Hearts Of Iron IV: Graveyard Of Empires Review: A Grave Rave?

Out now on PC comes the latest DLC for Hearts Of Iron IV. This one is subtitled Graveyard Of Empires. This content brings a fistful of new nations, new focus trees, and units to a part of the world that hasn’t really seen any major updates to the series thus far. Adding new options for Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and reworking the Indian Focus Tree. This isn’t an expansion pack, it is a Country Pack. So there is no new gameplay, just new things to do with these nations. New things that, well, they sure are something.

Look, I can’t lie dear reader, I am sorely disappointed with Hearts Of Iron IV: Graveyard Of Empires and playing through it for this review was a slog. With confusing trees, focuses that take too long, an apparent emphasis on “Meme” paths over tangible material, as well as a lack of events to make it feel like you are having an impact on the world. It all works to make what is regrettably the worst piece of DLC I’ve ever reviewed. With that said, however, let’s get to the review itself.

Hearts Of Iron IV: Graveyard Of Empires is available now on PC on Steam and Paradox’s website. 

Story – News Of The Who?

As with past reviews of Hearts Of Iron IV DLC, Graveyard Of Empires doesn’t have a story. For obvious reasons. It is a game about real-world history, with a few alternate history options thrown in. The text that tells the context for this history is told via events and the text of the focuses and decisions. It is all typical stuff. And is mostly the same stuff you have seen dozens of times now.

However, this time I have to say that it feels like there is far less than there usually is versus other DLC that has been. With little to give greater context to the region you are in. Nor to your actions. Be they historically accurate or otherwise.

There are few events in Hearts Of Iron IV: Graveyard Of Empires,

There are very few new events that appear during the play-through. With next to nothing appearing when you achieve certain milestones. Except for the generic ones that come along when you do them with any other nation. Which I honestly find just baffling. Whilst an argument could be made with the last country pack that the events and context would be light; even though South America wasn’t as quiet as certain memes would lead you to believe.

Here we have nations that were, to one degree or another, directly involved in the Second World War. And the fact that there is little to reflect that is honestly shocking and sorely disappointing. Plus, there are very few events for the alternate history paths as well. It makes most of your actions feel hollow and meaningless.

Gameplay – Is there?

Typically, when I review DLC for Hearts Of Iron IV I tend to go into detail on the new trees, changes, and neat things I have found. As well as give a general feel for the DLC. But I can’t do that as I feel that Graveyard of Empires is a bit of a jumbled mess. What do I mean? Well, whilst there is some fun to be had with the new focuses, units, and formable nations.

But the content, regardless of who you play as, shares a lot of the same issues. Issues that drag down the experience as a whole. Or just feel odd. For example, none of the new gameplay gimmicks added over the past from DLCs are present here.

There are no gimmicks in Graveyard Of Empires, just 70 day focuses and begging.

There are no shared focus trees, no balance of power, and no unique raid missions. It all feels rather standard mechanically. Which itself wouldn’t be too bad if the rest of the material was up to snuff. But many of the trees still run on seventy-day focuses. And given how weak the nations you play in this game are when you begin, there isn’t much to do.

You spend a lot of time just waiting for numbers to go up until you can do something. And even then you need to time things well to be ready come the Second World War. Given this is a Country Pack and not an Expansion I can understand not adding new gameplay elements. But not using ones added over the past few years? That feels strange to me.

Age Of Empires

Additionally, far too many of the focuses rely on just improving relations with your neighbours to get land from them. That isn’t always the case, as war can be an option. However to get to some of those war options requires you to rush through some political trees to unlock them. Which means forgoing reforming/improving your army or industry in the process. You can try and do both, but you’ll be cutting things rather fine.

There are some war focuses that will come with the option to force a peace deal and keep the land you have taken. However, they don’t always happen. Either by bugs or bad design. Given that the base peace system is just as terrible as ever, there are many times when your only real option is to fight and defeat major nations.

I played this nation five different ways on Iron Man and not once did a scripted peace come up!

You still can’t force a peace with nations that you have largely defeated in this damn game. So you had better have plans to launch a naval invasion from the landlocked nation of Afghanistan against the United Kingdom (and possibly the USA too) if you end up in some long-winded war against them. Because it doesn’t matter if you take down the British Raj and all the Allies’ Pacific possessions, as they won’t surrender until you are outside London. If you’re lucky! Don’t get me wrong, there is fun to be had here with Graveyard of Empires. But it feels as though the DLC wasn’t given much of a proofread.

Into India

The focus trees in Hearts Of Iron IV: Graveyard Of Empires are a slog to get through and were a major hindrance for this review. So many of the focuses are either 70 days long, have bafflingly specific requirements, or are horrifically put together. Whilst in other focus trees you’ll have areas where the internal politics, foreign policy, and region-specific sections have their own areas. In this DLC, most of them are squashed together. With India’s historical tree their industry and independence tree is mashed together and presented in such a way that implies that you must do the industry stuff before trying to become independent.

Triggering this civil war is just the same PP spending mission as with Spain.

And whilst it is recommended, especially if you decide to pivot into more ahistorical paths, given just how long it can take to get through some of them, the Second World War might well be over before you make a break for independence. Which can sorely mess you up if you are trying to launch an armed rebellion. And given that it seeks to revive a lesser version of the pre-revolution stuff from the Spanish Civil War, this can make the whole thing feel rather time-consuming as you still just sit there waiting for numbers to go up.

Graveyard of Logic

Something I detest with Hearts Of Iron IV: Graveyard Of Empires is just how “Memey” it seems to be. It feels like certain paths have been made not to provide historical context or a rational “What if?” on certain moments in history. And instead seeks to be fodder for HOIV YouTubers. Now, I have no issue with HOIV going down more of a WW2 sandbox path.

But those paths need to feel like they are rational and credible. Sure, there can be silly and wild paths to go down. But those paths should need to be unlocked through specific choices and skills rather than just being there. As most of the alt-history paths here just feel like a great big “Yeah, but, why?” to me.

Almost everything you can do as Iraq will put you at war with the Allies.

The Mughal Empire feels like the biggest offender here. As India, you can break away into what is essentially modern-day Pakistan and become an independent nation. In old HOIV this would be accompanied by a handful of paths for Democratic, Communist, Fascist, and Non-Aligned options, with a secret Mughal Empire path if you do the right things.

Here, it is just the Mughal Empire. With unlockable war elephants that are so overpowered that with the right combo, you can melt whatever stands against you. Do you need to do something specific to get them? No, just standard options will get you there. The only challenge is a challenge of patience.

Memeing Middle East

This also extends out to the Middle Eastern nations as well. Whilst they don’t get paths quite as wacky as that, the fact you can launch a Re-Reconquista as Iraq, try to reform the ancient Persian Empire with Zoroastrianism at its core for Iran, and just beg your way to a larger nation with Afghanistan just feels strange.

There isn’t much justification for these things happening other than “Well, why not?”. Again, I have no issue with sillier or stranger paths existing. But it feels like many exist for the sake of it. With little justifiable historical reason for them happening other than “Well, this was a thing at one point in history”. I mean goodness, with India you can reform the East India Company and just buy land around you! Why? “Why not!?”.

Oh boy, just what the game needed to spice it up, taxes!

Again, I don’t have an issue with these in concept. But the problem is that these are your only options with most paths. Either you dedicate your time to years in-game doing nothing to get something kind of historically accurate. Or you dedicate your time to years in-game of doing nothing to get railroaded into something that isn’t historically accurate and just happens seemingly to make for a good Youtube video!

Mechanically, Hearts Of Iron IV: Graveyard Of Empires is just a lot of sitting around and then diving down clumsy paths that require expert timing to pull off, or you find yourself getting lost in an even bigger slog. But hey, War Elephants are cool, right?!

Graphics & Audio – Boom & Bust

Of all the topics of conversation in this review of Hearts Of Iron IV: Graveyard Of Empires, the Graphics & Audio are the areas I have the least problems with. Mostly due to the fact that there isn’t much to talk about. It once again does everything that it needs to with the level of production quality that you’ve come to expect from Paradox Interactive.

The new focus icons look great. And as far as I’m aware, unlike the previous Country Pack, there haven’t been leaders given the wrong skin colour or anything along those lines. All the new units look good. And the new soundtrack is fine.

If there was one area of complaint, it is that the country colours for the nations (and their alternate versions) can be rather dull by default. And sometimes it can feel a tad too close to other neighbouring nations. This isn’t a major issue. And it isn’t one that I feel ruins the experience.

But given how much time I have spent just staring at the map, waiting for something to happen, I do wish that, at the very least, I was given something more exciting to look at that was more unique to this region.

Hearts Of Iron IV: Graveyard Of Empires was reviewed on PC.