Hearts of Iron IV: Together for Victory DLC Review

Paradox Interactive are perfectionists. One needs only to look at the array of DLC and add-ons for its titles to see that the studio isn’t happy with leaving a game alone after release. The same is true with the developer’s latest grand strategy set around the Second World War: Hearts of Iron IV. Not too long after release Paradox have been tinkering with the British Empire, the result being Together for Victory.

On the surface the DLC can seem like a fairly lightweight update - the countries of the British Commonwealth - Canada, South Africa, India, Australia and New Zealand - gain their own National Focus trees and unique attributes. It’s a move that aims to flesh out these major contributors to the historical conflict. It’s probably a move we can expect to see much more of from Paradox - with fans crying out for more specific tech trees and traits.

The new abilities and unlockables make a playthrough as one of the Commonwealth countries much more feasible, while also at the same time more challenging. The British Raj, a slumbering giant in the game, has been handicapped by a penalty that reduces its available manpower by 50%. While before a player could have unbridled access to the millions of citizens of India, now racial tensions and British hegemony have hamstrung proper mobilisation.

That’s not to say that remaining on the side of the British and the Allies is mandatory (it wasn’t in the base game either), all of the nations now have an event chain they can follow in which they will break free from the British and forge their own destiny. In one playthrough of mine Canada declared independance and then promptly became a communist state, no doubt terrifying its democratic neighbours. One of the strengths of Hearts of Iron IV is its ability to create a sandbox of possibilities when the “historical AI” option is switched off. Together for Victory adds some more chaos into that melting pot of possibilities.

It’s not just a faction update, either. The DLC adds some neat visual touches to the UI and corrects some of the user flow issues that plagued the game’s menus and options. A few historical details have been corrected here and there - the original game had erroneously listed Neville Chamberlain as UK Prime Minister in 1936 - and gives the title some polish. Together for Victory also updates the Lend Lease system in the game, allowing faction leaders and major countries the chance to prop up their allies with munitions, supplies and resources. The base game’s system was tricky to get a hang of and unnecessarily clunky so it's a welcome change.

The question that must be asked, though, is why a lot of these features, which can be argued as minor changes, weren’t included in the base game. For £10.99 you’re not really getting a lot for your money. It would be slightly unfair to say that a lot of these changes feel like a user-made mod, but at a price point as high as this, I can’t in good conscience recommend it as a must-buy for players of the base game. Perhaps it’s best to wait for the price to drop slightly, or for Together for Victory to be included in a DLC pack.