This is really in my opinion the greatest of all grand strategy games. When the game was first released it was plauged by glitches,crashes,and horribly slow gameplay which many people may have heard of. Now the game runs smoothly its bugs are almost completely gone. Now my only true complaint with game is that Common Weapons of WW2 and a few other dlcs will not install correctly with the Hearts of Iron 3 Collection version. Other than that if you are ready to lead the germans to finally victory,hold the line with the French,defeat the axis juggernaut with the soviet union and spread your influnce around the world,or lead the U.S.A. against Japan,Germany,Italy,and adventually against the communists this game is exactly what you need.

This is one of best game i ever played. You able to conquer the world with country of your choice. Germany is my favorite. Once you familiar with the game you will know that this game is something.

I've tryed all the HoI games except HoI1 and to summerize it is the latest and the worst all of them. It tryes to be in one part historical and on the other as sandbox as possible. It ends up in some semi-sandbox game. However there are good parts in this game as well. I especially enjoy the new alignment system, the trading system is also good and I'm satisfied with the tech page as well. On the other hand the intelligence, political are dull. The supply system does not even worth mentioning. If you would like to see how it should have worked play Arsenal of Democracy. And for the worst part the cores and map system are generally awful. Germany doesn't even have a claim on Elsass-Lotharingen (after 2 addons) - it's blasphemy. And I don't also like the wargoal system. Play Darkest Hour to see how the last 3 problems should have been solved. Finally some good things again, the HQ system is very much like in real life and I like it, and the huge map gives you a space to use any strategies that comes to your mind.

To sum up I'm not really satisfied with this game but it worth a try.

You want deep game play and you want nearly all the expansions in one purchase then look no farther. This is missing the Common weapons expansion and Dies Irae Gotterdämmerung, but they are inexpensive and can be purchased with you blue coin rewards.

The game is deep and has a massive community that is still very active. Be sure to check the Paradox forums to see some of the veteran players explanations and tips to game play.

If you want a grand strategy game which will give you hours and hours of play, then this has to be a good buy. Play as pretty much any country in WWII, shape your military, politics, and technology as you desire, and then see if you can achieve your aims when the enemy comes calling.

I've been very impressed with HOI3, and I can see it eating hours of my life!

If, like me, you are late to the HOI3 boat, now is time to catch up. With the blue coins you will get, I suggest you get Dies Irae Götterdämmerung and Common Weapons of WWII which, for some reason, are not included in this complete pack.

this is the finest strategy game i have ever laid my hands on. it is packed full of complex features, and is filled to the brim with options. war or peace? fight or flight? invade or exploit? you can do anything! it has a steep learning curve, but you can get the hang of it! It is worth every penny of it's price. A+ for everything. great job, Paradox!

Hearts of Iron 3(HoI3 from now on) is an interesting game.Like other Paradox Interactive titles, it focuses on complexity and not shiny graphics. The graphics are OK,but the preferred way to show units is with counters and the combat is resolved through a bar that shows the progress of attackers x defenders. So,if you like breathtaking graphics, that demand state of the art 3d graphic cards, this game is not for you.

This game is for you though, if you like a very complex World War II game (or strategy game set in WWII era, if you try to make unhistorical outcomes). The complexity of the productive, technological and combat system is very high. The logistic system, especially,is more important and more detailed than in many other games. These all work to the game's advantage, since they make for a very good experience for players that want to deal with things complex,and not just "produce units and rush". Terrain, weather, organization,morale, how many officers you have, who's in charge of what division/corps etc, means a lot in this game, and this will probably please more experience players looking for a challenge.

Another caveat of this game is the very steep learning curve. The tutorial doesn't really teach you much. To learn you must go to the Hearts of Iron 3 wiki and try the "Your first game" page, which will teach you the basics of going as Nationalist China. The Hoi3 wiki also contains a lot of information not available in the manual. Another way to learn the game is through the After Action Reports in the forum of Paradox, as well as through questions there.

So,I'd give this game 4 stars. It'd get 5 stars, but the absece of a good manual and good tutorial make this game very difficult to learn. Also, the limited timeframe (1936-1948, with lots of scenario along those years) make this game more limiting than other Paradox titles, like Europa Universalis 3 (400 years) or Victoria 2 (100 years). Yes,it might be interesting playing as Cuba or Mongolia, but the limited timeframe make it less fullfiling, since there's less of a pay-off. Also, the diplomatic and espionage options are limited. Once war is declared, there's only one of way of ending it: total destruction of the enemy country and enemy faction (if the country's leaders try to rule in exile). So, I'd recommend HoI3 to experienced players who want a complex game, but I must warn that this game focuses on war (other options are limited) and that it's difficult to learn.