Wow! A big HoI fan here and I absolutely love what the developers have done! The graphics are so much better and AI so much more realistic! A bit glitchy in the beginning but after the patches it has greatly improved. The only bad thing really is, make sure you meet the system requirements...the game is pretty heavy on the processor and can get a bit slow if the CPU isn't up to the job. Other than that, BUY THIS GAME!! 8/10

The game you are about to buy is still broken, and is not suported unless you decide to pay 20 more bucks for the patch (Semper Fi) which is currently the only one beign supported. With Semper Fi the game still have a lot of issues and bugs, without Semper Fi its simply broken, unplayable and not fun at all. Buy it at your own risk

HOI3 is both wide in scope and very detailed about the period of history.

It can be overwhelming at first, especially to the first time HOI fans but it's well worth muddling through it to get to play what is an awesome game

Faithfull to Paradox and full of confidence in their products, I pre-ordered HOI3. What a mistake from me, and what a shame from them.

Hardly playable at the beginning, it took the development team months to publish various patches to remedy the miserable situation. In other words, they dared to sell an unfinished game, barely not beta-tested and had the audacity to sell a sprite pack as son as the game was released instead apologizing to the community for their poor performance. First news on their forum, all the negative threads about HOI3 were systematically locked by the moderators, only leaving the elogious ones : what a joke. If the success of a Paradox game can be judged by the number of mods developped around it, one can consider HOI3 as beeing their worst game ever. Since them, they sold a patch named extension which should have been given as well, looking at the initial mess from them, but no, not even an ounce of shame from them ... What a failure.

Icing on the cake, the price was the same for everyone, but why is that ? But, If I remember well, the � is still stronger than the $, isn't it ? Not very fair from Paradox, too ...

Been playing the series since HOI1. The series has progressed nicely, with the newest being no different. Lots of new features that simplify gameplay. Also, this game is less tactical and more strategic in nature than the previous versions because of the number of provinces. It will make you feel as though you are more than just a general. The aspects are blended very nicely. You can choose to be as hands-on or hands off as you choose. Would definitely recommend the game.

This game is third sequel in the series that define the :Grand Strategy" genre in the WW II period. You can play any of the historical countries that existed in the 1936 - 1948 period and engage no only in warfare, but also production, politics, diplomacy, research and espionage.
Compared to HOI2, this game brings several wonderful new concepts like detailed supply system, brigade level troop representation, command structure and relationship between research and production via system of "expertise". The great detail can easily lead to micromanagement , which the game tries to reduce by allowing use AI for certain tasks. All of this is of course great.
On the bad side, not all ambitious plans were implemented to provide satisfactory results. Though the patches improved a lot of bugs and the game is IMO well palyable, it can be frustrating at times. One can hope though that subsequent addons will make the game really shine.

I have played Hearts of Iron from the start, I liked the BIG scale of the game and its many options, but now it really start to roll like at Tiger tank in heat. The new mod is really good and the game get more easy to play, but I am one of the "few" that really like micro management to control all. But sometimes in this game I would like to consentrate on one front and let the AI look to the other, but I can not stop looking on the AI from all the time :-) This is the best grand scale WWII game there is on the market and there is still lots of work before it is finish. Better AI, more area�s, better information, more atmosphere(feel that you are that unit fighting) and more. AI its the most important element, fighting on the rusian front like in "War in the East" Rusia is hard to break, But here it is more easy to break there lines. I am sure all that will come for this game is really good. It has come a long way from the first game. I give it 9/10

When it comes to HOI 3, I have one word: size! When I first played HOI 2 I was amazed by the scope of the game and felt it to be the definitive WWII simulator. Now, HOI 3 takes this to the next level with mind-boggling numbers of provinces among other things.
However, at the same time this increase in the magnitude of the game can be hard to keep up with and the interface in its current state of development doesn't seem to do as well at keeping micromanagement at a tolerable level for the human player. Nonetheless, I feel that Paradox has once again been successful in bringing the scope and breadth of the largest conflict in human history to the computer screens of its costumers!

At first i hated it and regretted my preorder enormously, but since i shelved it for some time and patch 1.4 cured the worst problems i finally liked it.
Im still angry with PI and their decision to haste the game and wont forget that but i�ll buy Semper Fi and hope that it will become the diamond of a game that the crude piece of raw gem promised at first.

This game is enourmously complex and has equally enourmous potential. I will say, that even with patch 1.4 there are a great number of bugs and oversights in the game. These would truly hinder other games, but the complexity of HOI3 and the awesome support in the Paradox forums (the best of any game I ever played) makes these issues forgivable. Though this game will take a long while to reach full maturity with patches, expansions, and mods, but it provide hours of enjoyment in its current state, so pick it up if its on sale.

Probably the most bugged game ever. Unplayable as vanilla version, playable but still very bugged as 1.4 (latest patch by the time). Hearts of Iron 3: Semper Fi is unfortunately a must-have addon for the players of HoI 3 as it brings various bugfixes and improvements making game much more playable.

Now, about the game itself: It's super-extensive World Work II Simulation, the most detailed war strategy simulation You've ever seen. Even despite of being niche product it has great group of modders and devoted fans which prolong the game longlivity by quite a bit, so if you'll get it - expect to have this game refreshed with a mods for next years.

The gameplay depth is truly stunning and number of available options is just amazing. Everything gives amazing impression of World War 2 without actually replaying it - and that's the greatest art of this game. If you like the history - this game is something you must have!

Game with unlimited potential and the lwatest in the great HOI series. My favorite series for WW2, this is a serious upsacale in difficulty. The command structure and suply headaches take some time to get used to, but there is a great game waiting for you if you can get through the first game or two. Sea combat is still somewhat confusing at times, but there is no better land combat game out there. For those with patience, I defintely recommend it.

If you loved HoI II you will love HoI III. Bigger, better, more this is how you can explain waht it is in the 3rd part of this genius strategy.
Much more complicated tech tree, posibility to create your own brigades and command tree makes this game different each time you play.

Hearts of Iron 3 is a good game but with a lots of elements to be improved. With Patch 1.4 it is playable without any problems, at least for me and the fun of HoI2 comes back :)

If you have the money I'd recommend an upgrade to Semper Fi making the game even better by for example definable theatres.

Hearts of Iron III shows a lot of promise but in many ways fails to deliver it. The chain of command system sounds good on paper, but it is very difficult to work with and the interface is far from intuitive. The AI also has quite a few problems with oddities such as Switzerland joining the Allies when completely surrounded by Axis powers. Especially the diplomatic AI is full of these. The game is also quite slow especially during the later years.

There are many improvements over HoI2, such as the division designer and an improved technology system, but they are mostly overshadowed by the game's problems. Commanding your army was also much easier and intuitive in HoI2. In HoI3 you often have to leave parts to the AI, although the possibility to leave some things to the AI is certainly an improvement.

Although some people may like the darker, low-contrast graphics of HoI3, I prefer the higher contrast, more colourful graphics of its predecessor.

New York, � June 7, 2010 � Yesterday 66 years ago, Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy on their way to victory and the end of World War II. In 2010, Paradox Interactive leads a figurative attack on the strategy-game world with the release of Hearts of Iron 3: Semper Fi, the first expansion to its acclaimed World War II strategy game. - Paradox Plaza

I start to think that I like to put myself through pain simply because yet again I took time to try out another strategy game, Hearts of iron 3.
Unlike many strategy based games, they give you "total control" over any nation. Now what is this "sarcasm" I sense in that statement you might say, so let me tell you why.
First things first. I have come to dislike, with a passion, strategy games. I guess I am one of the few that really doesn't them.


Graphics are the way you expect them to be in a strategy game


There are probably many people out there that can play them with ease and for hours just looking at data/numbers not needing any other distraction like moving troops or anything motion for that matter. While I'm writing I am actually having the game on in the back ground not needing to do anything since nothing actually happens, let me take a look.... nope nothing new and this has been going for an hour now.

There is plenty of buttons in the game but rarely anything that you can push so anything happens and I even went through the tutorial.
The tutorial is more of a explanation on were everything is, not how to use it. When they say something like "this is very important to take care of immediately when you see it" I expect to be shown how to "take care" of this important task layer before me. Some of us do rely on the game explaining to us how things are done, hence a tutorial that covers everything. The whole tutorial only takes you on a tour without explaining how to use anything. tisk tisk.


OOhh look a truck! This is as interesting as it gets!


After the tutorial I started playing as Good 'ol Germany. Everything was on AI control and good thing that it was since i didn't know what to do, Germany had just started their war with the rest of their world, invaded Poland and so on. Although, going through every panel in the game and the only thing available to me was giving people a higher rank. Not very impressive. Maybe I hit an "play this game for me" button somewhere. Rest to say I was already frustrated and confused. Maybe when you create something to the magnitude of covering to many scenarios of WWII, it will get cluttered and simply to overwhelming to understand what is going on for a casual player.

Give me action, give me fights, shooting face-stab, give me something but boredom... please!
I do know this however. One person that would love this game would be my Fianc�es stepfather. He is a guru when it comes to games like these and would most likely appreciate it on a different level them myself.


One of the five billion sheets/menus. Yes I am embellishing it. But that was how I felt.


I am a firm believer that a strategy based game doesn't need to be boring. I have played StarCraft, that wasn't boring. .Sure it is might not be the same scale as this game but at least you could start playing and understand what happened since the learning curve is not from 10 to 10 but from 1 then gradually to 10. Maybe I am just a simpleton that doesn't understand the grateness that the creators tried to show me.
This is more a game for people that is all in to strategy football games and doesn't need visual stimulation to play a game, but I need it so give me Super Mario any day instead of this.
Let me check how the game is progressing again... Poland won a battle that happened in the background that I had no controll over, and im glad, Poland needs to win a war sometimes even though it was only in a game. (polish wife beats me up insert here)
Buy it if you like games like this, you might find some strategic nirvana by playing it. Me, I will leave and maybe one day pick this game up again when I can comprehend the whatever dept or mental level this game is designed for.

Features

Play as any nation from 1936 to 1948, more than 150 countries to choose from.
Control the oceans with aircraft carriers, submarines and battleships and use your air force to defend your skies, support your naval and ground forces, and to bomb your enemies
Thousands of historically accurate real-world military commanders and politicians.
Realistic military command AI with unprecedented levels of interaction
In-depth diplomatic and political system.
Historical accuracy combined with an unparalleled level of freedom of choice
Customize your divisions in detail with more than 20 types of brigades
Government-in-exile makes it possible to continue to struggle from abroad with underground movements and uprisings again

Even after 4 patches this game is deeply disappointing. It still has a number of bugs, missing features and game balance issues. It is also very non historic when starting from 1936. It is far from unplayable in it current state, just so poor it is not worth playing.
If you are prepared to pay for patch 1.5 (Semper Fi) then it may well be worth buying, if not I would steer well clear and go for Arsenal of Demecracy instead.

The game has evolved since its release. There was several issues with the game but I feel is well worth purchasing. A lot of detail and a lot to learn, very good game. And with the expansion being released in the next couple of days, awesome game. Playing with mods installed is a must.

HoI3 is a game that you'll either love or hate. There are a great many changes between HoI2 and 3, and overall I feel that it is a much more enjoyable complete product than its predecessor - the additional provinces in particular is a huge leap forward in expanding strategic gameplay.

In the end, the game itself is a hybrid of EU3 and HoI2 - if you liked EU3 and would enjoy a foray into the WWII period this game is for you. If you thought that HoI2 was perfection, you may be disappointed in some of the changes, but the future of the game itself looks very promising.

HoI3 is definitely worth it, especially with the upcoming expansion. I played HoI2, Arma/Doomsday, etc, loved them just as much. However, at this point, I can say that I personally feel no reason to return to the previous games. Hearts of Iron 3, with the work that has been done since release and the mods as well, simply beats out going back to HoI2 or AoD for me. I prefer the HoI3 interface, the military structure system, the brigade system, etc. Some people might disagree with me, but you also should consider that Semper Fi will soon be released.

We all hope the expansion will improve the game, but I feel that HoI2 wasn't perfect either... the expansions and mods are what shaped it into something great.

HoI3 is still definitely worth the purchase: 30 dollars isn't too shabby, and you can get it for 15 with Semper Fi.

Before we start one should mention, that Paradoxplaza games usually split the opinions. One like them the others hate them. But if you are a fan of Grand Strategy games you should definitely take a look.
Because Hearts of Iron is indeed a strategy game, not a tactics game like C&C for example.

It has a lot of options to play with. To be sure to enjoy the game I strongly recommend Patch 1.4 which fixes quite a bunch of issues.

The community for this game is very lively and releases a lot of stuff for the game, so check the forum regluarly.

As mentioned, if you like strategy without great effects but a lot of thinking to do try it out.
If you are in for some quick action and nice visual effects try somewhere else ;-).

this is not a bad game, but it simply feels unfinished and should stay in production for about another 6 months the reason is that the developers had given themselves an very dificult objective. first they had increaced the number of provinces to more thant 10,000. the logical thing (what they also did) was to put an option so the ai takes over the army's giving you a commander in chief sence. but the problem is that the ai is not very good, it is either way to easy to defeat you're enemy's(germany can stil EASILY win if you start in 1944 on hard)or is basicly idiotic by not sendig reanforcments or not retreating when needed. that is the major flaw of the game another thing is that it is disapointing that we go back to play only from 1936 to 1948 instead of 1936 to 1961 in hoi2(if you have all the expansions). there is also a smal problem with the naming positioning of the provinces for specialy in the non major power countries. that was my oppinion hope you can use it.

The game is quite playabe after Patch 1.4, which resembles the state I would have expected at release time. Testin and Bugfixing was clearly negklected during developement.
I like the good modability and the great community of the game. It is worth the money, and will hopefully improve further with upcomming patche and Updates. Paradox seems to make a habit out of releasing unfinished games - still their games are so different to others that they are still worth buying.

I am a firm supporter of Paradox and their games for several years now, purchasing almost all their games to date. I started playing their games while trying HOI and was eager to try the new version.

I am deeply disappointing. Diplomacy is very limited and predictable. Considering this is a war game, you cannot even attack anyone unless you have a good enough CB or your nation is considered aggressive enough (this is even when you are running the Axis under Hitler!!!). Technology and unit buildup are also very generic with few improvements over the last HOI. I was expecting a total overhaul, but that is clearly not the case.

I spent a couple of days trying to get some value out of the game, but it is simply not clicking for me, so i deleted it altogether. It is quite safe to say that this was the last version of HOI i am buying.

The last patch that sped things up really helped, but the axis is still at a fairly large disadvantage over the allies and soviets. There's a good game here just waiting to be tweaked in just the right way. I've been holding off reviewing until a few patches came out so I'm hopeful as far as they've come already they'll go a little more. Its a great concept, great engine, and the AI isn't shabby by any means. Just resource and tech balances need to be fixed.

After the 1.3 and especially the 1.4 updates, this game has taken off. The 1.4 update helped with performance greatly. The AI is much more effective now on both sides, though the player AI is still a little bit on the dumb side.
As many have said, this is not the same as HOI2. It does have the same basic feel, but is much more involved on most levels.
What it comes down to is that if you like the HOI series, this is the best of them to this point now that it is stable.
There is only one problems with it that I can see. Any extras that are purchased outside of the game will not be shown in the extras list within the game. The occasional CTD happens as well, though to be fair, I have yet to see one since the 1.4 patch was released.
In the overall scheme of things, this is a definite 5 star game for strategy lovers. Simply put, pick it up!

This game is a lot like Empire total war, but to a lesser degree.
The game is buggy, but playable (especially with the new patches which make a huge difference) but the game can lag a lot and it eats memory.
The game has the potential to become truly epic, manu times better than Eu3 and HOI2, both of which i own.
I reccomend for you to purchase this game, especially after yesterday's announcement of a new expansion pack which i am sure will clean the game up to a standard which its concepts deserve, and turn it into a truly epic gaming experience.

Great game. Has some issues, but all HOI games have.

So no real glaring problems in our multi player games. Actually fewer problems than average, considering we generally have had 8-10 people playing. Practicals need some modding, but not much else. Many of the complaints are not bugs, just a misunderstanding of how things work. The AI for instance can control armies and corps etc...for you. How well it does depends on your expectations. I tend to use some Corps on defensive run by AI while I concentrate on the attacks. It performs this quite well, but does need its objectives updated as things change to continue to work as you want it.

Great scope and play ability. However problems appear when you get further in. The problems definitely effects playability. There is a supply problem which becomes more and more pronounced. Also this game should not have been released when it was. It was not ready to play. The game has gotten better with each patch but when you need a patch so people can play the game you shouldn't release it. That being said Hearts of Iron games are awesome to play and like I said the game keep getting better and better.

This is currently the best WwII grand strategy and tactical combat game out there, period. Its beyond. The research system is ingenious, The HQ system in which you can set up entire Theater HQs and all the proper military sub hierarchy under them and relegate command of the forces to the AI at any point and wantonly ( you can give out entire subhierarchies, or individual units, one by one ) is something unparalleled in any other strategy game. Not only that, but you can relegate any part of the strategic simulation (Research, trade, espionage, politics) to the ministers too, one or all of them. So, you can give the control of an entire theater of operations (say north africa) to a general (Say montgomery, assigned on top of theather hq as commander), and then create a small special task force of a small armored group which is directly under your command, and take action in the same theater is beyond thrilling. Being able to relegate command of ENTIRE war operations to your chief of staff and then concentrating on strategic aspects of the game, churning out aircraft, tanks, ships and seeing war effort succeed with your planning is a totally new experience. The only thing lacking about the game is a bit in regard to realism issues about unit effects - air forces' effect is a bit too weak. Whereas air force dominated world war 2, in hoi3 they act more like support factors. But, all in all, this game is 'the' WWII strategy sim so far.

A full-length review for the AARlander magazine:

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=416725

With the release of patch 1.4, this game now surpassed HO II as the best HOI game to date. The ability to create your own Order of Battle along with all technology tree simply make for a game in which hours just fly by.

Another great HOI game. It's similar to HOI but really innovative in a way. All the previous features are improved and new ones have been added.
The patches solved most of the bugs, anyway, the support from the community is great.
As it's a complex game, I would suggest to try first a beta to some new to the HOI serie.

This is a game that both took a giant step forward and a giant step back from it's predecessor. It added upon and improved quite a few things from HoI2, things such as the supply system and theater model, the revamped combat, the massive amount of provinces, the ability to customize your own divisions, new diplomacy system, and several other things that really set this game up for a huge amount of potential. Sadly with a lot of these amazing new features were either broken or poorly designed from the get go and the game itself is still quite buggy after 3 patches. Still, overall it's a a good game with the potential to be great, and knowing Paradox's dedication it will one day be great. Despite it's current blemishes I still find time to load it up and always enjoy myself

An excellent game. Some issues still that will hopefully be resolved in patches 1.4 and on. In many ways, it's a definite step up from HOI2.

However...
The loss of the 'Armageddon' and 'Abyss' scenarios is disappointing, as is the shorter time frame.

This game offers a different playing experience than the predecessors. I consider most of the changes in HOI3 to be much needed improvements over HO2.

HOI3 delivers a compelling gaming experience for those who want who like grand scale strategy gaming.

The hardware requirement are off, you should have a fast core2 duo or similar.
This may sound strange but this game also demands a "real" gaming graphics card.
You need the hardware to get a good gaming experience on this title.

I prefer this over Hearts of Iron 2, even though there are way more bugs. I'm expecting them to get fixed with the 1.4 patch, but I like this game a lot. Everything is so in depth, diplomacy, politics, division structure, you name it.

I am not sure what to think of HOI3. For one, its is so chalked full of potential, words cannot describe. But as of right now, it needs patches, patches, patches. I foresee this game becoming vastly superior to HOI2, just not anytime soon. It needs expansions and patches, not to mention some of the great mods that were in HOI2. Fun now, but not that amazing. However, later, I think it will become a awesome game.

It's GARBAGE...!!!

I have played the Hearts of Iron series since the begining. I liked one (1), I loved (2). HoI-3, however, is the worst piece of DREN I've even played. For those of us who pre-ordered what we paid for was an "un-playable" BETA version of the game. It's plagued by bugs. The AI is an absolute joke and the game is a MASSIVE resource hog (It's actually slower on my dual core processor than on my older single machine). In making three (3) what Paradox did was ruin all the things that made 2 great and add a 3D interface that adds nothing. I've updated with the 1.3 patch. Guess what? Still garbage. In fact, they removed some of the more interesting features in an attempt to improve the performance. Sad to say I wasted 49.99 on this (dropping in price) pig of a game. I'm so disquested with Johan and that arse crew over at Paradox I will NEVER, NEVER, buy one of thier games. Which is a shame...but I guess with the need to turn a profit the INDY houses can't compete with the major labels. Perhaps if they spent more time making a good game and less time with the Forums, they'd have made something of note. You've been warned. Buy at your own risk.

This game is the follower of Hearts of Iron II which was the greatest game ever! But after trying HOI3 I will not recommend it, atleast for now, the game is simply just too massive so you need a computer with too high power in order to play it. My computer (with 2.0 GHz quadcore) doesn't have nearly enough cpu-power to run the game properly.
So, buy HOI2 with Doomsday and Armageddon expansions and wait a year before trying this game as it is filled with bugs and is just too demanding.

As a huge Hearts of Iron 2 Fan I was excepting something along the lines of that, just improved and refined, instead I found this game to be a step backwards and just not what I wanted. The interface is out dated and far too fiddly for my liking, why did they take out all the nice graphics and stream lining of it? Technology also took a hit, while I liked the tech in HOI2, instead of adding depth to it, they just broke it up and made the tech tree rather mediocre in my opinion. Instead of having sprite units they force you to buy them, so you end up with a cheap and tacky oddschool wargame symbols. I really hope they patch this and bring it up to what it could have been, but as is its just a big disapointment.

a great addition to the series. ive been quite enjoying it although some of the bugs are really annoying like increasing research efficency not actually doing anything.

the biggest addition ive found is the new headquarters system which the AI uses quite well. a few clicks and my german army is off to conquer russia on its own.

i have discovered some quirky alternate histories with this game.. france being annexed by an AI japan and an AI Soviet Union annexing most of south america in 1942

all up a great game and with future patches it will become great.

HOI3 is about to become one of the grandest games I have ever played with upcoming patch 1.4. I would recommend to buy HOI3 complete should you like graphics and sprites, otherwise not. After 1.4 is released, I am going to spend a lot of my time with this game, even though have already have done it since demo version. HOI3 could always be grander though and some things are really weird or too simple and of course horrible release state (which is nearly fixed now), I am only going to give 4/5.

HOI3 has been a mixed bag at best in many regards. On the plus side, the graphics are nice and certain research restrictions present in older versions of the game have been removed. On the down side, however, the artificial intelligence in the game does incredibly stupid things on many occasions; many countries are plagued with research restrictions which will guarantee that they can't hope to keep up with the major powers in even mundane things such as infantry forces; factions have a habit of becoming extremely large and including members who never actually joined; and there is no way to escape a faction once you have joined it or to avoid getting drawn into a war, often resulting in absurdities such as Brazil and Argentina being at war with the US.

All in all, the game needs substantial improvement. With that said, I have played games from Paradox since 2001 and I have full faith that either Paradox will improve the game going forward, or that failing that they have set the game up such that the playerbase will be able to improve and expand upon the basic product as they have virtually every other Paradox release.

HoI3 is truly a daunting game. Having played this kind of game in the early days of PC gaming I thought I should find my way around easily. I was wrong. The amount of stuff to do and manage is really getting over your head in the beginning. But once you've fought your way through it, it begins to grow on you. The AI is actually capable of holding its own against you as a human player and that's no small feat. The audiovisual side of things is nicely done too with a somewhat sterile militaristic look and feel - it suits the matter well. Overall HoI3 is a great game once you've lived though the bumpy start.

Hearts of Iron 3 is an ambitious addition to this excellent series. Compared to it's predecessors it is truly a completely new strategy game with many new openings for fun and challenging gameplay. As it stands right now a lot of the game still needs to be tweaked and polished, which I expect to be done over time by the dedicated developers and because of the huge modification possibilities this game has. Nonetheless there is nothing else out there that satisfies world war 2 grand strategy with the same huge scope and attention to detail, all under a beautiful and manageable interface.

HOII wasn't the fastest but things moved along okay and there was high variety strategic and fun to be had with minor nations.

Alas HOIII is amazingly slow to the point of mind numbing tedium, the extra options etc are good, but in many ways I feel even more railroaded in the direction I can go.

No early war if your germany other wise the whole world will be part of the allies. Japan are useless China destories them every time. And Russia seem determined to stay out of any war leaving Germany with a what could have been a difficult job actualy very easy.

Lots of bugs which are so bad games can be corrupted so days of hard gaming are lost. Silly AI like Russia never going to war. And once playing as germany I left the invasion of Russia so late they have depolyed 100's of reserves but never mobilized, so my tanks roled over them and they didn't even retreat and where destroyed, basicly the war was over before it started . Worse game yet by paradox (even worse than Rome) sorry to say , only for extrem paradox fanes who don't mind watching TV and playing the game at the same time. Just and idea of what I like EU's and Vic.

I'm a long time fan of different kinds of strategy games and also the Hearts of Iron series. And HoI 3 is no exception. Though the launch was somewhat messed up because of bugs that made the game very slow in later years in the game, the latest patch have fixed the problems nicely. So I bought the game after 1.3 was released and I give it 5/5 stars.

To shortly compare HoI 3 to HoI 2, the game mechanics have been completely revised: battles are more realistic in land, air and sea, diplomacy isn't tied so much to history as before, technology is more expandable, politics as more diversity. All in all it's more and better than previous parts in the series.

A great addition to the HOI series. Although the basic unpatched version has many flaws including an almost unbearably slow speed, one can rely on Paradox to come out with patches that will make this a great game. Also, they have made the game very easy to mod so if something about it doesn't float your boat, then fix it. Some of the best features in my opinion are the HQ system, the Brigades, and the huge increase in the number of provinces. Also, the laws instead of sliders is a huge plus as is the new technology interface.----All in all a great game with huge potential that unfortunately had quite a few issues at release. Get it. You won't be dissapointed in the long run.

Bought this game as am a great fan of the HOI serioes. Was initially dissapointed, not with the game, but with the performance particularly in multi player. A new graphics card (1G memory but my main machine is 512 mg that runs as well as the 1G) and patch 1.2 later this game performs brilliantly in multi player, the out of sync has gone and both single and multi play perform at a more than acceptable level. Game play itself is good with far more options for 'alternative' history than in previous HOI versions, particularly if playing the 1936 scenario. The open structure of historical content allows for a much wider strategy choice whilst still allowing players to follow an historical path if they so wish. Support from Paradox is superb, as it always has been in my experience, and for lovers of strategy games HOI3 is a must play.

Hello fellow players,
i am playing with the 1.2 patch and until now i have had no show-stoppers. On my hardware (dualcore 3ghz with 3,5 gig ram under xp), the game is well playable, although i would have liked a little bit of more sophisticated software engineering. I think its hilarious to write single-threaded software in 2009. I am giving it 3 stars.

I've held off reviewing this game for some of the patches to come out. While this game is the next in line of a great series, it currently suffers in playability. However, once things are fully patched this game seems like it will play great. It holds true to the series while still trying new things. Research is overhauled, and army hierarchy is an interesting feature once you work it all out.

If you like paradox style games you'll no doubt like HoI3, but give it another patch or two.

The definitive World War II grand strategy game! Do you imagine combining a deep tactical approach, more dinamic than HoI2, with a real challenge in logistics and supplies... and the strategical questions, including politics, intelligente and spionage issues? That is HoI3!

The game is sensible for your decisions: running a-historical provides a-historical outcomes, so don't expect an automatic hardcoded declaration of war. It could come in advance if your strategy is too aggressive (and you don't hesitate in playing some diplomatic roles). And you will have to play hard in intelligence and diplomatics to win allies in your faction.

Huge itself, the only "but" for the game is a few things not running properly (countries' technologies in advanced scenarios, some questiones with AI...) but Paradox's patches policy is well known for its quickness (and eficacy).

Imprescindible for strategy lovers.

The game is complex, requiring that you read the manual several times to make sure to get the most out of the game. Thankfully, you can give many of your tasks to the AI which will do them well enough. It is a massive game in scope that thus needs time to bug fix and improve the AI and game logic. That is normal for any game now a days.

All in all, if you like alternate history and grand strategy get this game. Remember, the learning curve is steep but worth the time.

Im a big fan of PI�s games and have almost every one of them that they are behind so this is no exception.
The system is more open in this if we compare it to HoI2. Countries enters alliances almost random but you can effect it by using diplomacy and intellligence (spies).
You dont make decisions like in Hoi2 regarding the history. HoI3 is a far more open game which i like alot more. YOU can decide what happens in history.
The theatre system is brilliant and so is the HQ�s, that means you can let the AI take care of fighting for you or you can do it by yourself. Just make sure to tell ur highest HQ�s to tell where to go and attack, defend, prepare och blitz ur enemy and they will take into account what units they will need to complete this task effectively.
One warning tough, the game is early in release and there are some bugs and stuff but i know Paradox and i know they will over come this and then this game will be the greatest, heaviest, hardcore strategy game out there.
So to sum up, if you can live with some faults BUY it, or wait one two months.

Pros: Deep, Interesting, and some nice compromises between HOI1 and HOI2. Technology is significantly more interesting than in HOI2, and the interfaces for the various Diplomacy, Politics, etc., are much friendlier and allow you to offload those duties to an AI.

Cons: Very hard to see what province you have selected on the map (well, basically my eyes can't tell). You can't really tell what you're building on the strategic map anymore either. You can't cancel a build order for provinces (once you add more industry, e.g., you cannot undo that, or ask it to not actually build that building).

Its very hard to manage your tech-queues. You cannot, for example, click on a tech in a queue and have any clue from that where in the 8-page list of techs that particular one came from. All you can do is cancel it or prioritize it. You can't tell either what its "learn date" is, since it doesn't tell you and it doesn't jump to that tech's location in the master tech list.

Game balance still seems really off to me. If I play the '36 scenario as Germany, even on easy I am wick low on oil by '39 (by low I mean totally bankrupt), and I am sadly far behind in technologies compared to historical dates. My troops are better than most of those around me, but they fall far short of having what Germany had at that time (I can easily have 60 techs queued up to use the 15 actual slots available at a time - there's just no way to get as many as they actually did in fact from within the game).

The strategic map not only fails to show you which province you've selected, but often fails to update the labels of the provinces, so you cannot tell even by manually finding the province listed on the map. And in political map mode, whereas in hoi1&2 you could see clear blocks of colors to tell what you owned, what your allies owned, etc., now you get subtle variations on the same few colors making it very hard to tell what provinces are currently held by what nation.

These really are fairly minor. But one would expect a 3rd edition of a franchise to actually have that kinks pretty well worked out. Not so. Sadly, not so.

I waited almost for two month to try and play HOI 3 and was the first to buy the game and dowload the digital version of it, much to my surprise I didnt like the game new map and map colour!!

The game is boring to play, I uninstaled it and went back playing the previous HOI 2 doomsday.

My rating to it is 3

What is best about this Third installment is that it feels like a new game, but also has a HOI2 feel. Tech teams are gone, and have been replaced with more of a component practical type research. The intelligence system has also been completely overhauled.
If you are a HOI fan this is a definite must by, and if you are not and enjoy grand strategy where you can re-write history then don't miss this one.

This game is really awesome. It's a huge step forward compared to HOI2: new diplomacy options, a whole new technology system, streamlined intelligence, new HQ system...
This comes with a price though - the new features have to be balanced very carefully. The game also runs very slow. If these things get fixed i'd give it 5 stars - until then it's 4 stars but still I recommend buying it.

It is really amazing strategy game and demands time and patient. I strongly recommend it as its full of fun and thinking tooo. It has too many applications more then the previouse versions. You can also choose any nation you want and promote any general you want and control politics and economy every single bit of the country.

If you like strategie, buy it! If you like micromanagement, buy it. The Game has some perfomance issues, the fastest Game speed is approximately normal Gamespeed in HoI2. There are some bugs that kill the Gamebalance and the oppurtunity to play historical at this moment, but knowing Paradox and Mods... it will be more playable after some patches. As always you can choose almost every country in the world with the hope to conquer the whole world. I prefer conquer China with tibet :)! Newbies will have problems in the beginning but also great help of the AI, so they just can lean back and watch the AI conquering the world. Pros have got more possibilities to eeffect the Game with intel or Diplomacy. I couldnt wait, so i bought it the first day... maybe i am sorry now, because some bugs and the speed problems, but knowing paradox and mods(although some things cant be modded) i believe this can be one of the greatest strategie games ever been made. Buy it if you dont bought it yet...

Pls. excuse my bad english

"some performance issues..." Seriously I have a Quad core with stacks of RAM and a top of the line vid card and this runs like a dog as soon as you're 10 mins in. Even scrolling around the map becomes a pain in the arse.

HOI2 was a great game and this is too probably, but theres too many new and exciting things to hate:

- The change from picture troop icons to square NATO style icons that mean nothing to those who aren't uber geek war gamers.

- Realism gone too far, just too many territories. I really just don't think New Zealand needs to be 18....

- Neutrality and other settings making it actually almost impossible to declare war on someone without spending years of gametime preparing with spies... ugh...

- They've also made unit control mental by adding a convoluted HQ command structure which makes it a nightmare to organise large numbers of units.

So yes, after patch 1, 2 and 3 maybe it'll be good. Currently it's painful.

As it stands (day one of release) HOI3 is a fantasy role playing game that bears little or no resemblance to reality ... and certainly doesn't more than vaguely resemble WW2. The game speed is (currently) glacially slow on most standard systems, taking an average of 4 minutes or so per month at full speed, longer for many, there is no way of zooming in or out unless you have a scroll wheel mouse, and there is a bug in the latest patch (which is the version you get through GG!) that makes the game unplayable because it multiplies the amount of Consumer Goods that are needed by military units up to sixteen times normal ... so if you want to go to war you'll find that you can't supply units that, historically, you could have. Even the broken alliance rules of HOI 1/2 don't seem to exist in HOI3 and it is impossible to play a game which even vaguely resembles reality (assuming that, as the advertising claims, it is a WW2 game rather than a fantasy game on a map resembling earth in 1936-48 ... I bought it being fooled into thinking it was actually a WW2 game). Paradox will, eventually, over the next year or so, fix some of these problems ... slowly ... and I'd really recommend that anyone contemplating buying it wait a year before doing so ... unless they want something that resembles WW2 ... in which case they're probably not ever going to get it in this release. Maybe in HOI4 ... or HOI5 ... or ...

Ok so after a few games, I must say I am impressed. The HQ system is awesome. I'm not much the kind of guy who like to give order to every single 200 divisions when I play, so now with the HQ AI you can give orders to HQs and objectives and they will execute your orders as best as they can. They will even use the aircraft and bomber for you. Since that was one of the things that was stopping me to enjoy HoI2 I am very pleased by that system, but still for those who like to give orders to single division you still can. Another place where Paradox as greatly improve the game is in the Inteligence section (think spies) it is now much more easy to use and much more intuitive. The leadership system is a good one too since it is like dispersing competent men to either research,diplomacy,inteligence or leadership (generals). All in all everything is more complex but much more easy to understand, so even though you're not an expert of the serie (like me) you can still understand and enjoy the game. At the current state of the game (version 1.1) there are still many bugs and map errors but never the less I recommend the game if you're interested in WW2 and because Paradox as an history of perfecting their game through patches so the minor problems should be away in some months. For myself I'm going back to the game, enjoy!

Hearts of Iron III is a huge step forward for an already excellent game. Besides all the cited improvements (see above), notable is the huge (HUGE) improvement to the UI and general user-friendlieness. In fact, if you turn on all the AIs that you can optionally have running various parts of your country, the game is so friendly that you almost literally don't have to play at all!

But essentially, all the changes are simple improvements; the core game still stands and everything we loved is still there. The only, minor, things I could criticise is the very very brief tutorial, which seems to assume you know what you are doing, and the lack of a mouse-centered zoom (I told you it was minor...).

so, if you liked HoI 1-2, you will certainly love this.

It's finally here :)

I did like Hearts of Iron very much, but the third installment blows me away. Not that I am already deep into the game, that takes a while. But from what I have seen, the interface ist crisp and clean, thoughtfully designed and just stylish - and it finally runs on modern resolutions (though I wished the textures of the icons would scale better to the current zoom levels). There are dozens of new possibilities which I still have to explore :)

This is the rare kind of game that will stay installed for many years to come!

First of all don't expect something similar to Hearts of Iron 2 you'll be most likely a bit disappointed then, however once you find your way into the system behind Hearts of Iron 3 it just gets better and better. The main fault at the moment is a few bugs and performance issues but you can expect Paradox to fix them and if that still isn't enough the mod community will surely bring something nice out.

For new players to this genre of games I'd really suggest trying the demo and maybe a few older Paradox titles to see what all the fuzz is about. Most certainly this is a niche game and it's not for everyone but for this niche it's the best out there.