Hearts of Iron III

Developer(s)	Paradox Development Studio
Publisher(s)	Paradox Interactive
Producer(s)	Johan Andersson
Designer(s)	Johan Andersson Christopher King
Programmer(s)	Thomas Johansson
Artist(s)	Jonas Jakobsson Fredrik Toll
Composer(s)	Andreas Waldetoft
Engine	Clausewitz Engine
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, OS X
Release date(s)	Microsoft Windows NA: August 7, 2009[1] AUS: September 24, 2009 UK: August 14, 2009 OS X WW: December 7, 2009
Genre(s)	Grand strategy
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Hearts of Iron III is a grand strategy wargame developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive.

It was released on August 7, 2009.^[2] An OS X version was released by Virtual Programming on December 7, 2009.^[3]

Gameplay

Hearts of Iron III allows the player to take control of almost any nation that existed during the period of 1936–1948, guiding it through World War II.^[4] A variety of decisions regarding the armed forces, production, research, diplomacy, politics and espionage is the focus of the game.

The game centers around three factions: the Axis (led by Germany), the Allies (led by Great Britain), and the Comintern (led by the Soviet Union). All other nations can slowly align with one of the factions. Nations are more likely to side with those with similar ideology, threat and proximity.

Resources found in the game include: energy, metal, rare materials, and oil. The first three are required for industrial production, while oil is converted to fuel for vehicles, planes and ships.

The scope of military organization ranges from brigades to entire theaters of operation.

Development

The first trailer from the Games Convention in Leipzig showed new features such as 3D graphics.^[5]

Paradox released a series of developer diaries^[6] and video showcases.^[7]

Although happy with the scope of Hearts of Iron II, lead designer Johan Andersson wanted to improve upon every aspect of the game, starting again with a new engine.^[8] The game's artificial intelligence (AI) was designed to be able to achieve strategic objectives and control forces delegated to it, including whole theatres of operation.^[9] The AI can also remember and compare strategic possibilities as circumstances change.^[9] Changing to 3D graphics helped improve other areas, as Andersson explained:

"Going 3D meant we could do another type of architecture where we could support more screen resolutions, and develop our maps in a quicker way. The biggest advantage from going 3D though was the ability to offload more to the GPU. With the machine advances during the last decade this gives us the biggest benefits in development when it comes to gameplay and AI".^[8]

Paradox had a vision for the style of the map, given that the player would spend the majority of their time looking at it: "[...] to create a map that feels like a WW2 map, like it could be a map which... a commander in the War would be looking at himself".^[10] The content of the map was also altered; the number of provinces increased to more than 15,000 over Hearts of Iron II's 2,600.^[10] Customizable divisions, a first for the series, are available, each one containing two to five brigades, with each brigade increasing the division's combat power and cost.^[11]

Reception

Hearts of Iron III initially received a mixed reception because the game shipped with a large number of bugs in the early release.^[18] After several patches eliminated many bugs, reception improved and the game received generally positive reviews. In 2009 December it had a combined average of a 77 on Metacritic"^[19] and a 79% on Gamerankings".^[20]

Gamepro wrote, "Perhaps the worst problem is the interface itself, or more specifically, the amount of feedback it affords the player. In contrast to the old system, there is no instant way to assess how many divisions you have in each province, nor important values like their units' organization or combat values".

On the other hand, the game has been praised as being "tailored for experienced strat heads and wargamers with a lot of patience, but the game is more accessible than either of its predecessors and a great jumping-on point for new players who want to make the leap into a grand strategy epic".^[21]

Expansions

On 6 June 2010, an expansion called Hearts of Iron III: Semper Fi was released. It is only available as a download.^[22] The Mac OS X version of the Semper Fi expansion pack shipped from Virtual Programming on 23 July 2010.^[23] A second expansion named Hearts of Iron III: For the Motherland was announced on 27 January 2011^[24] and released on 28 June 2011.^[25] The Mac OS X version of the Hearts of Iron III: For the Motherland expansion pack shipped from Virtual Programming on 28 September 2011.^[26] On 22 November 2011, Paradox Interactive released the Hearts of Iron III Collection, which include both expansions for Hearts of Iron III and all previously released sprite packs.^[27] On 6 June 2012, Paradox Interactive announced the third expansion called Hearts of Iron III: Their Finest Hour.^[28] It was released on 29 September 2012.^[29] The Mac OS X version of the Hearts of Iron III: Their Finest Hour expansion pack shipped from Virtual Programming on November 9, 2012.

Sequel

During an "Ask Me Anything" event on Reddit, Paradox confirmed that Hearts of Iron IV was planned.^[30] On June 6th, 2016, the game was released.

See also

• Chronology of grand strategy video games
• List of Paradox Interactive games
• List of World War II video games

References

External links

• Official website