The developers of the original Hearts of Iron, Paradox, took strategy gamers and World War II buffs by storm with the level of depth and complexity inherent in their game design. Needless to say, fans of the first game have high hopes for the next installation of the series. With the sequel coming up on us, we had the opportunity to interview Fredrik Lindgren, the director of marketing and sales at Paradox, about the differences between Hearts of Iron 2 and its predecessor.

Fredrik Lindgren: Hearts of Iron was the first game of true grand strategic scope, where you can play any nation during World War II. It defined a new genre among strategy games, and was a bridge between appreciated board games such as Axis & Allies and the RTS style strategy games. We also have a very active forum where both new and old Paradox gamers can discuss different features and events, which I believe heightens their experience and gives them all a new dimension to the game. The sequel is based on a very strong vision for Hearts of Iron 2 but also a lot of input from our gamers which of course has an appeal in of itself.

HP: Hearts of Iron was a gaming experience that required a certain degree of commitment from the player. Does Hearts of Iron 2 contain less of a learning curve for newcomers to the genre?

FL: The learning curve is less steep for Hearts of Iron 2. The goal has been to present a game that is easier to learn yet harder to master. We have reduced the level of micromanagement to make it easier to get into the game and just make it a more fun experience overall.

HP: The combat system for the sequel has been reworked from the original, how so?

FL: We wanted to make the combat system more realistic and better reflect the grand strategy scale of combat. By introducing the "movement-is-attack" system, combat is started as soon as troops move into a province, making it hard for the enemy to foresee a planned attack. The mission-system for units makes it possible to give detailed orders and decide the level of unit control.

HP: What changes have been made graphically and does the rousing classical music score reappear in Hearts of Iron 2?

FL: The map is new and a great number of new provinces have been added. Most graphical elements are new, including a complete update of the leader profiles and pictures. The music is specifically composed for Hearts of Iron 2 to give a deeper gameplay feeling, and reflect mood changes between war and peace.

HP: What have you found to be the primary challenges in creating a game that allows the player to so greatly affect the course of historical events while still maintaining historical accuracy?

FL: The game is designed in a way that makes the Axis lose about 85-90% of the time when playing hands-off (Artificial Intelligence versus Artificial Intelligence). However, the player still has a great level of freedom when it comes to deciding the outcome of history. Maybe the US will not enter the war in Europe, or the Soviet Union decides to enter the war to stop the Germans already in 1939. These decisions are up to the player. The AI way of playing is historically accurate.

HP: What can we expect out of the multi-player portion of the game?

FL: You can expect a lot from multiplayer in Hearts of Iron 2. We added co-operative multiplayer, giving players the opportunity to share a country while playing. It will be possible to play up to 32 simultaneous players in Hearts of Iron 2, through the Internet or a LAN.

HP: Can you explain the differences, as well as the interconnectedness between the various Alliances in the game?

FL: The three great alliances (Axis, Allies and Comintern) are all present in the game, but the player also has the chance to create new alliances of independent countries. The connections between alliances are dependent on if they share a common enemy as well as the ideology of the country leading the alliance.

HP: How does the aspect of continuous time affect the gameplay experience? And does the player have control over its effect?

FL: The player can pause at any time and take care of time-consuming tasks such as appointing new ministers to the government, trade agreements and war preparations. The real-time environment is a big challenge in multiplayer, since you have to act and think fast to be successful.

HP: Anything left to add?

FL: We play a lot of Hearts of Iron 2 multiplayer at the office. The open-ended gameplay and the outstanding replayability should appeal to most strategy game lovers, and we definitely believe this is the best game yet from Paradox.

HP: Thank you very much for your time!

FL: Thank you!