The Hearts of Iron II demo was Paradox's first ever release of a demo. The demo features the Ardennes Offensive, allowing play in France, the Netherlands, and Belgium during 1944 and 1945. Players can assume the role of either Allied or Axis forces, but the game's more complex features, such as technology research, unit building, and diplomacy, are not included. Paradox announced the demo's release to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the start of the Ardennes Offensive on December 16, 1944.
Like the full game, it requires at least a Pentium III 800 MHz computer with 128 MB of RAM, 600 MB free hard drive space, and DirectX 9.0.
Available mirrors for the demo (90 MB):
For more information on the demo, we recommend browsing the Paradox forums.