As with many who play HOI, I have owned and played to death all three games, as well as dabbled in Paradox's other releases (e.g. Victoria). In terms of strategy they are second to none. However there has always been one thing that has frustrated me, and Paradox Interactive never seems to learn from this, and that is the graphics of the interface and the general presentation of the game, which has largely been unchanged since HOI1
In my opinion each release is not very well presented, with bland artwork and dull interfaces. For HOI3 I waited until the game had been out a few months after release to buy, as vanilla for HOI1 and HOI2 was not attractive at all and I knew that there would be mods for HOI3 to improve it.
On the interface more generally, from what I can see by searching on the web the interface in-game looks almost the same as previous games, which is rather disappointing. In fact, I will bet that the 3 concept art pictures which are uploaded currently on the main website (http://www.paradoxplaza.com/games/hearts-of-iron-iv#images_game-tab) will be the loading screens for HOI4 in 2015. Why do I predict this, because this is exactly what happened with previous games (Do a search for HOI3 concept art - look familiar when loading up the game?). It is lazy, and I do not know why Paradox cant spend some time improving the general look and interface given they have a year before release.
Does a bland looking and not very well presented game mean it is a bad game, of course not. The reason I and others play the HOI series is because of the gameplay. But with a fourth release on the way, is it that much to ask for a better presented game more fitting of the 2010's?
Ironically it really doesn't have to be this way, as Paradox has a untapped resource that it hasn't exploited for years. Each HOI release spawns a host of excellent mods which drastically alter and improve the graphics, interface and general presentation of the game. The most popular and successful mods often use real pictures from the war for the loading screens and within in-game menus. If dedicated fans not on Paradox's payroll can produce such great looking products and transform the bland look of the game then surely the paid employees of Paradox can do this? But rather than Paradox looking at these excellent mods that are developed, and taking the best elements from these mods, they just seem to stick to bland same old look of the previous game before it.
It is almost as though they are too scared to venture far from the original look as this may alienate fans. I do not think it would. In my opinion HOI4 should be a breakaway from the previous games in the series, rather than be just another update of previous releases. Paradox Interactive is no longer a small player in the gaming community, with some excellent games under it's belt, so in my opinion should start to become more mainstream by making games that are better looking but still retain the core HOI gameplay elements that others (e.g. the Total War series) simply cannot match. Improving the visuals does not have to be at the expense of the gameplay.
In my opinion each release is not very well presented, with bland artwork and dull interfaces. For HOI3 I waited until the game had been out a few months after release to buy, as vanilla for HOI1 and HOI2 was not attractive at all and I knew that there would be mods for HOI3 to improve it.
On the interface more generally, from what I can see by searching on the web the interface in-game looks almost the same as previous games, which is rather disappointing. In fact, I will bet that the 3 concept art pictures which are uploaded currently on the main website (http://www.paradoxplaza.com/games/hearts-of-iron-iv#images_game-tab) will be the loading screens for HOI4 in 2015. Why do I predict this, because this is exactly what happened with previous games (Do a search for HOI3 concept art - look familiar when loading up the game?). It is lazy, and I do not know why Paradox cant spend some time improving the general look and interface given they have a year before release.
Does a bland looking and not very well presented game mean it is a bad game, of course not. The reason I and others play the HOI series is because of the gameplay. But with a fourth release on the way, is it that much to ask for a better presented game more fitting of the 2010's?
Ironically it really doesn't have to be this way, as Paradox has a untapped resource that it hasn't exploited for years. Each HOI release spawns a host of excellent mods which drastically alter and improve the graphics, interface and general presentation of the game. The most popular and successful mods often use real pictures from the war for the loading screens and within in-game menus. If dedicated fans not on Paradox's payroll can produce such great looking products and transform the bland look of the game then surely the paid employees of Paradox can do this? But rather than Paradox looking at these excellent mods that are developed, and taking the best elements from these mods, they just seem to stick to bland same old look of the previous game before it.
It is almost as though they are too scared to venture far from the original look as this may alienate fans. I do not think it would. In my opinion HOI4 should be a breakaway from the previous games in the series, rather than be just another update of previous releases. Paradox Interactive is no longer a small player in the gaming community, with some excellent games under it's belt, so in my opinion should start to become more mainstream by making games that are better looking but still retain the core HOI gameplay elements that others (e.g. the Total War series) simply cannot match. Improving the visuals does not have to be at the expense of the gameplay.
