And just what has this interesting, but ultimately feckless, piece of ironic musing have to do with Hearts of Iron 2, says you? Well, nothing really, apart from the fact that it is providing something of an historical education, the type of which is characterised by an encyclopaedic knowledge of enlightening, but ultimately useless, information. Actually, this does have rather a lot to do with HoI2 now that I think about it, as it is a game which will provide you with not only quite possibly the supreme strategic-level wargaming experience currently purchasable on the market (…we're working on getting a copy of "Presidential Strategising 101" from the White House, but no luck so far…), but also with a great historical education of the period leading up to and running through the Second World War.

From a knowledge of technological advancements of the time to geography - both natural and political, as after all the world was a much different place in 1936 than it is today - HoI2 is as close to a general education as one can get in a computer game without loading up a conspicuously labelled title from an educational company that comes bundled with a teachers guidebook and the express assurance that at no point will any 7-year olds viewing the material be introduced to any of the harsh and un-PC realities of history and the world around them, let alone any words containing more than three syllables.

One thing any casual student of history will have to watch out for in HoI2 however would be their very own actions. For you see, while HoI2 may contain an encyclopaedias worth of knowledge, the actual content of the history book is written by the user. Take any nation from the bellicose Germany of the day through the burgeoning world superpower of the United States, or even an effete nation such as France, and attempt to re-write history as you please.

Make it to Moscow this time, anticipate the Japanese or even extinguish the Nazi flame in the Ardennes in 1940, the choices are there, the paths are open to be explored and the only thing limiting your ability to change history is your perceptions of it. You can choose to begin your campaign in 1936 - giving the grandest scope for all nations; or you can start in 1940 on the crest of the coming wave; in 1941 when the sleeping dragon was awakened; or in 1944 when one tyranny was about to fall. And the only question remaining was who would get what, and how far west the red scourge would manage to plant its seed.

All this is accomplished by harnessing the tools of the economy, research and the military, all of which tie into and compliment one another. All the aspects are simple enough not to weigh down the player, and yet flexible enough to allow for total control.

Economics is a matter of taking in resources such as oil and metal, building factories and infrastructure and then balancing out the "Industrial Capacity" between consumer goods, production of war materials, supplies for troops and so on. Of all the elements in the game, it can be the trickiest to get to grips on; but, like most elements of the game, it's a vast improvement upon the original.

Research is simple and intuitive, involving a project system by which various research teams of varying skills and specialities are assigned to various projects, ranging from a new model of fighter plane to warfare doctrine. The research is somewhat limited by the fact that each technology has a certain historical date attached to it, which means that making a beeline towards the atomic bomb in 1936 will go very slowly indeed. This means that the scope for massive technological deviance from history is far more difficult than material deviance without diving into the games source files to change a few numbers (though thankfully this is actually quite simple to do.)

Combat, being the meat of any game such as this is the culmination of the other elements of the game, and is extremely well pulled off in HoI2. on both land and sea - though aerial combat still needs some work.

Ground warfare has seen the biggest improvement since the previous game, with combat being based on movement between the different provinces within the game. The big difference in HoI2 is actually rather small, but with profound influence upon the shape of the warfare element. Basically, the game introduces new elements such as supporting attacks and reserves, which allow for much greater flexibility in combat without breaking up lines of defence. Instead of throwing 30 divisions from three provinces into an attack on an enemy stronghold, and then leaving all three provinces which those 30 divisions hailed from without any military presence in them and so open to attack, the game allows for divisions in neighbouring provinces to "support attacks" - in other words, they join in the combat, but don't move from their own positions once it is resolved, allowing for much more realistic warfare to take place.

In the sea, critical elements to battleship warfare are now simulated, including manoeuvres, formations and distances. For in the seas 1km can mean the difference between firing with four guns or eight guns. In the air the biggest improvement is the addition of duration orders, which means that air units will continue to conduct a particular mission until an assigned date and time. In the original, one had to assign each mission individually and then re-assign it after it was completed to keep the fighters in the air. Obviously, players got a bit fed up with this and the mighty air forces stayed on the ground; not so in HoI2, where aerial units which can make the difference between a narrow defeat and a victory, now regularly do.

In all, Hearts of Iron 2 is a supreme effort from Paradox Interactive, and a game that will go down in gaming history as the one which defined the genre for years to come. I enjoyed its complexity, accuracy and replayability. If you like depth, make sure you've got your wading boots on.