Paradox Entertainment

Reviewed by Michael Peck
The Military Book Review

Most World War II games put you at the helm of a major power like Germany or the United States. But playing Albania or Tibet? Achieving quart-sized ambitions with a pint-sized nation is a totally different experience. Any war gamer can conquer Europe with the German army. Doing so with the Royal Albanian Legion of Doom takes skill.

It's this kind of flexibility that makes Hearts of Iron 2 so different. Billed as a game of World War II grand strategy, HOI 2 allows players to control the destinies of 70 different countries. And control really means control. Would-be Churchills can remake their nations, from transforming their economies to centrally planned instead of free market (less demand for consumer goods but more expensive military production), to raising drafted rather than volunteer armies (cheaper but less efficient troops).

And that's just the tip of the imperial iceberg. As in any good strategic military-economic game, the heart of HOI 2 is matching overwhelming needs with underwhelming resources. Nations generate a limited amount of production that must be allocated between consumer needs, building up their militaries and supplying their existing forces. Then there are the research and diplomacy modules, which are almost games in themselves. Each nation has up to five research teams to develop a wide range of technologies, from more efficient factories to faster bombers and tougher tanks. The hitch is that there is a technology tree with specific paths in each area. Want to dominate the skies with newfangled jet fighters in 1944? Then start researching them in 1939, which means forgoing other improvements such as better artillery. As for the diplomacy game, most nations need to trade for the resources that feed their economies as well as build alliances. With 70 nations to deal with, your diplomats will be busy.

HOI 2 will be manna for micromanagers and number-crunchers. There's so much work to keep a nation running that the combat portion of the game is almost anticlimactic. Like the rest of the game, it has a lot going on under the hood. Fighting is influenced by the quality of the opposing generals, supply, entrenchments, weather and terrain. The problem is that HOI 2 is a real-time game whose clock runs in hourly increments — a weird choice of scale for a modern conflict with ships and aircraft. Compounding the problem is that combat is a blur. Battles between huge armies are resolved in hours rather than days or weeks, so there is much more combat in this game than there ever has been historically. Fortunately the game can be paused so players have time to think and issue orders, but with all the mouse-clicking, HOI 2 should have a carpal tunnel warning label.

The historical research behind HOI 2 is staggering. Every leader and cabinet minister in every nations is named, as are thousands of generals (each with their own photo!) . The technology tree has specific doctrines for each nation, so that the Germans develop mobile warfare tactics like Blitzkrieg, while the Soviets focus on mass assaults. Numerous historical events are hard-coded into the software, such as the Nazi-Soviet Pact.

Yet photos alone do not create a truly historical game. The best simulations put players in the shoes of the historical commanders, by offering the choices — and the consequences — of choosing different strategies. But HOI 2 is so flexible that it strikes an uneasy balance between serious history and a freewheeling general strategy game like Command and Conquer. Part of the problem is the artificial intelligence: there's something wrong when a computer Germany can't subdue a computer France in 1940. Fortunately, HOI 2 can be played against humans over the Internet, and the game already has a loyal fan base busily creating alternate campaigns.

HOI 2 may not satisfy those who prefer ultra-realistic simulations, nor those looking for simple strategy games. But it's fun and it's different. There's something irresistible about ordering the Royal Tibetan Military Academy to research the A-bomb (estimated time of completion: the 53rd century).