Hearts of Iron III Demo

Regardless of how you look at it, World War II was a major turning point in history, as well one of the most important conflicts in recorded history. However, even decades after it ended, many still theorize on the different ways it could have went, by dissecting famous battles and analyzing the political decisions that established the course of the war from start to finish.

Hearts of Iron III, as the name gives it away, is the third entry in the popular grand strategy series that concerns itself with the second World War. However, the developers surely raised the bar by quite a lot in the meantime, since things are far more complicated and disorienting this time around, with plenty of new options and a much larger range of actions available to you.

In essence, you practically get to choose any of the over 150 countries that were recognized in 1939 and see whether you can make a difference in the war. However, you can also remain neutral and just try to take advantage of the conflict in order to make a political change in the nation, or even infiltrate spies in other governments to push your own agendas upon them. In short, you have total control over how to play the game, although it certainly shines at its best when you try it as it was intended: with one of the superpowers involved in the war.

To house every available country, the game map is incredibly big and it includes the entire globe, spanning from Australia, to Europe, Africa and both Americas. Not only that, but each country is also split into provinces, or at least where it is possible. You can create new ones by issuing orders and making various political choices, conquer territories through diplomacy or force, as well as play your cards using spies and infiltrators.

When it comes to combat, on the other hand, things get even more complicated, given the fact that the troops must take a lot of factors into consideration out on the battlefield. Thus, beside numbers, morale and terrain advantages or disadvantages, you also have to pay attention to supply routes and make sure that your army is constantly fed and armed accordingly. Obviously, it takes time to learn all of this, but it is all part of the fun and you certainly won’t regret it once you manage to take full advantage of every function.

Hearts of Iron III is truly huge and complex, which in turn means that you can get hundreds of hours of gameplay out of it without stumbling into repetitive patterns. Moreover, you can actively influence history and try out any kind of scenario that goes through your head.