Hearts of Iron 3 released August 9th

[jammies]

You can preorder from GamersGate from here; for those who don't know, the Hearts of Iron series are wargames/simulations of the World War II era. Each is incredibly detailed and involved, and this third installment looks to be even another level of complexity greater. Not at all the kind of game for the casual gamer, but great for those who like to explore alternative historical outcomes, and those who love the feel of moving millions of men and machines into combat.

The game engine has been completely revised from previous Paradox games, so it'll be interesting to see how it plays out - the screenshots look much better than previous games, which seemed to be stuck about 5 years behind the times. I expect I'll be retreating like a hermit into the computer room for a few weeks, if not longer, when I get my copy.

[nik-]

sorry to necro this thread, but could any of you that played this game tell me if it's good?

I've never played a grand strategy game, but have always been intrigued by the Hearts of Iron series. It's on sale on Steam right now and I'd just like to hear some peoples thoughts on it before I jump in.

[Cain]

I've also been interested in this game. I picked up another paradox game, Europa Universalis Complete + the expansion and the game is awesome. I like the super grand campaigns in it though, so I'm not sure on one war focusing on WW2.

Any good?

[jammies]

Hearts of Iron 3 was a disappointment - very buggy, slow, and with clunky mechanics. I found the reworking of Hearts of Iron II, "Arsenal of Democracy" (http://www.paradoxplaza.com/games/arsenal-of-democracy) to be a far better game and what HOI III should have been - other than the graphics engine which is definitely dated.

Europa Universalis is a great game, I must agree. I usually try to unify Italy starting as Milan; save the Byzantine Empire and defeat the Turks; or use one of the Berber states to take over the entirety of Africa. There are plenty of good mods for it as well, so it never gets old.

[Hack&Lube]

This game is $10.50 from Steam today 66% off any game in the HoI series.