Results 1 to 5 of 5

Thread: Worth it?

  1. #1

    Default Worth it?

    Hi!

    I'm thinking of getting Hearts of Iron III. I'm Polish myself and just love to play as Poland whenever that's possible and I have learnt to know that Poland is a playable faction in HoI III. Not many games like that out there and in most of them you can only play as USA, Nazi-Germany, USSR or Great Britain.

    The main problem is, and you cannot answer this question, is whether I will like it or not. I like Total War very much, I loved Company of Heroes, but HoI is a totally different kind of game, right? All these numbers, statistics... And it's not turn-based, which doesn't appeal to me, I think; I have another game (title not worth mentioning, you wouldn't even know it probably) which is also not turn-based but real-time strategy and I wasn't attracted to it at all. I played for an hour or two and gave up.

    So my question to you is how big the fun factor is. Is it a stressy game, not fun to play with a hundred of things you must keep an eye on, too difficult perhaps? Do you think I will like it if I like Total War and the Second World War? I can tell you I don't like things getting too complicated, then it's not fun anymore. I've read some reviews but I would like to hear some more opinions. Tell whatever comes in your mind.

  2. #2
    TheBromgrev's Avatar Ducenarius
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    North Carolina
    Posts
    989

    Default Re: Worth it?

    It definitely has a steep learning curve, but on the plus side it has an AI that can do almost everything for you. In fact, the only thing the AI can't do for you is select options for the random events that happen and rename units. The AI isn't too smart though, but letting it control various aspects of the game you find overwhelming really makes it less stressful than you'd think at first. For big countries like Germany, France, China, etc., you can safely let the AI control your armies and airforce. Just give it some objectives and watch it try to fulfill them. For smaller nations like Poland, or ones that require a specific defensive strategy like Belgium or the Netherlands, you're best off controlling the army yourself, which can easily become overwhelming if you're unfamiliar with the game.

    As far as it being turn-based or not, HOI3 is closer to a turn-based game, with each turn being an hour and the game automatically going to the next turn until you pause it. You can control the speed the game goes through as well. I normally turn the speed on max during peacetime, then slow it down during war and pause when I need to change something. You can pause it by pressing your spacebar, and you can manually set which messages appear and how they appear, including pausing the game. So, you can do something like make all declarations of war pause the game, or have the game pause when your navies engage in combat. This makes it much more manageable than a pure RTS game.

    Overall, if you like the TW campaign maps and aren't scared by what will be a steep learning curve, then I would suggest first reading this AAR: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...t=stop+fearing. The author shows in detail each aspect of the game while playing as France, and you can get a good grasp of how you think you'd enjoy the game after reading through it all. While you can put as much or as little on AI control as you want, he explains each screen under the assumption that the reader will want to take manual control at some point. After reading it, you should have a good idea of what to expect, so you can hopefully decide on whether to get the game or not.
    Last edited by TheBromgrev; September 08, 2011 at 05:30 PM.

  3. #3

    Default Re: Worth it?

    It might be a little overwhelming at first. Once you get associated with what the buttons do, and the graphical icons, it's pretty self explanatory. HOI3 is a little more user-friendly than HOI2. I wouldn't worry about it being "too" complicated.. afterall my father (who's retired) plays it quite comfortably. Although he hates Victoria 2 and prefers Victoria 1 because "they streamlined it too much".

    You are right, HOI is a totally different game from Total Fail. I can only speak for myself, but I spent most of my time on the campaign map in Rome:Total Fail, after awhile simply auto-resolving the battles.

    So if you enjoy the grand strategy aspect, you will certainly like the Paradox games. If you require HEADSHOTS and EXPLOSIONS and AWESOME!1 then you probably won't enjoy Paradox's strategy titles.

  4. #4

    Default Re: Worth it?

    I took a month to understand it but believe me, now that I know how to play it is worth of it.

    UNDER THE MOST HONORABLE PATRONAGE OF: Legio!
    PATRON OF: Wangrin, ♔Sir Digby Chicken Caesar♔, Geronimo2006 and Narf!

  5. #5
    Manuel I Komnenos's Avatar Rex Regum
    Civitate

    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Athenian Empire
    Posts
    11,553

    Default Re: Worth it?

    Nope, trust me, you don't wanna do this. I've been a HoI 2 fan (and of its 'expansions', such as Arsenal of Democracy and the new Darkest Hour) for some 6 years now, yet I haven't been able to manage to understand HoI 3. The map is huge, the divisions not only are already too many, they are also divided in brigades and basically this creates a chaotic situation. HoI 2 is definitely more easy to manage, I bought it when I was like 13-14 years old and I learned to play it in 2-3 days. You have a complete control of whatever happens in your game, plus there's no lag as HoI 2 is much easier to be played in an average pc.

    And don't think it's old, it's like Rome and Medieval, it never gets old. Darkest Hour just got out and it's basically a HoI 2, modded by the paradox community with a World War I scenario added as well. It's also very cheap to get, less than 10 dollars/euros.
    Under the patronage of Emperor Maximinus Thrax
    "Steps to be taken in case Russia should be forced out of war considered. Various movements [of ] troops to and from different fronts necessary to meeting possible contingencies discussed. Conference also weighed political, economic, and moral effect both upon Central and Allied powers under most unfavorable aspect from Allied point of view. General conclusions reached were necessity for adoption of purely defensive attitude on all secondary fronts and withdrawing surplus troops for duty on western front. By thus strengthening western front [those attending] believed Allies could hold until American forces arrive in numbers sufficient to gain ascendancy."
    ~General Pershing, report to Washington, 26 July 1917

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •