HOI IV’s first content creator pack offers a variety of new 2D art for the Soviet Union, but is it worth the price?
Banner of the Soviets, the banner of the people,
May it lead from victory to victory!
Hearts of Iron IV, Paradox Interactive’s epic grand strategy game set during the Second World War, is back with new DLC after a week of teasers celebrating the game’s 8th anniversary.
Playing as the Soviet Union, especially since the No Step Back DLC was released in 2021, is a fun but frustrating experience. You find yourself in a negative spiral as you desperately try to mitigate the effects of Stalin’s paranoia and rebuild your economy and military in preparation for an inevitable war with Nazi Germany.
No Step Back added a variety of cool new features, including an expanded Soviet Focus Tree that allowed you to take the country down the path to democracy, monarchy, or socialist alternatives to Stalinism. Artistically, the expansion was lacking and relied on many generic-looking illustrations for all this new content.
Nearly three years later, Paradox collaborated with digital artists Ethan Mayer and Aqeel Mughal to introduce a collection of new art for the Soviet Union, including 30 new plane and ship icons, 60 new tank icons, and 160 new National Focus icons. These are supposedly more historically accurate than what came before.
I support anything that adds depth to the game. Learning about all the different tanks, planes, and other vehicles employed during the Second World War is part of the fun, especially for military history buffs. Creating a unique aesthetic for the major factions makes you feel like you’re “on a team” in the same way that sports fans dress in their team colors and wave branded paraphernalia.
Certain color patterns and artistic styles immerse you in the period. As Aqeel Mughal explained in a Q&A: “For some of the political icons, I took inspiration from historical soviet propaganda posters/statues.” This creates a look and feel that respects historical accuracy and highlights each country’s unique culture and ideology.
My only complaint is that the new icons have a fuzzy, low-resolution cartoonish quality to them that doesn’t quite match the original icons. I prefer a sharper, grittier image. The actual image size and resolution is identical, so this must have been an artistic choice.
So is this new Content Creator Pack worth the $3.99 asking price? In terms of value added to the game itself, no. It changes nothing about the gameplay, nor does it meaningfully enhance the graphical user interface. You can find many similar graphical mods for free. $3.99 isn’t going to break the bank, but imagine if they released similar creator packs for every major power in the game. Now we’re talking about potentially spending over $20 (the cost of major DLC) for what amounts to a minor cosmetic enhancement.
However, I understand the time and effort that goes into these mods is considerable, and it’s nice to see Paradox working with members of the modding community to produce official content for the game. In that sense, they deserve to be compensated for their work. If you’re looking for a deeper immersion into the world of HOI4, this type of content might be for you. But you can continue playing the game without it and have just as much fun.
M.A. Kleen 