the DLC shortly after buying the game. The majority of DLC adds more complex focus trees to lesser countries so If you find yourself attached to a particular one, you should consider looking into if it benefits from any DLC. History may be written by the victor by in Hearts of Iron IV, history is written by the player. Highly Recommended.