Hearts Of Iron III (3)

So I bought this game on a whim and was surprised at how difficult it is to play. The learning curve is pretty much vertical and plateaus once you have read pages upon pages of forums for tips etc.
DO NOT buy if you are looking for C&C, Rome etc. type strategy.
BUY if you want civ 4 on a crazy level.
This game is - in a nutshell - a far too complicated simulator of a part of WW2 (starts in 1936 not 1933).
I did not enjoy it, but you might - play the DEMO first.

I've played all the others in the series, i think there a great game, and am looking forward to this one. I think it's a game you have to give a chance, it's got really good depth to it, and detail. A must for rts fans.

All the thoughts i had about this game was true. It was good in every aspect! Would recommend gamers to have a go at it, if they enjoy strategy games!

I've been a fan of the HoI franchise for a while now and decided to buy HoI 3 even though it got mixed reviews. Hearts of Iron 3 is bigger, more detailed, and more absorbing than its predecessors. I thoroughly enjoyed it during the first few hours of gameplay. The AI is very impressive. At times it felt like I was playing chess with a human player.You have to think 4 or 5 moves ahead of your opponent if you want to have any chance of winning the campaigns, especially if you're leading a nation with limited resources.

Unfortunately, after the first few hours, the game starts to bog down for some reason. Possibly rushed programming to meet release deadlines. The game starts to stutter terribly and at times it seems on the verge of grinding to a halt altogether (freezing). Till now 3 patches have been released and this major issue is still very present. It's a shame because the game is very challenging and forces the player to take the AI seriously or face dire consequences. Hopefully its flaws will be ironed out eventually.

I have played all previous Hearts of Iron games and am an avid fan. I was really looking forward to this release. But the game has so many bugs i wonder how they can say it was play tested. Check the forums and you can see everyone has the same problems. Already on patch 1.2 the game is still unplayable. After a couple more patches i am sure the game will be as addictive as its previous versions. Wait for 1.3 or 1.4 patch before taking the plunge.