Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information

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Developed by a team of experienced modders from the Paradox forum, Darkest Hour is a stand-alone Hearts of Iron game. The game features a mixture of short and in-depth campaigns set across the darkest chapters of the 20th century. Play from the outbreak of the Great War up until the onset of the Cold War.

Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game is a strategy, grand strategy and world war ii game developed by Martin Ivanov and published by Paradox Interactive.
Released on April 08th 2011 is available only on Windows in 7 languages: English, German, Spanish - Spain, French, Italian, Polish and Russian.

It has received 2,011 reviews of which 1,802 were positive and 209 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.6 out of 10. 😎

The game is currently priced at 9.99€ on Steam, but you can find it for less on Eneba.

The Steam community has classified Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game into these genres:

Strategy Grand Strategy World War II Historical World War I Simulation Wargame Military RTS War Cold War Moddable Multiplayer Sandbox Singleplayer Real-Time with Pause

Media & Screenshots

Get an in-depth look at Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game through various videos and screenshots.

Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game screenshot

System requirements

These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.

Windows

OS *: Windows 98/ ME / 2000 / XP / Vista / 7
Processor: Pentium III 800 MH
Memory: 128 MB Ram
Hard Disk Space: 2 GB hard disk space
Video Card: 4 MB DirectX-compatible
Sound: DirectX 9.0c Compatible
DirectX®: DirectX 9.0 or higher
Additional: Mouse with scroll wheel, keyboard and internet for multiplayer

User reviews & Ratings

Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.

Oct. 2025

Preface: Buy this if you want to play Hearts of Iron 2. It is the definitive version of the game and supplants the original, read on for more. Darkest Hour is a major update to HOI2, with a completely new map, new scenarios including WWI, and new game systems. It is a refined product at this point, but still receives the occasional update. This game is deeper than HOI4 by far, and though it is arguable whether HOI3 is deeper, DH is less frustrating to play, less micro. There are features that you lose by going with the older game, of course, and it will depend on what your demands are, and to be honest if you know what they are you probably already know which game is for you. However, if you are like me, you will either have a warm spot or a curiosity for the original HOI2 game. Luckily, Darkest Hour is the definitive version of vanilla HOI2. In the launcher you have the option to choose three modes, DH Full, which is the revamped version, DH Lite, which is vanilla HOI2 with only minor tweaks, and finally, a "none" option, which is simply regular HOI2 Armageddon all patched up. Gameplay is identical to the original HOI2 Complete, and it is indeed a superior version, as the engine has been optimized for modern hardware, and you can play at any resolution instead of 1024x768. It's also fully savegame compatible with old HOI2 saves. The only difference is some of the leader portraits are different, and Germany uses a different, less censored flag. As such there is no reason other than curiosity to buy the original HOI2, just buy Darkest Hour. If the old style map is not offputting, I recommend playing this first to learn the game systems, then learn what DH has added on top of it. The old map has less provinces, and thus can be simpler to engage with. Just be warned, this game will take up a LOT of your time. Nevertheless it is one of the zeniths of grand strategy and PC gaming in general, and remains so today. Highly recommended.

Aug. 2025

I've played over 8000 hours. 8000. With different mods this game will devour your time and energy. But in a fun and engaging way. Its not an expensive game and its well worth the money to me considering I spent over 8000 hours on it.

Aug. 2025

Still the best game of the HOI series, paradox should learn from HOI2 and Darkest Hour how to make compelling WW2 games

June 2025

Keep in mind that this is not a historical simulator. Its an RTS game. Focus on that and you will have a ton of fun playing this game.

March 2025

Though based on HOI 2, this is the best of the HOI games. I own and have played them all and I've really been put off by the HOI IV endless expensive DLC scam. So this modded spin-off of HOI 2 really shines. It is really well designed and the manual is excellent, as are the tool-tips. Admittedly, I like using mods, esp the Kaissereich mod. It is essentially an operational and strategic masterpiece, with the AI doing a decent job. The event branches are better than the National Focus system of HOI 4 because they are less prescient and straight-jacketing. I found peace-time to be just as busy managing tech and economy as the war times. Units can be given many different types of orders and they make sense. For example, armies can support one another in attack or defense, and even play operational reserve roles. The Navy and Air Force also, are impact-full in a common-sense way and require planning. They have plenty of orders available. There are also scramble orders for both aircraft and navies. The game is operationally quite deep. The tech system and trees are actually interesting. I'd love to see more provinces and a better depiction of the battle losses, but it is still adequate. It needs a better supply, espionage and belligerance filter. There are other UI and informational things which I would like improved. But overall, it is fun, with just the right amount of micromanagement. Perhaps one day someone will convert this into a 'sand-box' wargame with randomly generated world map.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game is currently priced at 9.99€ on Steam.

Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 9.99€ on Steam.

Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game received 1,802 positive votes out of a total of 2,011 achieving a rating of 8.56.

😎

Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game was developed by Martin Ivanov and published by Paradox Interactive.

Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game is playable and fully supported on Windows.

Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game is not playable on MacOS.

Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game is not playable on Linux.

Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game offers both single-player and multi-player modes.

Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game offers both Co-op and PvP modes.

Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game does not currently offer any DLC.

Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game does not support mods via Steam Workshop.

Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game does not support Steam Remote Play.

Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.

You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game.

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Last Updates

Steam data	23 January 2026 16:14
SteamSpy data	26 January 2026 12:40
Steam price	29 January 2026 04:46
Steam reviews	27 January 2026 19:48

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