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Greater than the sum of it's parts

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: May 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Hearts of Iron is without a doubt the best grand strategy game on the market, not that there are that many anyways. Hearts of Iron uses the Europa Universalis engine to good effect. The gameplay includes diplomacy, units tactics, and the old standby resource management. When you start a new game you can pretty much choose to play as any nation, though it makes for a more exciting game to play as Germany or one of the other super powers. You can also research new technology to make your armies and navies fight better but that is one of the caveats to this game. This game is a real time killer. You'll probably spend your first hour or so playing just building up your armies, getting better equipment, and making alliances. Only after war starts does the fun really begin. You can invade provinces, annex conquered nations and watch your empire grow! The gameplay is engrossing and a pretty nice challenge on the harder levels of difficulty. There are a few troubling parts to the game though and some can be quite headache inducing. The AI has the tendency to send small units into your territory, making you dispatch large forces to chase and capture them. This apsect isn't really strategy on the AI's part, it's just a nuisance. The AI enemy will also sometimes declare war on you and your allies without much of a reason. Try playing as Germany and see what I mean. Demand territory(even without aggression)enough and you'll find yourself in a war. If you attempt to be too aggressive you'll find it very hard to acquire or keep alliances. Overall this game is great and the different strategies that are possible will keep you glued for a while. Just keep in mind that the AI will do some stupid things sometimes.

Enjoyable game - some minor faults

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: January 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I am writing this to counter some of the other reviewers which I thought were rathar negative. It is true that the manual has some errors. This happens quite often in games because the manual has to go to press well before the game is complete. Therefore, quite often changes are made which differ from the manual. The 1.02 patch is essential and the readme which comes with the patch explains some of these errors. I would also suggest going to the forum which is linked from the Paradox website. The other negative comment is that the AI is weak. This usually occurs when the player varies greatly from what actually happened in history. The AI doesn't know what to do then. For example if you played as Germany and didn't invade Poland, the AI probably wouldn't know what to do. Keep in mind that this is a WWII simulation. This is not like playing Risk. The AI will always try to follow history

Solo Disaster

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 10 / 14
Date: January 26, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Been playing EU and EU II since they came out. Spent a couple of weeks playing this game, then paused, tried again with the latest patch.

As well as the broken features, inaccurate and misleading manual, omitted features and random crashes, the biggest problem with this game is that it fools you into thinking it's competative.

The AI randomly controls it's units with no plan, and might be more effective if it didn't move them at all. There is no challenge at all to this game, except to see if imposing different restrictions on yourself makes it any tougher.

Aside from that, this game is not even as complex as some have said. Yes there is micromanagement hell, yes you have a lot of options to chose on the tech tree, and yes you must manage production, diplomacy and combat. However, the number of decisions you must make are limited and the problems which faced strategic commanders are entirely missing.

For an extreme example, I invaded Australia from Germany, never had to worry about supplies, or the Australians for that matter who were abscent from their own country. As the USA island hopping in the Pacific is a waste of time, just invade Japan in 1941, 1000's of miles from home, no problems.

Naval combat doesn't work, air combat is filled with bugs, and if you try to play multiplayer you will be lucky to get through 15 minutes without a crash. To top it off, air combat causes multiplayer games to crash, so what exactly is the point.

The unfinished problems and bugs I could live with, Paradox was pretty good at patching their EU series, but the game itself is so flawed by poor design decisions and a non-existant AI that I doubt they have the capacity to fix it.

If this isn't bad enough, when you try to play the game the interface will cause you more problems than the AI; Production and Expense sliders move randomly when you try to lock them, each unit needs to be deployed singularly - a chore when you create 20 transports for instance. When you use timed attacks on an enemy province, that timing order is retained, so if you try and move a unit 100's of miles away it will plot it's movement to coincide with the original attack, that is of course when the Combat Timing Box appears which seems to be random.

The game is an epic; an epic waste of time by the developer, and anyone who plays it expecting an improvement from the EU games.

Hearts of Iron--Still lacks essence.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: March 23, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I've been waiting for an all out strategy game of WWII for some time and Hearts of Iron is pretty close. This game is deep--in that you can research your technology, manage convoy routes, select or remove historical leaders and manage your income to support industry, technology, and to help supply your troops. Now there are a few downsides to this game. One is its graphics of equipment, such as tanks, ships, and aircraft, and although each piece of equipment is named for what it is such as Hood, Bizmarck, Tiger (tank), or Spitfire, it is displeasing to those who want to be able to actually see accurate detail of the equipment they're using. Another is the historical flag of Germany and though many might find it offensive it was part of history----This is just a game. If anything the producers should have used a red flag with a black cross. The only other thing I could find wrong with this game was its billboards. During the game these billboards keep poping up informing you of situations happening with your armies, this can get very irritating in that you always have to stop just to delete everyone of them and it's non stop! With these faults in mind it is a good strategy game of WWII.

Excellent Game with a few Problems

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: January 19, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I have to say that HoI is one of the best strategy games I have seen. I think the in depth research tree was the best feature of the game, though it took me a little while to get the hang of it. Gamplay is excellent. There is nothing more fun than sending panzer spearheads into France and encircling their entire army, trust me on that. The game accurately reflects the situation of WWII. I never really understood the difficulty of invading the USSR until I tried it myself as Germany. Sure, the western part of the country with ease. I then decided to send a unit to Vladivostok in the east, just to see what the compute listed as the ETA. It would take three YEARS to make the trip. Also, the process of developing an A-bomb is long and tedious. So, its basically impossible for someone like Brazil to develop one, as in real life.

I had two problems with the game. First, the manual is useless. Basically, use it as a coaster for your computer table. Its actually pretty nice of them, considering you're going to want something to drink after your hooked on HoI. But seriously, the manual doesn't tell you anything. I've had the game for several weeks and the supply situation is still confusing. Sometimes I'll make an amphibious assualt on an empty enemy territory, my men will land and then reembark on the transports for no reason. Why?

The second problem is the stupidity of the AI. For exampled, I crushed Great Britain in a scenario as Germany. I could have annexed it, but instead I offered to sue for peace. Basically, things would have gone back to the pre-war situation. The AI refused. That's gone beyond foolish optimism.

Despite some problems, I think HoI is a must have for any fan of strategy games. Its one of the most realistic games I have yet seen dealing with WWII.

Mediocre disappointment

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 11 / 19
Date: December 27, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I LOVED EUI and II and thought that this game would continue the progression of those games. I have been mostly disappointed so far. The AI is very weak, the game logic is lacking in many departments (Diplomacy is one of them), and the game is buggy. Once you get the basic hang of the game it is not possible to lose as the USA, Germany, Britian or Russia. (Haven't played Italy or Japan yet). The minor nations are playable but not worth playing really - I tried playing Nationalist Spain and Turkey and it was boring) I do not really see much replayability in the game, except to the extent that you can vary your technological research and get different weaponry to achieve your ultimate goal - world conquest. I just felt that the real depth that I associated with the Europa Universalis games is lacking here. Maybe more will be done with the game as time progresses and maybe the players will mod the game as well but at the moment its going to end up sitting unplayed in its cd case because I think I have really done all that's worth doing with the game. Save your money until its upgraded some, or until there is a HOI 2.

Methinks some of the reviewers haven't checked for patches..

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: February 23, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I was on the fence about this game, and finally took the plunge. I went to Strategy First and noticed that there were four North American patches (quite involved ones at that). Applied them all, and this is a very enjoyable game. A word of warning, though. The learning curve is steep, so you have to stay with it. It's a complex game, but WW2 was a complex time. Many of the games up to HOI only looked at one aspect of this era.

I wonder if some of the reviewers bothered to apply any of the patches. If you look at the bugs that are being fixed in each patch, it is clear that Paradox is trying to address the game's shortcomings, and they do so beautifully.

Deep but Difficult

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: March 19, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Hearts of Iron gave me mixed feelings. On one hand the game is incredibly deep. You can choose to conduct research from a massive list of interdependent technologies. You can choose to be any nation in the world during the various eras represented in the game. You can stockpile resources for the coming war. You can manage supply lines to keep your forces on the move. You allocate generals who gain skill and rank. It certainly has a great amount of depth.

On the other hand, the game is difficult. Managing the resources needed to keep your industries working is not for the light-hearted. When your resources run out, your production, supply, and research efforts will be hampered. Also there are alot of technologies that are requirements for others, and finding the path to your research goal will take more than a single click. Beginners may find these aspects difficult, resulting in a steeper learning curve for the game.

While some people shy away from the deep but difficult games, there are others who are drawn to them for the very same reason. If you are up to this challenge and don't mind the slow pace of a detailed strategic simulation, you will likely enjoy Hearts of Iron.

Good after lastest patch but tough

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: July 01, 2004
Author: Amazon User

loving europa universallis and loving WWII i thought this game would be great. it is pretty good but it is extremly difficult. if im an allied nation the nazis win, if im the axis the allies win. the tech tree is huge and it is really in depth with micro managment. if your a fan of europa universallis i suggest you get it. if you are new to this genre of game i suggest you try it out first. if you hated europa your gonna hate this.

A winner for sure

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 16
Date: November 01, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Hearts of Iron, the latest (soon to be) release from the Scandanavian brainchild of PC strategy gaming, Paradox, follows in the footstep of its ancestor, Europa Universalis.

Taking control of a nation - and not just the big powers, but even small ones such as Romania or Greece.. you guide your selected homeland through land, air and sea all over the globe. Fighting for your cause and ultimate victory or defeat - or perhaps stalemate await your efforts.

I believe this game will be a lot of fun because of the depth and scope of the game. Not european theatre, or africa, or pacific - fighting on many fronts all over the world. The possibilities will be endless. With strategy, resources, and dumb luck you may be able to save Poland from being devoured once more by ravenous neighbors, dominate the pacific as Japan, or bring the war to its historical conclusion!

It should be noted for history buffs that due to certain restrictions in Europe and for basic reasons of not wanting to offend certain ethnic groups affected by the war, Swastikas and any kind of concentration camps or ethnic cleansing have been omitted from the game. ...

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