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| Reviewer | Platform | Publisher | Developer | Players |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Bailey | PC | Paradox Interactive | Paradox Interactive | 1-32 (LAN, Online) |
| Requirements | Buy from Amazon.co.uk | |||
| Minimum Specification: 2.4GHz Pentium IV or AMD 3500+ single core processor, 1GB RAM, Windows XP/Vista, 2GB HDD space, nVidia GeForce 6800 or ATi Radeon X850XT | Click here to buy Hearts of Iron III. | |||
The King of World War II strategy simulation returns in Paradox Interactive's Heart of Iron III. The series, and indeed the publisher, has gained a reputation for delivering high-quality, and in-depth strategy titles to the PC audience, countering the flood of console ports that tend to appear on the platform these days. It's pleasing, then, to see that HoI 3 continues this trend, bringing us another dose of tactical genius, this time with a new emphasis; to make the game more accessible to newcomers.
This new strategy isn't subtle because it greets you the very first time you load the game. The main menu gives you the choice of four campaigns that have been set up for you, offering a range of depth depending on your experience. The biggest adjustment is that the A.I. to can now take over certain aspects of the game, so by selecting one of these quick start options you can do things such as focus on Germany's military strategy from 1936, or work on managing the resources and unit production as America enters the war in 1941. All of a sudden the game shifts from throwing you into the deep end of managing everything at once, to allowing you to get to grips with the interface and deep strategy that underpins the interactions between the powers represented in the game. Also helping to achieve this is the new set of short tutorials, which are a little wordy, but are still much more accessible than the huge manuals that often come with these games. Unfortunately they don't go far enough newcomers, and curiously lack any guidance on the conflicts on the main map screen.
Those worried about Hearts of Iron being dumbed down in this release shouldn't be. The Quick Starts still offer plenty of strategy options, but you can always go ahead and define your own set up as you've always been able to. This means a wide range of countries to choose from, including major world powers such as Nazi Germany, Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States, to nations like Egypt or Australia. You can then select start dates and begin your own adventure. In game, away from the map, you have five sections containing vast amounts of information and options. These feature rather self-explanatory titles; Diplomacy, Production, Technology, Politics, and Intelligence (which focuses on espionage). Each of these has enough detail to keep the deep strategy fans happy, but each section can also be turned over to A.I. control (which is essentially what the Quick Starts have done), allowing mere mortals to enjoy the game too.
As your game progresses, and particularly at the end, you'll notice that the game has introduced the notion of allegiance to three factions; Axis, Allied, and Comintern, or Communist International. Depending on the choices you make, you will find your country aligned to one of these; some nations like Spain start off somewhat neutral, while others like Italy find themselves already firmly enshrined in the Axis. Conflicts and other diplomatic actions will move your country towards one of these, such as a pact with the Soviet Union bringing you closer to Comintern, and you will see the effects - both positive and negative - of being defined by one label over the others.
HoI also sees the introduction of a brand-new graphics engine. You may not notice, but it's actually using 3D visuals to provide a clearer and more attractive view of the battlefield. One particular upside is that this brings with it the ability to provide a larger map with more regions. This allows countries to be represented better, and as there are more spaces to play with, there's greater scope for your tactics. Another improvement is the addition of more historically accurate units and better combat from the A.I.-controlled forces.
In single player there's certainly a lot to do, and the A.I. opponents can be both fun and challenging, but sometimes a bit of extra variety is needed, which is where the game's 32-player multiplayer comes in to play. Such large matches played over a long time could become unwieldy, but Paradox have implemented a lobby system, that you can access after registering the game on their forums, which allows people to set up games and chat. Despite being a more obscure title there is a relatively large community avidly following the game, and you'll usually find many people in the lobby and several games on the go. This large community also has another beneficial effect; mods. The series has always been very mod-friendly, but HoI3 is even more so. You can code A.I. using LUA, the maps are simply bitmap images that can be replaced, and the campaigns themselves are created and modified using text files. This accessibility to the modding, combined with that great community provides a lot of potential for the future of the game.
HoI 3 is perfect for the "strategy nuts" who will be able to treat it more as a simulation, and enjoy playing out historical scenarios. It features a depth greater than anything else in the genre and campaigns can take up vast quantities of time. While this new iteration does well to introduce more strategy-focussed people to the series it still struggles to appeal to the mainstream. Maybe it never should, but it remains hard to recommend HoI 3 to people whose only experience of strategy is tank rushing in Command & Conquer.
| Overall | Paradox have again made steps to make the series more appealable without damaging the core of this deep strategy title. However, it still remains something of a niche, but arguably the best title for that group of people. | 8/10 |
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