If you look closely, the soldier in the “Division” button seems to be an American soldier wearing an American M1 helmet. Do they look particularly German to you? I don’t think so… How disturbing is that from the point of view of a gamer who wants to feel as if he is leading Germany? One such image is the army production button which is shown below: Look closely at the “Division”, “Air Wing” and “Flotilla” icons. Imagine that you are the leader of Germany and you see an image or a piece of text that belongs to the United States. When I play as Germany or any other nation, I often care a great deal about immersion. In fact, it is completely possible to have a peaceful Germany that does not invade anyone (there are plenty of peaceful German gameplay walkthroughs on Paradox Interactive forums). If you think that Adolf Hitler should not have declared war on Poland on 1st September 1939, you may choose to delay the invasion for as long as you want. A great looking interface but it sure lacks the uber-detailed feel of previous versions…Ĭonsidering the historical period in which Hearts of Iron III plays out, Germany is probably the most interesting country to play as you will make many important decisions that will shape the future of Europe and the world. This disappointing setback forced me to return to Hearts of Iron III, a game that I played about 4 years ago but stopped due to my interests in other games. One reviewer mentioned that HOI 4 is dumb-downed and that he no longer felt attached to his divisions and brigades. Despite extensive Steam workshop modding support, HOI 4 apparently lacks the depth of previous versions.

Sadly, so far the reviews have been quite discouraging and I believe that it won’t be for another year until I reconsider the option to buy. Ever since Hearts of Iron IV was released, I have kept the game on my Steam wishlist to see if the fourth release was worth the purchase. Paradox Interactive games like Victoria II and Europa Universalis have always had a special place in my heart for these games are on a truly epic scale and offered so much depth that I literally spent many nights leading my nations behind a computer screen.

Hearts of iron 3 german