Release Date: June 6, 2016
The fourth major installment in a series of larg-scale strategy games, which originated in 2002 as a spin-off to the popular Europa Universalis series. Both franchises are consistently developed by Paradox Interactive. The game lets you take the lead of a country from the World War II period and beyond, specifically the years 1936-1948.
Hearts of Iron IV is the next installment of the popular strategy game series in which the player conducts the politics of one of the countries from the war and interwar period – the timeline of the game is set between 1936 and 1948. It is up to the player to choose the appropriate strategy and foreign policy and to keep up with enemies in the arms race of the 20th century world. The game was made by the Swedish studio Paradox Development, known widely for its complex, historically themed strategy games. The company, with its main office in Stockholm, produced and released such titles as the Europa Universalis series, Crusader Kings – in many ways similar to the previously mentioned titles – and the Hearts of Iron series. The newest installment uses the same engine as Europa Universalis IV and provides a new, refreshed and clearer Interface.
The distinguishing feature of the forth installment in the Hearts of Iron series, just like in the case of the previous releases, is the very accurate recreation of history, together with the full freedom of creating an alternate future. In Hearts of Iron IV players will meet many real historical characters of World War II (Prime Ministers, Army Commanders and other political and military figures); the armies and technologies of each country are also perfectly accurate. You will also come across countless historical events in the form of smaller quests that you can choose by yourself, which can be considered the next steps in the long journey of your country. The completion of said missions will result in quick injections of Diplomatic Power points – another novelty, added in the fourth Hearts of Iron game. A constant backup of points will be necessary, e.g. to influence ministers of the government or to choose further quests in your campaign.
Just like in the previous games of the series, the players can control a country actively engaged in the war effort, like or Great Britain; they can choose to take a back seat as one of the nations whose political situation is not as obvious as a state of open war, e.g. one of the South American countries. The developers of the game put a lot of effort into reducing the need for micromanagement – a major issue in the previous installments of the series – allowing the player to focus more on the overall strategy and worry less about the specific tactics and movements of every individual army or unit. The possibility of converging several provinces into a region was also introduced into the game, making it easier to manage different parts of your country and its newly conquered territories. The addition of seasons and the day and night cycle gives the game a lot of depth, as you need to carefully plan for the ever-changing weather in order to make sure that you will be the one to prevail on the battlefield.
Platforms:
PC Windows
Developer: Paradox Development Studio
Publisher: Paradox Interactive
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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.
Hearts of Iron IV Review – The Art of War
After seven long years, Hearts of Iron makes a big comeback. Ladies and gentlemen, the season for sleepless nights full of orders, international schemes, and endless taste of defeat is now officially open!
Last update: July 6, 2016
The Hearts of Iron IV guide contains information helpful in starting out in the game. It offers various hints, explanation of the management mechanics, info on playable factions and tips on the best strategies.
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Paradox Development Studio promises not only short-term fixes for Hearts of Iron 4: Graveyard of Empires, but also changes in its approach to DLC scale.
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March 11, 2025
Why did Hearts of Iron IV's alternate path get Stellaris and other Paradox games in trouble? Here’s everything you need to know about the latest backlash.
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Olga Racinowska
February 17, 2025
Graveyard of Empires, a new expansion to the Hearts of Iron 4 strategy, will take us into the heart of the struggle for supremacy, between the Euphrates River and the Bay of Bengal. Elephants will also be included.
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Danuta Repelowicz
February 11, 2025
World War 2 has known many absurd designer ideas. Even as detached from reality as the Soviet tank megacruiser from Hearts of Iron 4: Gotterdammerung.
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Jacob Blazewicz
November 22, 2024
Hearts of Iron 4: Götterdämmerung is now available. The release wasn't without its problems, but the DLC was received much better than many of Paradox's recent titles.
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Jacob Blazewicz
November 15, 2024
If you can't wait for the latest DLC for HoI4, Gotterdammerung, here you will learn when it comes out and how much does it cost.
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Aleksander Kartasinski
November 12, 2024
A group of modders decided to upgrade the artificial intelligence in Hearts of Iron IV. The result is an interesting mod that you can from Steam Workshop.
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Adrian Werner
June 13, 2024
In a few hours, DLC for the games Dune: Spice Wars and Hearts of Iron IV will be released on Steam.
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Adrian Werner
March 7, 2024
Hearts of Iron 4 will soon get the Trial of Allegiance add-on. This time, the developers focused on South America, which also saw a lot of action during World War II.
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Kamil Kleszyk
January 29, 2024
Subscription prices for Paradox's two popular strategies, Hearts of Iron 4 and Europa Universalis 4, will soon increase. The monthly subscription will be about 60% more expensive.
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Zuzanna Domeradzka
January 12, 2024
Top s for Hearts of Iron IV Video Game:
mod Hearts of Iron IV - Millennium Dawn: Expanded v.1.3.1 - November 6, 2017
mod Hearts of Iron IV - The Great War v.0.24 "Kazakh Steppe" - November 5, 2024
trainer Hearts of Iron IV - v1.6.2 +24 Trainer - April 15, 2019
trainer Hearts of Iron IV - v1.5.4 +23 Trainer - August 20, 2018
mod Hearts of Iron IV - Alternative History - July 28, 2016
mod Hearts of Iron IV - Endsieg: Ultimate Victory v.0.1 - September 4, 2017
mod Hearts of Iron IV - 1949 Iron Wall v.0.62 - March 19, 2017
mod Hearts of Iron IV - A Brave World v.Alpha 0.7 - September 20, 2019
trainer Hearts of Iron IV - v1.0 - v1.3.0 +10 TRAINER - December 19, 2016
trainer Hearts of Iron IV - v1.10.4 +12 Trainer - February 12, 2021
System Requirements for Hearts of Iron IV Video Game:
PC / Windows
Minimum System Requirements:
Intel Core i5-750 2.66 GHz / AMD FX-4300 3.8 GHz, 4 GB RAM, graphic card 1280 MB GeForce GTX 470 / 1 GB Radeon HD 5850 or better, 2 GB HDD, Windows 7/8.1/10 64-bit.
Recommended System Requirements:
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3 GHz / AMD Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz, 6 GB RAM, graphic card 1280 MB GeForce GTX 570 / 3 GB Radeon HD 7970 or better, 2 GB HDD, Windows 10 64-bit.
List of Game Expansions for Video Game:
Expansion
May 15, 2025
Strategy
A smaller unit expansion for the 2016 grand strategy game from Paradox Interactive. Hearts of Iron IV: Prototype Vehicles Unit Pack introduces various World War 2 machines and vehicles which never entered production and remained as designs and sketches. The add-on features land, sea and water units.
Expansion
March 4, 2025
Strategy
A DLC featuring new nations for the popular strategy from Paradox Development Studio. Hearts of Iron IV: Graveyard of Empires introduces national focus trees for Iran, India, Iraq and Afganistan. This comes along with their unique graphics, leader portraits and three-dimensional unit models.
Expansion
November 14, 2024
Strategy
The tenth large expansion for the World War 2 strategy from Paradox Interactive. Hearts of Iron IV: Gotterdammerung allows us to change the course of history by creating new political and military alliances involving , Austria, Hungary, and Belgium.
Expansion
March 7, 2024
Strategy
The ninth major expansion to a 2016 WW2 strategy game. Hearts of Iron IV: Trial of Allegiance is set in South America, having us lead new nations (such as Brazil, Argentina and Chile) to greatness.
Expansion
October 10, 2023
Strategy
The eighth major expansion to the strategy game Hearts of Iron IV. Hearts of Iron IV: Arms Against Tyranny focuses on three Northern European countries - Finland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden - trying to survive World War II.
Expansion
September 27, 2022
Strategy
The seventh major add-on to the strategy game Hearts of Iron IV. HoI4 By Blood Alone focuses on Italy, Switzerland and Ethiopia and introduces, among other things, a special aircraft creator in which we can create our own fighters or bombers.
Expansion
November 23, 2021
Strategy
The next expansion to the fourth main installment of the Hearts of Iron series. No Step Back focuses on the Eastern Front of World War II, increasing the ability to command countries such as Poland, the USSR and Estonia.
Expansion
February 25, 2020
Strategy
Hearts of Iron IV: La Resistance is the fifth expansion to Paradox Interactive's second-wave global strategy. The patch introduces into the game the possibility of conducting spying actions by resistance movements.
Expansion
February 28, 2019
Strategy
Hearts of Iron IV: Man the Guns is an expansion to a strategy game developed by Paradox. This is not a standalone DLC, as it requires the base game to work and it expands the naval aspects of the game by implementing new options for deg and upgrading ships. Moreover, the game introduces new sea routes.
Expansion
March 8, 2018
Strategy
The third expansion to strategy game Hearts of Iron IV. Developers introduced new content for China and modified national objective trees for Japan and the Third Reich, allowing e.g. to remove Hitler from power and the German Empire.
Expansion
June 14, 2017
Strategy
A second DLC for the real-time strategy game Hearts of Iron IV. Created by Paradox Development Studio, the Death or Dishonor add-on focuses on four European countries, namely: Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia, which after the outbreak of the WWII were caught between the hammer and the anvil – the Third Reich and the USSR. In the expansion, the aforementioned countries receive all new and unique National Focus trees allowing the players to lead the country they choose taking one of the available paths. The four new countries also deliver new events and assets, such as leader portraits, 3D vehicle models, soldier dialogues, and pieces of soundtrack. Also arriving in Death or Dishonor are features like Equipment Conversion (making it possible for the players to upgrade their arsenal by using their older units, or utilizing captured enemy units), and the option to license military technology from other countries or license one’s tech to other governments. Also, the diplomatic features of the game have been developed by fascist countries getting new subject levels like Reichskommissariat, which hold the occupied nations in an iron grip.
Expansion
December 15, 2016
Strategy
The first large expansion for Hearts of Iron IV – the fourth installment of the popular grand strategy game series created by Paradox Interactive. The add-on, called Together for Victory, focuses on introducing new functions connected with British Commonwealth and the countries that were a part of it during World War II. This results in, among others, new national development trees for Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and India, complemented by historical figures and companies, while the whole add-on was designed to either replay the real course of war, or allow a completely abnormal, abstract scenario to play out. Thanks to a new autonomy system, the players can set various levels of dependency of subjected nations, and expand upon some of the national ideas, resulting in useful bonuses and technologies. The Commonwealth nations can share technologies, as well as ask their allies to lease them various equipment.
OpenCritic
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List of Game Add-Ons and DLCs for Video Game:
DLC Eastern Front Planes Pack June 3, 2021
DLC Battle for the Bosporus October 15, 2020
DLC Allied Armor Pack June 4, 2020
DLC Axis Armor Pack June 4, 2019
DLC Anniversary Pack June 6, 2017
DLC Radio Pack June 6, 2016
Game Ratings for Hearts of Iron IV Video Game.
Hearts of Iron IV Review – The Art of War
After seven long years, Hearts of Iron makes a big comeback. Ladies and gentlemen, the season for sleepless nights full of orders, international schemes, and endless taste of defeat is now officially open!
Wccftech: 9.2 / 10 by Chris Wray
In my opinion, Hearts of Iron 4 is the best grand strategy game out there. The setting is added an excellent level of authenticity with the battle-plan feature, excellent Ai and a world map that is absolutely splendid to look at and watch the war unfold. Combined with a well developed political and infrastructure system, there is so much that can be done in the game, one that will absorb your time and leave you with lost time.
GameSpot: 8 / 10 by Daniel Starkey
The king of World War II-era grand strategy has returned with more engaging choices and a streamlined interface.
IGN: 9 / 10 by T.J. Hafer
Hearts of Iron 4 wields complexity like a swift armor division during the blitzkrieg, allowing it to serve the idea of layered, cerebral, strategic warfare instead of letting it needlessly bog down the experience.
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