Hearts Of Iron 3

This Is a fantastic example of a game meant for fans of the genre. Hearts of Iron III is a grand strategy war game, a real-time strategy of epic scale and scope. The game takes place between the years of 1936 and 1948, letting you pick any country that existed at the time, and guiding it through the years of the war.

Players control all aspects of running their country, from developing their military power to politics, diplomacy, espionage, scientific research, and trading. Should the player come to arms with another country - which is likely given the time period - they also control their armed forces on a large scale, choosing which provinces to attack or defend, and with what forces.

The problem with this game is that it's simply too complicated for all but the most die-hard strategy fan. Tutorials are present, but strangely only cover about half of the game, with some important things, such as combat, apparently omitted altogether. Even when they do explain things, the tutorials consist of walls of text that can be a lot to take in. Players can, however, set the AI to control certain aspects of the game, freeing themselves up to focus on other parts. This can help a new player to gradually learn the game, but a first-timer will find this overload of detailed information staggering.

Hardcore strategy fans and history buffs will love Hearts of Iron III. For everyone else the game is nearly inaccessible, with a learning curve that brings new meaning to the word steep. That said, it's not a bad game, and if you're one of the aforementioned strategy fans, you will likely enjoy it.