More gameplay

While the newly extended campaign is massive to the point of exhaustion, the other features are more manageable and somewhat more enjoyable. The improved AI makes itself felt even before war begins, with better unit staging, better development of its industry and smarter choices in techs. The AI’s combat performance is even more impressive, it will seek to encircle units in a pocket and seems to be more capable of avoiding such traps as well. It’s not perfect, and generally not as good as a competent human player, but it steps up the challenge from the original iteration in Hearts of Iron 2.

Intelligence is apparently a major new feature of Doomsday, but in fact you may be hard-pressed to tell. It’s done subtly and doesn’t have a critical role in the game like research or production do. Rather, it fleshes out diplomacy more and gives more purpose to money. Each nation can send up to 10 spies to any other nation, including itself for counter-intelligence work, and use those spies in a variety of ways. Spies can actively collect intelligence on what your enemies are researching and the size of their army, they can go into sleep mode and give less intelligence (but be less prone to being detected), and they can also do some special tasks like attempt a coup, sabotage industrial projects or delaying research. There are a few more options, but none of these tasks are critical or game-winners, though they do let you spend some of that money that would otherwise be collecting in your bank account.

Of course, in a total war situation where every last industrial unit is being used to create supplies, arm reinforcements, or create new combat units, using industry to create money seems rather wasteful. It’s a fine balance that is, as often as not, dictated by the health of your manpower pool. Otherwise, considering the intensity of the war, spending money in intelligence doesn’t seem wise. On the bright side, smaller nations with less to contribute can at least make a somewhat meaningful impact this way.


We might be tempted to harp on the fact that Doomsday is really more the original game with an add-on expansion tacked on, rather than a true stand-alone like Homeworld: Cataclysm, but at its $20 MSRP, the game is being offered at expansion pack price anyway. What’s not to love?