A cult classic, Hearts of Iron is a strategy title from the Paradox development studios. The basics: You get to choose to play as one of countless countries that were present during World War 2, and lead them to victory over the rest of the world. Featuring a fully integrated combat model, a wide range of strategic and diplomatic options for your country, and an intuitive AI system, Hearts of Iron III is shaping up to be the best game in the series yet.
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Just listening to the developers talk, and reading what little information that has been released so far, you can tell that Hearts of Iron is going to be getting a major overhaul. The official line by Paradox upon announcement was that the game would “focus on satisfying veteran players through a multitude of brand new features and systems", and some of the changes made seem to support this.
One of the main changes that has been made to the game is size. There will be around 150 countries available from the start, more then the previous two titles, and all will be playable. There are also over 10,000 land provinces to be captured and controlled within these countries, so straight from the off you can tell this is going to be a larger game. The graphics have also been vamped up, making a shift that is comparable to when the Total War series went from Medieval to Rome. There will be new brigades and unit options available to you, more technology options, and even diplomacy has been given a re-vamp.
The potential scale of this game is staggering. Hearts of Iron as a series has always been notorious for being a hardcore strategy title, with a lot of micro-management. So far it seems as if this ethos hasn’t changed, but the guys over at Paradox have also streamlined some features, to make things overall easier for the player. For example, there will be a new AI hierarchy system which will allow you to assign campaigns or fronts to them, so that you may better concentrate on the battles that need your immediate attention. The learning curve for the game in general will also (allegedly) be lowered, and you can even assign troops to particular theatres so that two-front wars can fought better.
In terms of warfare itself, the combat mechanics are being revised currently, so there were no concrete details available for that, however a new ‘strategic warfare’ mode has been included, so it will be interesting to see what that will entail. As mentioned before there will be more brigade and division options, along with the ability to customise your divisions by adding in several different brigade types.
With historical accuracy being a major theme for Paradox games, you can be sure that Hearts III will be getting it’s fair dues. You’ll be able to see thousands of political and military leaders in action as you play through the game, and all of the featured countries are accurate to the time, include those that could have plausibly come about during the time period for the game - 1936 to 1948.
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Other new features include: A ‘Government-in-exile’ system that allows you to operate even if your country is taken over. You can re-build your armies and even run guerrilla campaigns against the invaders. There will also be an all new intelligence system, with several types of intelligence ‘sources’ available to you, making it possible to get information about all kinds of enemy movements. The new economic model will allow you to purchase weapons abroad, along with other ‘commodities’. The technology system has also been given a re-vamp, with multiple sections and certain countries can have unique attributes.
There will be three alignments in this game: Axis, Allied and Communism. Only a handful of countries will start off aligned, with the others remaining more or less useful. However, with historical accuracy being what it is, some countries will be more favorable towards one alignment then another, and so are more likely to join that faction. Still, there is still a lot of freedom within the game, especially when your own country is concerned.
There are of course many other changes that are coming to the game, some have already been announced, and some haven’t, but these are the main ones that should keep you excited long enough until the next big announcement. Hearts of Iron III is still a long way off however, and there wasn’t much gameplay footage to go on at the convention. The Developers are aiming for a Q3/Q4 2009 release, and a demo will be out before that. Never mind though, It’s only been a few years since the last release, I’m sure the fans can hang on just a little while longer.
