Customer Reviews

Hearts of Iron Platinum

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As listed on the Amazon page, this game is available for a really low price...it's definitely worth it.

You always hear with these strategy games that it's 'infinitely replayable.' I don't suppose that's true about most of them, and it's certainly not true about this one, but you can get a lot of different games out of this one scenario, and if you have an interest in wargaming, or WW2, or both, then you're likely to enjoy HOI because you can play the scenario from so many different perspectives. Want to play historically as Germany, the USA, or the Soviet Union? Go for it. Want to drive the USA into the Communist brotherhood, play as a pacifist USSR, or be a Japan who DOWs on the USA in 1936? You can do that, too, more or less.

It does all get a little old after a while, maybe because despite the plethora of different routes the game can take some things always happen - there's always a great war, for instance, Germany, the Allies, and the Soviet Union never completely abstain from conflict. It would be pretty dull if they did, I suppose, but I just mean to report that some things always occur, or almost always do, and it can make things a little repetitive.

I'm no hardcore wargamer, but I have heard complaints about the combat format, as well. I don't think it's realistic, not close, but it's absurd either. Sure some of the rules about engagement (like, no more than 24 defenders whereas you can attack with 100+) and the reliance on a province-based movement scheme could've been designed better. And the game is arguably too easy, the only way the AI can match an experience player is through all sorts of cheats (of course, there are few strategy games about which that could not be said). And there's limited multiplayer capacity, at best.

But these are minor complaints. The game is certainly enjoyable, and you'll get waaaaay too many hours of zoned out fun immersed in it.

Despite the fact tha this game is simply the original game plus free patches, it IS A GREAT GAME!

This is basically a computerized and complex version of Axis and Allies. I have played this game for many hours as many different countries and loved every minute of it. If you enjoy managing a coutry at the worldview level, then this game is for you. If you enjoy warfare at the stategic level, this game is for you!

Do not miss out on this game!

First real-time wargame I have ever played.Incredible attention to detail without getting bogged down in minutia.Ability to play even minor countries with neutral status makes this perhaps THE most comprehensive simulation of strategic warfare ever developed.Outclasses most games of this type,including Grigsby's World At War.RECOMENDED>

These days we're spoiled with 3D video game cards and what have you, and this 2-dimensional flat looking screen looks quite dated in comparison. But don't let that put you off as HOI version 1 is quite an in-depth and absorbing game. I would recommend gamers installing the version 1.06 patch before playing as well to avoid some crashes and problems that were present before this one.

Essentially its a game lasting from 1936 to 1948 and you take control of any one of a number of countries - you're given a default to start with of the 'major' powers, UK, USA, USSR, Germany, France, Nationalist China or Japan. However you can right click on any of these and up comes the list of the rest of the world as of 1936 so you can be Persia, or example, or Ethiopia if you so wish.

Your strategy will be dependant on who you decide to be and a long term plan must be at the core of what you do, for its no good building up a huge army in time for war if you don't research the right technologies to provide them with the necessary weaponry. Also you must look at your natural resources - oil, rubber, coal and steel - for without those your industries can't keep up and you lose valuable resource capacity.

Do you fight as Germany and the Axis, or UK/France as the Allies, or the USSR as the Comintern? Each needs a different approach. Do you choose Japan and seek to destroy China? The options are boundless. But once in combat be mindful that a general or field marshall can only control effectively up to 24 divisions per territory, so that in defence you are restricted to those numbers without penalty, yet if you attack from two or more territories into one then you get multiples. Therefore a strategy should be evolved to ensure superiority of numbers in battle.

Do you concentrate on the land forces, or the air force, or the navy or a combination? Do you have the resources to do so?

There are issues, yes. The AI seems to have an unfair advantage in some aspects, such as air force stacking limits and the ability to fly immense distances whereas you have restrictions on range as it should be. However, a clever player should take these into account after learning the vagrancies of this game and deal with accordingly. What you will find is that the AI will follow a pattern of certain actions, so you will learn that as Germany it will attack, even when outnumbered.

My personal two favourites are the Germans and USSR, but maybe that's because my army-based style of play is best suited to these two, whereas if I were the UK or Japan, I would have to divert resources to the air force and navy. France is very weak and likely to be overwhelmed by Germany, while the USA starts as an isolationist power but attention must be given to the navy and the marines, for one day you will have to wrest those islands from the Japanese. After a while the powerful industrial strength of the USA will allow you to research almost unlimited doctrines and technologies and you'll be the first to have the Bomb - so will you use it?

A very engaging in depth strategy game and very much recommended.

If you must have the latest and greatest version of HoI 1, than this is a good buy, I guess. But unless you have hours of time to burn, you're better investing your valuable gaming time with HoI II Doomsday/Armageddon. Until HoI 3 comes out, this latest version truly shines and Paradox has finally released a working game editor that is easy to use and crash-free. HoI II can also be had cheaply from here, or downloaded at gamersgate.com, etc. Have fun!

This game is nothing more than the origioanl Hearts of Iron and patch 1.06 that it took them a year and a half to finally fix and the C.O.R.E. mod (both "free" downloads).

You can buy Hearts of Iron on ebay or Amazon.com for under $10 or less most of the time (seen it go for 99 cents) and then download the patch and the C.o.r.e. mod for FREE online at the official website.

This is nothing more than milking the donkey for those not smart enough to know Paradox's ways.

The only advantage this game would hold is for those without internet connections that would be interested in this type of game.

It has no real combat game to it, it's like real time Axis & Allies in slow motion with some Civilization tech specs included. The combat is abstract and "hands-off", you merely create divisions and send them into a "province" and it's a win or lose situation after that, just like Axis & Allies with pretty graphics.

Even after patch 1.06c it still has many bugs and problems like handicapping the AI so that it can have unlimited air superiority over the human player who is restricted to just (4) planes or faces numerical penalties for using more than (4) planes per flight group.

iam really seriously about this game it is one of the best games i have ever played

Pro:1.Very fun
2.easy to get started
3.it has everything correct
4.computer is very smart and can easliy beat you if ur not
careful
5.must use ur mind to defeat the comp
6.not for people who just likes to kill things

Con:1.the comp attacks ur sea ports for no reason
2.immpossible to defeat Great Britians navy
3.sea battles ends too quickly so before u no it u lost 12
battleships
4.it can make u very angry when u make a mistake and u lose
12 needed divsions against russia because they got
surrounded

it can make u very angry but u will not be able to stop playing