Hearts of Iron III on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
Hearts of Iron III lets you play the most engaging conflict in world history, World War 2, on all fronts as any country and through multiple different scenarios. Guide your nation to glory between 1936 and 1948 and wage war, conduct diplomacy and build your industry in the most detailed World War 2 game ever made.
Hearts of Iron III is a grand strategy, strategy and world war ii game
developed by Paradox Development Studio
and published by Paradox Interactive.
Released on August 07th 2009 is available on Windows and MacOS
in 4 languages: English, French, German and Spanish - Spain.
It has received 5,940 reviews of which 4,525 were positive and 1,415 were negative resulting in a rating of 7.4 out of 10. 😊
The game is currently priced at 9.99€ on Steam, but you can find it for 1.18€ on Instant Gaming.
The Steam community has classified Hearts of Iron III into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
Get an in-depth look at Hearts of Iron III through various videos and screenshots.
System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® 2000/XP/Vista
- Processor: Intel Pentium IV 2.4 GHz or AMD 3500+
- Memory: 2 GB of RAM
- Hard Disk Space: 2 GB
- Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 or ATI Radeon X1900 videocard
- Sound: Direct X-compatible sound card
- DirectX®: Direct X 9.0
MacOS
- OS: OS X 10.5.8 or higher
- Processor: Any Intel CPU
- Memory: 128 MB VRAM, 1GB RAM
- Hard Disk Space: 1.3 GB hard disk space
- Video Card: GeForce 7300, Radeon HD 2400 (GMA cards not supported)
- Internet: Broadband connection for Internet play
- Registration: Internet connection for registration
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
I got this working on Windows 11. If it's the only Paradox game on your device, it won't generate the Paradox Interactive folder automatically, and the game won't launch. To remedy this, I loaded another Paradox game, and the folder generated. Runs great, and good game.
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I've had this gem for a very long time and just hadn't played it very much until a few months ago. Definitely different from HOI4! I enjoy that I can control almost every little detail of the gameplay without automating the units. I just set the game speed to the second lowest and have the message settings set to pause the game when my units are attacked or when I win or lose a battle so I can react to each of the MANY events that require my immediate attention. It definitely feels more like I'm making decisions and issuing orders from the strategic level all the way down to the tactical level. Don't get me wrong - there is a STEEP learning curve! I'm still finding mechanics that give me more options (underground resistance cells can spawn others in adjacent provences). All of your supplies, upgrades, reinforcements, production queue, and consumer goods are created from one pool of "Industrial Capacity" that needs constant attention and allocation. You need to balance your leadership points between research, diplomacy, espionage, and officer training. You have to decide what you will research with the finite pool of leadership points you have! You will overlook critical research because it has a mundane name and description until you read and understand the stats boost it gives. These might not be selling points if you're looking for a point-and-click, automated game that looks like it would be more comfortable on your phone. It may not have the 3D animated sprites of infantry running in place at each other as they attack and defend 3D terrain. It may not have railway guns, mulberry harbors, or supply depots. It will challenge you. It will make you feel stupid at times. You will experience CRUSHING defeats - and you will come back and fight harder than before! I whole-heartedly recommend this game for anyone who wants to spend months of their spare time slogging it out on the Eastern Front, or in the jungles and alpine plateaus of South America, or ANYWHERE. Can I give this game six stars? PDX should be making games like this still! Buy it! Play it! LOVE it!
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The pinnacle of the HOI series, HOI 2 was a classic but is dated and HOI 4 is just too basic and simple. HOI 3 has a good mix of complexity, sandbox and realism. Definitely the best of the series to date.
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i enjoy this game dispite the frequent crashes probably because i'm on a 2016 computer but the game still is enjoyable even thought the waiting time for anything including the combat is very, very, very long.
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Short review The renowned wargame series, Hearts of Iron, makes its triumphant return to PC, much to the delight of virtual strategists and aspiring world leaders. More complex than ever, this third installment introduces a host of intriguing new features. Despite being a wargame of impressive richness and depth, Hearts of Iron III suffers from a lack of polish, preventing it from reaching the level of its predecessor. I really liked this game and played it a lot which is why I cannot give it a bad review. However, in 2024 I would recomend buying "Hearts of Iron IV" or getting "Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game" if you like old style gems. Long review For those still unaware, few wargames have simulated the course of World War II as effectively and precisely as Hearts of Iron and Hearts of Iron II. Featuring hundreds of units on every front of the era and covering both the diplomatic and economic aspects of the greatest armed conflict of all time, these exceptional titles have earned a well-deserved reputation for excellence among genre enthusiasts. It is therefore with entirely justified anticipation that they awaited Hearts of Iron III. After a loading screen, you finally arrive at the Hearts of Iron III menu. As usual, the game spans the period from the early stages of world war II in 1936 to its final moments in 1948. Once you've chosen the specific time you wish to start, the next step is to decide which nation you will lead. While it is possible to select any country (including Yemen or Tibet if you desire), people generally choose one of the major countries in the conflict, such as Germany or the United Kingdom. To significantly simplify the game's complexity and shorten playtime, some very welcome options allow to delegate the management of politics, production, technology, or espionage to the AI. It is then that the actual game can finally begin. First observation: the number of provinces on the gigantic world map has dramatically increased. Previously, provinces could cover several hundred kilometers and house entire army corps. In Hearts of Iron III, they are much smaller and generally accommodate only a few divisions. Needless to say, this makes battles more tactical than ever, requiring extra effort to optimally distribute your troops along various fronts. The second visual shock comes when you discover the option to display your units in 3D. While this certainly makes the map more visually appealing, purists will likely prefer the traditional counters that allow them to identify unit types at a glance. In any case, what matters most is discovering the changes made to the game mechanics. So let's delve into that. If you played Hearts of Iron I or II and already found the experience complex, brace yourself for an even steeper challenge with Hearts of Iron III. No wargame to date has offered such an extensive array of parameters and strategic options. Consequently, the game's meager tutorial is utterly insufficient for mastering even the basics of gameplay, and you will need to fumble through hours of trial and error to play competently. The five main menus (production, diplomacy, politics, technology, and espionage) are extremely detailed, and the number of units to manage on the strategic map is staggering. It's understandable, then, that Paradox has provided players with the option to automate as many actions and decisions as possible. Managing your own country begins with politics. Using the corresponding options, you can choose a particular regime, select government members based on their skills, or even squeeze your citizens dry to boost the war effort. Naturally, a too harsh approach will incur the wrath of the population, who may soon turn against you, causing national production to plummet and making the country more vulnerable to invasion. Production is a fundamental aspect of war. Dependent on your natural resources, it is expressed in Hearts of Iron III as Industrial Capacity (IC), which must be carefully allocated to various needs such as reinforcements, consumer goods, and more. As usual, some countries like the United States or Germany will be overflowing with resources, while others must carefully manage their territory and make the most of each province. Unless you delegate this aspect to the AI, you will spend an enormous amount of time optimizing your production chains to remain competitive. Where things get even more complicated is when you delve into the technological race that all countries of the era participate in to gain an edge over their adversaries. In the previous installment, there was five research teams to which you could assign simple objectives. Now, you must allocate Leadership Points among your scientists, diplomats, officers, etc. This approach is undoubtedly more realistic, but finding the right balance among all these factors is truly a puzzle. Additionally, it's no longer sufficient to focus research on a specific vehicle to obtain it; you must first work on several of its components (engine, armor, etc.). Overall, this significantly slows down the progression curve for smaller countries compared to Hearts of Iron II. In terms of international relations, the diplomatic aspect has been enriched with numerous options, including a triangular diagram that instantly displays the ideological sympathies of various countries around the world. The goal for the leaders of each faction (the United Kingdom for the Allies, Germany for the Axis, and the USSR for the Comintern) is, of course, to bring as many countries as possible under their banner. That said, it will be a tough battle to create situations entirely different from historical reality. Some decisions seem scripted to limit inconsistencies and highly improbable twists. Fortunately, nothing stops you from influencing the balance of enemy or even allied countries by sending spies to foment rebellions or undermine the government’s authority. To do this, you simply give your instructions in the Espionage section, and the AI handles the rest. You can also commission sabotage or simple intelligence missions while you're at it. Let's now move on to the military aspect and the actual combat. Although the usual mechanics of the series have been largely preserved, the increase in the number of provinces and consequently the number of units may overwhelm many players. However, you can now manage your troops more precisely than before, such as sending a specific division into combat while keeping others in reserve. Additionally, you can delegate certain units to the AI by giving instructions to the HQ they are attached to, allowing you to focus more freely on specific fronts. The problem is that, while not disastrous, the AI sometimes makes such blunders that hardcore strategists will want to take control of everything themselves. Considering the numerous factors like weather, terrain, and supply lines, the number of parameters to manage is so vast that you will undoubtedly spend entire evenings on it. Moreover, the developers have made managing aircraft carriers and air units in general more complex, further complicating the gameplay. One problem is that the AI may sometime be obliterated which leads to a few smiles. There are sometimes absurd situations like when Japan is getting very swiftly defeated by the Chinese, or when Germany is declaring war unprepared. However, Hearts of Iron III is a good, but complex game. As of now, I would recommend getting Hearts of Iron IV or Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game.
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Last Updates| Steam data | 08 April 2025 05:18 |
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| SteamSpy data | 11 April 2025 01:50 |
| Steam price | 14 April 2025 04:45 |
| Steam reviews | 11 April 2025 21:48 |
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- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about Hearts of Iron III
- SteamCharts - Analysis of Hearts of Iron III concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck Hearts of Iron III compatibility
Online players
55
Developer
Paradox Development Studio
Publisher
Paradox Interactive
Release
07 Aug 2009
Platforms
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