Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 Hours or Less

The Bottom Line:

"Surprisingly good"

Well, Hearts of Iron -2 - Arsenal of Democracy was beyond my expectations. I have played Iron Cross expansion as well, but i think this version has some magical touch that others doesn't have.

What i was impressed about:

* Annoying slider adjustments are gone. Yes, gone! instead you set the expenses. And they are not swinging back and forth.

* New "Trade" tab has been added to the top. Easy and fast trade enthusiasts will love it.

* Intelligence tab is simplified, especially by means of "send spy" action. You don't click thousand times to issue the order. There are simple + and - buttons created to do the job easy and fast.

* Now our divisions have the "supply" bar. This should have been there right from the beginning. This way, you see how much supplies left in that division. Simple yet essential.

* Now assigned leaders, commanders, ministers take time to reach their destination. Say, 8 days later they arrive to their division. Instant changes are no more.Very realistic!

* Tech team slot idle and Domestic sliders are available to change icons placed on upper left corner in map screen. They remain there until you fill the slots/change the slider. very clever!

* Now, more than 5 tech teams are available to work simultaneously. Germany had 8!

* In addition to the country domestic policies, now there are 3 more nation specific concepts called National identity, Social Policy and Culture which gives lots of bonuses and penalties.

First impressions are exciting. more to come.