Even though I have just ordered Hearts of Iron III, Paradox isn’t wasting any time waiting for the late ones like me: the company has announced yet another game in the series, one developed by a studio made up by fans of the series! Titled Arsenal of Democracy, the game is described as “the ultimate World War II simulation” which makes me wonder if I should cancel my HoI3 order…

Project Leader Lennart Berg says about the upcoming game: “During the years of the Hearts of iron II lifecycle, I made a list of improvements in the forums and these became the guidelines to the new game. So we went ahead and implemented these along with many more ideas until we had pretty much replaced and enhanced everything from the original. The end result, in our very humble opinion, is the ultimate World War II simulation.” A very humble opinion indeed!

So this “Hears of Iron II on steroids” title will feature an increased resolution plus windowed mode, bran new (aka totally reworked) combat mechanics, including realistic combat behavior and losses as well as new technologies, missions and a new espionage interface. Also, the logistics system will be more realistic and the economy and production systems will be very detailed (and hearing that from a HoI developer, I believe it!) and, of course, everything will be moddable, so that any gamer can expand the word of Arsenal of Democracy.

No release date has been yet announced for the upcoming strategy title, so I guess I’ll keep my Hearts of Iron III order active. But I’m still excited about Arsenal of Democracy, too!