Earlier this month, we asked you to vote for your favourite strategy games of all time to celebrate the launch (and glorious return) of several strategy classics this month, including Relic's WW2 RTS Company Of Heroes 3, Blue Byte's The Settlers: New Allies and Cyanide's fantasy Warhamball Blood Bowl 3. And cor, I've never seen such love for individual expansions and total conversion mods among mainline RTS games and 4Xs. As with all strategy games, however, there can only be one victor - and you can find out what that single strategy game to rule them all is right here. Here are your 50 favourite strategy games of all time, as voted for by you, the RPS readership.
]]>Grand strategy global war game Hearts Of Iron IV will be engaged by new expansion By Blood Alone later this year, Paradox Interactive have announced. The new pack will let you design your very own warplanes, while also indulging alternate history fans with its focus trees for Italy, Ethiopia and, interestingly, neutral Switzerland. Check out the announcement trailer below.
]]>Paradox Interactive are notoriously enthusiastic about DLC, often releasing years of expansions and add-ons for their big strategy games rather than leaping straight into sequels. So as an alternative to spending £100-odd for all a game's DLC, Paradox have started dabbling in letting players pay monthly fees to play them. The next game to start such a DLC subscription service is Hearts Of Iron IV, launching today. Like the others, it'll charge £4 per month. Or alternatively, you can still just buy DLC for keepsies.
]]>What to do when you've completed a Crusader Kings 3 campaign? You could start over as a new ruler in a new place, I suppose, but isn't that negligent? A truly responsible leader would steer their nation through the middle ages, the Victorian era, and World War 2. And you can do that thanks to a tool which transfers a CK3 world into Europa Universalis 4, picking it back up in the Paradox grand strategy game set in the following era. You could also then use another tool to take that from EU4 into Victoria 2, then into Hearts Of Iron 4 with yet another tool, converting the same world across one millennium-long 'megacampaign'.
]]>Paradox Interactive, the makers of Crusader Kings and Stellaris, have announced the "impending completion" of a collective bargaining agreement with the labour unions for its employees in Sweden. By the end of this month, Paradox employees should have a formal way of influencing their pay, benefits and responsibilities, and be generally better protected by the unions they're part of. If you're a little confused on what all this "collective agreement" business means though, bear with me while I have a go at explaining it.
]]>Paradox today announced the next Hearts Of Iron IV expansion pack, named La Résistance. As well as giving resistance movements more to do, it will introduce a new espionage system. I will confess, when I first saw the announcement trailer on Paradox's PDXCON stream I did think it might be a whole new game about the French Resistance with a pretty painted style and got a bit over-excited. Ah well. See for yourself below.
]]>I'm nothing if not a hypocrite. Week after week I lament you utterly awful people buying the exact same five games again and again and again and again and again and again and again. This week I shall lament people buying games that barely even exist. Hold my hand, let me walk you through this most peculiar of weeks, and into oncoming traffic.
]]>There's a new Hearts Of Iron IV expansion out today, and this one goes ham on the history books. While Paradox's grand strategy series has always played a bit fast and loose with real history, the Man The Guns expansion pairs a slew of naval warfare upgrades with some wildly divergent histories. The British Empire could re-establish monarchic power, or decolonise decades early, while America can hurl itself into a second civil war in pursuit of reforms. Of course, this being a Paradox game there's a shipload of free naval changes coming in a free update for owners of the base game. A trailer sets sail below.
]]>We've just passed the half-way point of 2018, so Ian Gatekeeper and all his fabulously wealthy chums over at Valve have revealed which hundred games have sold best on Steam over the past six months. It's a list dominated by pre-2018 names, to be frank, a great many of which you'll be expected, but there are a few surprises in there.
2018 releases Jurassic World Evolution, Far Cry 5 Kingdom Come: Deliverance and Warhammer: Vermintide II are wearing some spectacular money-hats, for example, while the relatively lesser-known likes of Raft, Eco and Deep Rock Galactic have made themselves heard above the din of triple-A marketing budgets.
]]>The Paradox DLC factory continues to diligently extend the lives of its myriad grand strategy romps, with all but Stellaris getting new DLC announcements at PDXCON last month. We’re getting restless pagan warriors, war elephants and even some sharks. If you can match the feature to the game, you get a polite nod of respect.
Rather than tiring you out, making you click on three articles like a thoughtless task master, I’ve gathered all the sizzling deets in one place. Rest those fingers and direct your eyes below to find out what’s changing in Hearts of Iron 4, Europa Universalis 4 and Crusader Kings 2.
]]>First launched in 2016, Hearts of Iron IV is yet another of the grand strategy games to come from the great grand strategy Santa's Workshop known as Paradox Interactive. Mixing sandbox style play and real-time war simulation, the title allows you to start in 1936 or 1939 and take one control of one great power -- leading them to victory over the rest of the, you know, World War. Today, the third major expansion for the game was announced. Man the Guns develops the naval side of war, including the addition of modular design for warships.
]]>Democracy is on the brink of collapse. Caesar's Legion, the authoritarian slave state across the Colorado River, has launched a massive assault on the last, best chance for freedom in the post-apocalyptic world of Fallout. It's a grim certainty in Old World Blues that the New California Republic will fight Caesar's Legion: they're the wasteland's two superpowers, diametrically opposed ideologically, each expanding towards the other. I just thought I was better prepared. While Caesar was annihilating every ill-defended tribe to the west, I was rearming, inviting new states into the republic, and admittedly annexing a few tribes myself. With the game paused, I assess my options, reorganise my armies and ask, finally, does democracy die in 2279?
Old World Blues is a mod for Hearts of Iron IV which transports the World War II grand strategy game hundreds of years forward into the post-apocalyptic American west coast of the Fallout series. Players select a faction in the year 2275 and attempt to survive and thrive in the west coast wasteland. Structurally, it's similar to Hearts of Iron IV, but the content and style has been transformed. Old World Blues is tremendously fun, comparable in quality to the standard Hearts of Iron IV game, and it does a terrific job of translating Fallout to grand strategy.
]]>'Waking the Tiger' is not a ho-ho-hilarious euphemism for onanism, unless you want it to be, but rather the next Hearts of Iron IV expansion. It'll focus on making China more unique in the WW2 grand strategy game, complete with several possible political paths the country might have gone down, along with expanding other systems in the game. Paradox are taking their time with this one as, after announcing Waking the Tiger way back in November 2017, they today announced plans to release it on March 8. For now, here's a new dev video going over some of its additions:
]]>Another year over, a new one just begun, which means, impossibly, even more games. But what about last year? Which were the games that most people were buying and, more importantly, playing? As is now something of a tradition, Valve have let slip a big ol' breakdown of the most successful titles released on Steam over the past twelve months.
Below is the full, hundred-strong roster, complete with links to our coverage if you want to find out more about any of the games, or simply to marvel at how much seemed to happen in the space of 52 short weeks.
]]>The next expansion for WW2 grand strategy game Hearts of Iron IV will focus on China, developers Paradox have announced. Waking the Tiger is its name and making China more unique is its game. They'll get new artwork for units as well as National Focus trees to play as either the Chinese Republic or Communist China. The expansion will also bring new alternate history options for Japan and Germany, including ways to topple Hitler and take Germany in a different direction. In a funny little twist, the announcement of this China-centric expansion comes just weeks after Hearts of Iron IV was removed from sale on Steam in China "due to a claim that the game does not comply with local law." It's like rain on your wedding day.
As ever with Paradox strategy expansions, a free new patch bringing game changes for everyone will accompany the launch.
]]>With Halloween fast approaching, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about typical spooky things: ghouls and ghosts, vampires and werewolves, marrying off my daughter to an appropriate suitor and the best trade strategy to dominate the Aegean. The Steam Halloween Sale is in full swing until November 1, and thanks to Paradox Interactive, it’s full of grand strategy games.
]]>Paradox have started handing out games as compensation to those affected by their recent surprise regional price hikes. Prices went up by only a few percent for some people but almost doubled for others. Paradox have reverted the prices now. They had thought they might be able to give partial refunds but that's proved unworkable.
Instead, anyone who bought Paradox products at the higher prices -- which were between May 17th and July 6th -- is eligible to claim a game from a list including Stellaris and Crusader Kings II, or alternatively two bits of select DLC.
]]>Paradox Interactive, the gang behind games including Crusader Kings and Hearts of Iron, have pledged to undo their recent increases to regional prices across much of the world. While many of the price rises were minor, others were huge. For example, the price of Stellaris in Russia went from 699₽ to 1199₽. Paradox had said the increases were "to make our prices match the purchasing power of those areas" but have since decided they communicated this poorly, so they will roll the prices back.
]]>Adam is away at E3 and thus someone who isn't Adam needs to develop emotions and/or words regarding the new DLC available for two of Paradox's grand strategy games, Europa Universalis IV [official site] and Hearts of Iron IV [official site]. That person is me so I was hoping that somehow it was an under-the-sea expansion of some kind. The fact that the DLCs are called Third Rome and Death or Dishonor respectively implies not. I'll wear my snorkel just in case, though.
]]>It seems unconventional to celebrate what is essentially World War 2 kicking off but hey, Hearts of Iron IV [official site] launched a year ago today and Paradox are marking it with the gift of free DLC. The small 'Anniversary Pack' freebie brings Polish voices for Polish troops, twenty new portraits for leaders and generals, and twenty new icons for divisions. Not huge, but nice to have.
Paradox have also crunched some numbers from the past year of play, noting that the active playerbase is still growing, and sharing stats such as: 60% players use mods.
]]>At the Paradox Convention last month, I was hoping to see something new from Paradox Development Studio, the internal team responsible for the company's core strategy titles. There were new expansions for Europa Universalis IV [official site] and Hearts of Iron IV [official site], and the hiring of Jon Shafer is an interesting move, but no actual games were announced. I sat down with creative director Johan Andersson and CEO Fredrik Wester about the possibility of a Crusader Kings [official site] sequel, the expansion model, and what the future holds for the development side of Paradox.
]]>Paradox have announced a historical grand strategy expansion blowout-o-rama for June 14th, when they'll launch the Third Rome 'immersion pack' for Europa Universalis IV [official site] and the Death or Dishonor 'country pack' for Hearts of Iron IV. Yup, both on the very same day. Paradox had a similar plan in April, releasing Europa Universalis and Stellaris expansions on the same day, so I guess they're confident a grand strategy double-header is not as odd an idea as it might seem. For players who do want both of 'em, Paradox will offer a small discount. It's a war-o-rama.
]]>Jon Shafer was 21 years old when he became lead designer of Civilization V. Now working at Paradox on an unannounced project and on his own historical strategy game At The Gates in his spare time, he says he's learning from the likes of Spelunky along with the more obvious strategic influences. We spoke about how the second half of every Civ sucks, the part the series played in his life, the perils of boredom in strategy design, how much we love maps, and what the future holds for both Shafer and Paradox.
I began by asking how he ended up sitting at the Paradox Convention, in Stockholm, the city that has now been his home for two weeks: "It's quite a long story, actually."
That story begins in Denver, around 2003.
]]>A mid-sized expansion for Hearts of Iron 4 [official site] will focus on expanding Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia, Paradox announced today. Named 'Death or Dishonor', the expansion will bring unique National Focus trees to those countries Paradox say were "caught between the dueling ambitions of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany." They're calling it a 'Country Pack' rather than a full expansion, though it will bring a new feature or two. And, in the traditional Paradox way, it'll be accompanied by a big patch. AI and air action are both due touch-ups in that.
]]>Playing any nation in Hearts of Iron IV [official site] beyond the big players, like Great Britain or Germany, is a lot like sitting at the kid’s table. The pace is slow, there are less complex decisions to make, and it never feels like anything that’s going on is nearly as important as what’s happening at the adult’s lavish banquet table. They’re dragging the world into a global war while you’re wondering if you’ve been completely forgotten.
Together for Victory promises to change that, at least for the Commonwealth countries: Canada, Australia, South Africa, India and New Zealand. The expansion gives these five nations a serious makeover, and they now sport unique national focus trees, historical and speculative events, and more freedom even while they remain stuck to Britain.
]]>Hearts of Iron IV [official site] has today launched its first expansion, Together for Victory, but just as importantly has released a big patch fixing a lot. While the expansion focuses on the British Dominions and Commonwealth and introduces an autonomy system, while the update in theory does a fair bit to improve the AI. Some players are reporting the game has started crashing for them but, for now, a workaround is helping with that.
]]>The first expansion for Hearts of Iron 4 [official site] will hit next Thursday, December 15th, developers Paradox announced today. 'Together for Victory' focuses on the British Dominions and Commonwealth states, making them more unique and interesting with new alternate histories, new unique art, new National Focuses and so on. The base game is a bit lacking so it'll be interesting to see what direction Paradox are taking it in with expansions.
]]>As the remains of the British Empire crumble into the sea, here comes the first Hearts of Iron IV [official site] expansion to, er, in Paradox's words, "[shine] a bright light on the British dominions and colonies that rallied around the flag in England's darkest hour." Hash tag topical. Hash tag good luck with that now pal. Mash tag two veggie sausages and beans, thanks. Paradox don't say when Together for Victory will come out or how much it'll cost but hey, they have whipped together a wee trailer to set the mood:
]]>Like Fred Durst and the Nazi war machine, Hearts of Iron IV [official site] patches keep rollin' rollin' rollin'. Paradox today launched Patch 1.2, codenamed Sunflower, which focuses on improving the WW2 grand strategy game's AI and user interface but also fiddles with balance and... history? That doesn't seem safe.
]]>This is the second and final part of Fraser's attempts to paint the world red in Hearts of Iron IV [official site]. You can read part one here.
It’s a new dawn for Britain. As WWII gets ever closer, the glorious Union of Britain, now a communist superpower, is enjoying its liberation from the shackles of capitalism and democracy. Ignore the tears in the fabric of space time – it’s a small price to pay for setting history right.
There’s little time to settle into this new communist groove, however. The majority of the world is still crying out for a saviour, from our pals across the Irish Sea and the Atlantic, to our continental buddies. The biggest problem is picking which country to save first.
]]>What if the UK was communist, I wondered as I munched on a gruesome burger from McDonalds while browsing for a new pair of Converses on my oversized smartphone. Would I finally have the confidence to pull off a bushy, Stalinesque moustache? Would those red trousers which I bought on a day I lost all sense, but never wore, suddenly look good on me?
To give direction to my aimless pondering I fired up Paradox’s grand strategy-wargame hybrid, Hearts of Iron IV [official site]. Not just a World War II simulator, it’s a What If scenario generator, answering the big questions like: how can Germany win the war? Can Argentina take over South America? And, of course, what if the UK was communist? Let’s find out.
]]>Paradox release some cracking games, but they often need a patch or two to start to shine. If you've been waiting for Hearts of Iron IV [official site] fixes, good news: Paradox today launched the first major patch for their new WW2 grand strategy game. Along with the usual bug fixes, crash fixes, and balance tweaks, update 1.1 gets stuck into improving the game's AI.
This also means we can start enjoying more of the weird fun patch notes Paradox's complex sims often bring, such as "King George V only dies once, now."
]]>Like a man dancing to Belle & Sebastian, last week's best-selling Steam games saw some shaking at the top but not a lot of movement below. IS YOUR FAVOURITE GAME HERE AND WHAT DOES IT SAY ABOUT YOU AS A PERSON IF IT'S NOT?
]]>I am genuinely surprised by which game sold best on Steam last week (previous weeks here, btw). PC gaming remains beautifully unpredictable, doesn't it?
]]>Paradox today released Hearts of Iron IV [official site], the latest in their awfully serious grand strategy series. It's a World War II game, sure, but it's unlikely to play out the way you've seen in so many games before. As is the grand strategy way, Hearts of Iron IV puts players in command of any nation in the world, rewriting history as they try to survive the turbulent time - and onwards. Yeah, good luck pal.
]]>Adam has been jumping up and down and screaming about Paradox's brand new strategy game Stellaris, but we've neglected to mention that the one of their classics has a new game right around the corner. Hearts of Iron IV [official site], the next in the World War II grand strategy series, will launch on June 6th. So now here's a new video developer diary to explain a little about warring by land, sea, and air.
]]>"It'll be over by Christmas," Hearts of Iron IV [official site] thinks to itself as the engineers at Paradox fiddle with its guts. "They'll send me home via Steam-tube, rather than back to the frontlines of testing and development."
No such luck. The World War II grand strategy game is due to spend another Christmas in development. That's good news for us though because it represents a commitment to the cause. Rather than dashing for release while the shells are still falling, Hearts of Iron is standing firm. The last time I played, in a huge multiplayer session, there were several interface and balance issues in need of attention. That's exactly what they're getting - I spoke to Paradox at Gamescom and they told me how things stand.
]]>The first time I moved to the unsteady beat of Hearts of Iron IV [official site], I played as Germany and managed to avoid the catastrophe of World War II by fudging my initial invasion plans so badly that the French were preparing to march on Berlin by 1938. France, like every other nation, had been controlled by the AI.
This time around, I played two games. Two games in a world populated by around twenty human players, controlling all of the major powers and some minor players. The first time around, I was outside the main theater, attempting to transform Brazil into a major trading power. When that world tore itself apart, I picked Japan in a draft and set about taming the Russian Bear with a little help from my friends.
]]>Hearts of Iron [official site] is the one Paradox grand strategy series that I've been unable to befriend. Partly that's because it's a more guided experience, a game about a specific war rather than a historical sandbox and it's partly because of the micromanagement involved in production and resource chains. Hearts of Iron IV might change that, with its cleverly streamlined factory operations and improved minor nations. More on that later this week.
First of all, I wanted to discuss the difficulty of playing the bad guys.
]]>Hearts of Iron [official site] is my Moby Dick. I've spent an inordinate portion of my adult life playing grand strategy games, particularly those of the Paradox variety. I'm slightly unusual in that Europa Universalis wasn't my gateway game – I entered the fold by means of the first Crusader Kings, which swiftly became one of my favourite games, despite its problems. From there I moved to Europa Universalis II and struggled to infiltrate the colonial powers of Victoria. It wasn't until the sequel that I learned to enjoy the nineteenth century.
Hearts of Iron IV might finally bring me into the heart of the twentieth century.
]]>In the distant year of January 2014, I saw an early version of Hearts of Iron IV at the annual Paradox convention. It was one of the games that I was most interested to see because of the four Paradox grand strategy series (Europa, Crusader Kings and Victoria being the others), the World War II simulation HOI is the one I've never quite managed to get to grips with. In fact, I have about as strong a grip on it as I do on a family of eels in a bucket of caviar. Or a MOBA. The military emphasis doesn't fit with my usual strategic styles of play and I fear the micromanagement. How pleasing, then, that the latest entry combines streamlined production and an equisite battle planning system, which you can glimpse in the trailer below.
]]>My internet connection during the Paradox Convention was about as spotty as Superted's best chum, forcing me to return with a satchel full of hand-written notes. There's still plenty to write about, not least my dangerous new Wizard Wars obsession, but buried at the bottom of my inky papers are six pages of scribbles about Hearts of Iron IV. As the latest representative of the one Paradox grand strategy series that I've consistently failed to penetrate, HOI IV is an exciting prospect for several reasons. EU IV and CK II are the friendliest incarnations of their respective series to date, and while HOI IV isn't due until 2015, early signs are promising. At the heart of the Hearts is the most attractive map Paradox have ever produced and a new battle plan system that allows players to evade micromanagement if they so choose.
]]>
