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Hearts of Iron II Image
  • Summary: Hearts of Iron II is the sequel to the most appreciated World War II PC game of true Grand Strategic scope! As in its forbear, the map spans the entire world and allows you to play one of over 130 countries during the years of World War II. Hearts of Iron II is a dream come true for every armchair general and forces the player to choose sides when democracy, communism and fascism clash in the battles that changed history. [Paradox] Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 27
  2. Negative: 0 out of 27
  1. 95
    Improved in just about every way imaginable, Hears of Iron 2 will not only satisfy the fans of the previous game, but is now set up in such a way to entice an even larger market segment into enjoying the title.
  2. Though it bears similarities in style and setting to its predecessor, at heart is a new game with incredible depth that is accessible to any dedicated strategy gamer now, thanks to the completely overhauled interface.
  3. Does a great job of creating a game that simulates the experience of "Axis and Allies" the board game, just updated and enhanced with the power of a computer.

See all 27 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 21
  3. Negative: 2 out of 21
  1. Kris
    10
    Absolutely amazing. The game's not easy to learn, but once you do, it's by far the most impressive strategy game available, stressing on realism and historical fact. Expand
    • 1 of 1 users said yes
  2. This may be just about one of the best strategy games of all time. It has a rather steep learning curve, though, and it took me 3 years, on and off to fully get to appreciate it and learn how to play it successfully. That being said, it's rather hard beating Germany in any case, but that is what makes this game even better than most - it actually challenges the player. Definitely highly recommended for all historic strategy nerds, such as myself! :) Expand
    • 1 of 2 users said yes
  3. PatrickS.
    2
    Hearts of Iron 2 seems more of an attempt to make a historical model program rather than a "game". After going through the very awkwardly done and inadequqte "tutorial", i found the gaphics, the structure, and the game play itselt to be very dull. Yes, there are photos of every cabinet member and general. But so what, if the game isn't fun to play? Hearts of Iron manages to provide monumental levels of detail but at the same time fails to synthesize them into a worthwhile abstraction for command, control, and play. Notions such as "being able to play any country" seem interesting for reviewers to note, but in real terms, does anyone really want to play an entire game of WWII as Argentina or Tasmania? There's no point to such mechanics as far as gaming goes, though if one is making some kind of modeling software to the conflict, then i suppose one has that. But i don't buy games to use them as encyclopedias. I buy them to play. And for play, Hearts of Iron is a complete dud. Unless you're a detail-driven simulation-holic, avoid this one! Expand
    • 2 of 3 users said yes

See all 21 User Reviews

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    • Release Date: Nov 24, 2002
    • Platform: PC
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