Hearts of Iron III

Hearts of Iron III is a global-strategy game with a high focus on realism. Once again the game lets the player take over the control of any nation present from the period 1936-1948 during which the game takes place and do with it what he wants. The game also presents several scenarios that cover different time intervals, allowing the player to choose between preparing for battle or starting in the middle of the affair. Also, the game includes a strong scenario editor to make the situation fit your preferences. Although the game is real-time, the player can speed up and slow down time or even pause to make his decisions.

This time around the amount of provinces on the map has been increased to around 10.000 land provinces and 5.000 sea provinces allowing for more flexibility with movement and combat. Four or five provinces form a region making it easier for the player to prepare air missions like bombarding military targets in these regions. Another big change is the new Headquarters and Theatre command structure making it possible for the player to give control of certain aspects of military management over to the AI, removing the need to perform many tedious, routine tasks himself. Instead the player just tells the AI what goal he wants to accomplish and fine tune her by deciding how aggressive the AI shall try to accomplish it and even which route to the target it should take. The AI can also chime in at every other aspect of the game, making it possible for the player to concentrate only on a few things himself and let the AI manage for example the diplomacy, research or intelligence.

The game also features a multiplayer-mode for up to 32 players. Here the behavior of the AI is radically different to the one from singleplayer, making it a more difficult and more complex challenge. The players can either play against each other, team up as different countries or even manage one nation cooperatively.