DHGF: Hearts of Iron II came out before I joined the staff here at Diehard GameFAN and therefore I never had the chance to review it although I often referred to it as one of my all time favourite games. Hours would seemingly go by like minutes as I planned my economy, organized my forces and researched new snorkels for my submarines. Not even the mighty Sid Meier’s Civilization could hold me in its thrall like Hearts of Iron II.
People may say that World War II is a tired genre and Hearts of Iron beat it to death, but Darkest Hour is an extremely compelling and refreshing look at the hardcore war strategy series.
Hearts of Iron II is still a great game, even after numerous expansion packs and a full blown sequel but for the developers behind Darkest Hour it still wasn't enough. Darkest Hour takes Hearts of Iron 2 and kicks it up a notch by expanding it both 20 years into the past and future from the era where Hearts of Iron 2 took place. Now, with a whole 50 years of history spanning from 1914 to 1964 to mess with, there's even more freedom available to the player.
Darkest Hour: a Hearts of Iron Game is an incredibly complex wargame, set during World War 2, that lets you take control of literally any nation that participated.
So it has an impressive scope, but the game itself has a few problems. It's still enjoyable, but falls just short of essential.
