Hearts of Iron 4: Götterdämmerung review – Are ve zhe goodies?

The Götterdämmerung DLC is a return to form

Paradox Interactive

Democracy has triumphed, I thought. Communism was dead. Fascism was reduced to small and irrelevant holdouts. In this timeline, World War 2 demanded far less blood in tribute than it did in reality, even though wars took place in the European as well as the Pacific theater. What, then, was different? Germany – this timeline had a very different Germany, because Hearts of Iron 4: Götterdämmerung, the latest DLC for Paradox Interactive’s grand strategy game, offers players a completely revised German focus tree with all-new playstyles that allow it to become something other than one of the worst states to ever disgrace the pages of history.

For those seeking the thrill of an alt-timeline run with Germany, a decision right at the start of the game will be pivotal. Instead of following Hitler’s mad gamble to remilitarize the Rhineland in ‘36, you can decide to rally the Wehrmacht and challenge the Nazis to a civil war. Upon taking Berlin, Hitler does the world a favor and offs himself and after the war you have a choice to take out the rest of the trash by hanging them – problem solved. Only, what comes after? Germany being an unstable mess after World War 1 is what brought the Nazis to power in the place, so you’ll need to somehow pave a way to a different Germany after removing them.

Paradox did a pretty good job in identifying possible routes the country might have taken in such a scenario – you can choose communism, democracy (in the UK’s manner, under a king), or a return of the Kaiser. What’s cool is that all of these paths can be explored with a different flavor. You can choose democracy and still pursue a path of vengeance for World War 1. You can get the Kaiser back but choose not to let old Willy return, instead installing a relative to serve as the puppet for the Wehrmacht’s military dictatorship. You can even team up with the British to stab the French in the back. Everything’s on the table and it’s pretty exciting.

A good day for the world. / Paradox Interactive

My Germany run was a democratic one, in which I steered the country down a path of reconciliation with its old enemies. My big goal? Save Eastern Europe from Stalin. The focus tree gives you some really handy tools for that – you can found your own faction and unite the nations of Central and Eastern Europe under your leadership, fanning the flames of paranoia against the red menace.

While collecting allies under my banner, I built up Germany’s slumbering economy and science. The Nazis had driven away some of the country’s brightest minds, but you can recall them and put them to work – on some new special projects.

In Götterdämmerung, research for stuff like nuclear technologies and advanced planes takes place in special labs you can construct on your territory. You can assign scientists and some resources to these and tell them what to explore. It’s a way to recreate stuff like the Manhattan Project and at the same time ask “What if someone blew it up?” – because you can do that. A research lab shows up on the map as a physical location and can not only be conquered and then used for yourself, you can target such buildings with strategic raids to delay projects.

Here, too, Götterdämmerung makes some cool choices when it comes to available projects. Nations such as Germany had plenty of straight-up insane ideas during the war and the DLC ripped quite a few of those Wunderwaffen out of the realm of the impossible and right into the game. A large motherplane carrying small bombers for intercontinental strikes? Sure. Using wood and ice to build a gigantic aircraft carrier? Okay. Putting a battleship’s main turret into a massive armored chassis to create a super-heavy tank? Yep.

Advanced projects will require some resources to research. / Paradox Interactive

World War 2 made people creative and Götterdämmerung makes their dreams a reality – as Germany, I enthusiastically researched the Maus, a heavy tank from late in the war, for which some prototype chassis were actually built, and the Ratte, which is the megalomaniac tank I described above.

All of these projects will give you random events, which often allow you to tweak the final stats of what you’re building. Each project can develop a little narrative of its own, making it all the more satisfying when you complete the research and finally deploy the first fruit of all this labor.

Such special projects are not the only things that can be targeted by raids, though. The map now features landmarks like dams, oil fields, and even buildings like the Statue of Liberty, which serve as potential targets for strikes. Intertwining what’s happening on the map itself more with the nitty gritty details of the gameplay is a good direction – I like it in Crusader Kings 3 and I like it here.

While building up my economy and researching new technologies (naturally, I also prioritized the construction of a physics lab to get some nukes on the table), more and more nations joined me. Austria voted for unification and from Scandinavia to Czechoslovakia, everyone looked for allies against the Soviet threat. While you can leave it at that, the game gives you a tool to transform this scenario into one in which you take a more direct approach to your allies – you can push for more economic integration and then peacefully absorb all of your erstwhile friends. After taking down the Soviets together, which goes much smoother if you don’t have to fight on two fronts, it turns out, I “suggested” to my allies that their administration should be left to me. They were all too happy with that.

No need for armies: Germany can take over Europe peacefully now. / Paradox Interactive

After taking out Fascist leftovers like Italy and Hungary, I was master of Europe. The British were skeptical since I had caused a lot of world tension, but the French liked me – so democracy had won, or so I thought. Then the British decided to randomly elect a fascist into power, causing all of their colonies to declare independence, to which fascist Britain reacted completely calmly by provoking civil wars in each of them, backing the fascist sides. Yikes. I helped where I could with weapons deliveries, but despite the Allies becoming the new Axis, France remained loyal to the British, which deterred me from doing more for a while, as I was hoping I could get them to my side first.

Sometimes these things take on their own dynamic, though, and I saw myself forced to actively intervene – it was the Allies against Germany after all, only this time we were the goodies. Fast forward into the early 50s and the war is still going on. It’s been bloodier than actual World War 2 – so much for creating a better timeline – and it looks like I might be able to pull this one off for democracy, but it’s close.

Britain is slowly turning into a radioactive wasteland because I keep pummeling it with nukes – they have a lot of boats, you see, so that’s about all I can do to them directly. Götterdämmerung actually changed how nukes work a little bit. Curiously, they no longer impact population, which isn’t exactly a realistic change, but focus their role on cracking infrastructure and defenses. The fact that civilians can’t die from nuclear weapons hasn’t reached the game’s event system yet, though, because it very heavily implied that I vaporized the royal family with my first nuclear raid on London – sadly, the fascist cockroach of a leader they elected escaped to fight another day.

Welp, there goes Manchester. / Paradox Interactive

Since I just got back to Hearts of Iron 4 with Götterdämmerung, I can’t comment on the AI changes made in the DLC, though public perception of them seems to be quite positive.

Outside of these changes, the expansion added new and reworked focus trees for Austria, Hungary, Belgium, and Congo. Though not as extensive as the German one – which contains new mechanics and decisions for playing as the Nazis as well, I should mention for the sake of completeness – they add lots of new possibilities for these nations. 

Austria can strike out and reform the Habsburg Empire, while Hungary can return to its own imperial ambitions – with or without the pesky Austrians. Belgium can actively collaborate with Germany now or prepare to continue the fight from exile in Africa, while Congo gets new options that set it up for glory in a post-colonial Africa.

Götterdämmerung is German for “twilight of the gods” – the Ragnarök of Norse mythology. Far from being the end, however, this DLC breathes a lot of new life into Hearts of Iron 4 after some more disappointing expansions. Though it comes at a steep price – $24.99 USD – this is very much a return to form for Paradox, providing massive replayability and detail to one of the most pivotal nations in the setting and some of its close neighbors. Both special projects and raids are neat systems that can be expanded in the future and they more tightly connect the map with the research and army screens we look at so often.

Score: 8/10

Version tested: PC (Steam)