Preview - Hearts of Iron III Hands-on

There are serious strategy games, and then there’s Hearts of Iron. I suppose if strategy games were to go in tiers of momentousness and scale, we’d have the twee turn-based likes of Valkyrie Chronicles and Advance Wars at the bottom. Wedged in the middle would be the real-time series such as Command & Conquer, Dawn of War and countless others. The Hearts of Iron series lofts above these like some grandiose zeppelin. It’s an example of the relatively rare “grand strategy” subgenre, wherein you don’t control miniature men on the battlefield but direct entire nations.
Hearts of Iron III is the latest in the grand strategy series from Paradox, who also produce the similarly hardcore Europa Universalis, and is about as sternly meditative as strategy gaming gets. This is a game whose tutorial mode offers you “guidance from an expert” while Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries plays over the menus.
Players assume the role of a historical leader of a nation from between 1936 to 1948 – though with over 150 nations to choose from you might want to opt for one of the game’s recommendations of the most “interesting” nations to play. From here on it’s all about building your armed forces, raising your nation’s production and research capabilities and improving (or severing) diplomatic ties with your neighbours while fine-tuning your own politics. One of the most interesting aspects of the game is how you set your own win conditions, as well as the stage of War at which you enter the game. Hearts of Iron III is as complicated and expansive as you make it.
How you defeat your enemies is also entirely up to you. Units require supplies, and often the best way to overcome another nation is to disconnect theirs. Natural resources (Energy, Metal, Crude Oil and Rare Materials) naturally play a vital role in your conquests too, as do diplomacy and political alliances. Should one part of the game cease to interest you, politics for instance, it is now possible to let the AI control that element. This also provides a good way to familiarise yourself with specific sections of the gameplay. The tutorial is straightforward enough – though the expert guide I mentioned earlier transpired out to be a raving loon – and while the menus are intuitive enough, for anyone new to grand strategy there’s an overwhelming number of things to take into account.
Hearts of Iron III’s map has made the leap to an immensely detailed 3D engine, which is nice as you’ll spend most of the game looking at it. The number of provinces has allegedly quadrupled, leading to a far denser experience, visually and strategically. It’s hardly a thing of beauty, but it doesn’t really need to be; a game such as this is always going to place a focus on practicality rather than flashy graphics. Despite the rudimentary graphics, however, I did experience some pretty long loading times on the preview version I played.
With the promise of improved AI, a wider scope and too many new features and gameplay tweaks to possibly mention, Hearts of Iron III looks to continue the series’ brand of epic, historically accurate but comprehensive strategy that garnered its predecessor critical acclaim. It’s not going to be a game that will appeal to everyone, nor should it be. The strategy fans who have been anticipating this game&rsquo