Release Date: January 4, 2005
A sequel to the well-received grand strategy game set during World War II, developed by Paradox Interactive. Hearts of Iron 2 spans the entire world and requires us to oversee not only military activities but also all kinds of economic, political, and social dependencies. The player can lead any country, including the biggest superpowers of the era, such as Germany, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union.
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.
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.
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.
Hearts of Iron 2 offers an interesting multiplayer cooperation mode that lets players control a single country together.
Platforms:
PC Windows
Developer: Paradox Development Studio
Publisher: Strategy First
7GAMES
A series of RTSs of the grand strategy type, behind which is the Paradox Development Studio team. We are talking about the developers who have in their portfolio, among others, such brands as Crusader Kings, Victoria and Europa Universalis.
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System Requirements for Hearts of Iron 2 Video Game:
PC / Windows
Recommended System Requirements:
Pentium III 1.2 GHz, 256 MB RAM, graphic card 4 MB (Riva 128 or better), 600 MB HDD, Windows 98 SE/2000/XP.
List of Game Expansions for Video Game:
Expansion
July 10, 2010
Strategy
An expansion pack for Hearts of Iron II - a strategy game created by Paradox Interactive. Contrary to the core game, Iron Cross was developed by Irshappa. The player assumes control of a country of their choice and leads their people to victory in the Second World War. The game offers a great deal of freedom when it comes to influencing the course of the war and managing the politics, economy, trade and technological development of one's country. The Iron Cross expansion extends the number of controllable nations to 200. The re-built in-game map is one of the largest changes introduced - over 4000 new provinces were added. What is more, the historical period encompassed by the base game was lengthened. As a result, the entire game is set between the years 1933-1964. What follows, is consequently an increase in the number of in-game events - the expansion brings over 6000 of them. Furthermore, the player has both new units and brigades at their disposal, as well as a modified technology tree. The Iron Cross expansion is compatible with Hearts of Iron II: Armageddon and stand-alone versions of Arsenal of Democracy and Darkest Hour.
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Expansion
March 29, 2007
Strategy
An expansion to the enhanced version of the popular grand strategy game, Hearts of Iron 2, by Paradox Interactive. The production lets us assume control over a country of our choosing and lead it to victory on the fronts of the World War II. The series is famous for the great freedom in fighting the conflict — the player’s decision will influence both the course of the war as well as the internal politics of a given country, its relations with neighboring states, the economy and trade, and technological development. Hearts of Iron 2: Armageddon offers an additional scenario that presents an alternative version of the World War II’s climax. Several improvements were also made to naval units and aircraft. The player can build new ships, modernize the ones currently in use, and scrap the obsolete ones. In case of aircraft, the way of recognizing damage was changed ad well as the system of aerial combat which significantly alters the gameplay balance. Hearts of Iron 2: Armageddon requires the full version of Hearts of Iron 2 to be installed in order to work.
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Expansion
April 7, 2006
Strategy
A standalone expansion for the universally-acclaimed grand strategy game, Hearts of Iron 2, by Paradox Interactive. The production lets us assume control over a chosen country and lead it to victory on the fronts of the World War II. The player oversees not only the military affairs but also politics, economy, and technological development. The users of Hearts of Iron 2: Doomsday receive the contents of the vanilla game and many novelties. The latter include a longer campaign that ends in 1953. Doomsday also features an alternative scenario of the World War II that is completely different from the one known from history. Moreover, the developers prepared an expanded technological development tree (we can construct an atomic bomb, attack helicopters, etc.) and the possibility of buying blueprints from our allies. An advanced yet user-friendly level editor is also noteworthy. The developers introduced a handful of technical fixes and an improved AI, as well.
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