HoI IV - Should I Wait?

[Sythesol]

Hello! I haven't played any Hearts of Iron games before, but am eagerly awaiting HoI IV.

So, quick question to those of you more familiar with these games; should I buy Hearts of Iron III now and get more acquainted with the mechanics of the series before buying HoI IV, or wait until Hearts of Iron IV comes out and just buy that?

 

[griffor]

i would buy hoi 2 over 3 personally

 

[philly555]

I'd say darkest hour is closer to what hoi 4 will be than hoi 3

 

[safe-keeper]

Wait. Or try out the HOI3 demo and see how you feel about it. Just keep in mind it's improved since the demo days.

Many people here swear by HOI2, Darkest Hour, and other older titles, but just keep in mind that the UI/graphics of those other titles aren't the best. I have tried both the original HOI and DH, but haven't ever managed to get into any of them. Then again, they don't exactly cost a fortune, so might be worth a try .

In general, HOI3 is pretty clunky and can get really tedious and micro-heavy. It's got a lot of good ideas and you can have lots of fun with it, especially with mods, but... yeah. It's one of those games. I'd recommend waiting.

 

[sgt.stickybomb]

Get HOI 3 (with all expansions) and get familiar with the game, it wont be easy but it is worth it; this will also help you with HOI IV, especially since the battle mechanic will be very similar.

 

[Kazansky22]

Sure man, I play hoi3 all the time, its a fun game, however its got a very steep learning curve.

 

[Maizel]

HoI 3 is a pretty fun game.

If anything I would pick it up to see if you have any liking for the type of game that it is, beforeyou shell out what I expect to be at least 30 euros for HOI4

 

[Mannstien]

If your short on funds wait for HOI4, if not and you have free time get HOI3 and once your familiar with it and start to get bored download BlackIce Mod, then spend the rest of your time there. You'll get so used to depth that you'll become a Field Marshall sooner than AH can bestow on you...

 

[Sir Garnet]

Check out this AAR set up as a training exercise in various aspects of the game, in its third iteration.

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/hearts-of-iron-take-three.861972/

It should give you a good idea as to whether you'd like it.

 

[Wulf145]

If you have never played an HOI before I think HOI 2 is more 'beginner-friendly' than HOI 3. Though personally I prefer HOI 3 the learning curve is much steeper than HOI 2 (incl. Addons).

Try HOI 2, with all the PDX expansions, and see if you like it. I cannot comment on the 'Darkest Hour' version since I have not played it and so cannot say how beginner friendly it is.

 

[Nats]

If you can get it I would suggest getting a hard copy of HOI Anthology in a box because you get a superb manual with it that explains all the various combat mechanics is great detail. And those have remained pretty consistent throughout all of the games (this one):

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hearts-of...066678?hash=item35f9136d76:g:jj8AAOSwo6lWP1VX

I have enjoyed HOI3 as well but mainly playing the smaller scenarios which you can play in a day. Its certainly not a bad game but required quite a bit of modding to get to the point where I am happy with it. The get the whole thing will still cost you at least £20 to get the base game + expansions. Its fun but HOI4 will be a lot better.

If you can wait I would say wait for HOI4 if at all possible.

 

[Kovax]

Note that the original release of HOI3 is almost unplayable. It was a great idea on paper, but it didn't work as intended. Sorry, but in my opinion Tibet should NEVER declare war on Argentina without a reason. You need the 1.2 or 1.3 patches just to bring it up to the point where WWII was likely to happen at all. The Semper Fi expansion fixed several serious game-breakers and added a few new features, without gutting the diplomatic system completely (Cores were still a major diplomatic consideration in SF). To me, that's the minimum requirement to call it "playable", and in my opinion it was a pretty good game, at least when it played out without going off into fantasyland. For the Motherland essentially replaced most of the diplomatic aspects of the game with an "on rails" scripted system that traded one set of problems for another. Their Finest Hour added several more aspects and expanded and corrected several issues with the scripted event chains, but didn't "finish" several of the major conversions that FtM started (wargoals were introduced in FtM, and a few more added in TFH, but there are still glaring omissions). To me, it still feels like it's incomplete. In spite of the serious flaws, it's still the best WWII era "simulation" available, and several mods expand on that. If you're willing to invest the time and effort to learn it, it's a gem, but definitely not polished on all faces.

HOI4 is looking to be far more "user friendly", but less historically plausible. I find a lot of the changes "gamey", designed to appeal more to the RTS game crowd rather than the historical strategy gamer. A number of game mechanics will be similar or at least recognizable, so playing HOI3 will probably give you a better understanding of how to play HOI4, but HOI2 might end up as a better "trainer".

 

[Lorymat]

HoI 4 is not going to have a lot of things in common with the earlier games gameplay wise, so you won't be missing out a whole lot if you don't buy the earlier games. But if you really want to try them out, I suggest you get a copy of the HoI 3 collection on Steam or Darkest Hour. DH is a lot easier to get into compared to HoI 3, so if you don't want to spend a lot of time (especially if you don't have any experience in wargames) learning the basics, then DH is the way to go.

On a personal note, as someone who has clocked thousands of hours in the HoI franchise over the years, HoI 4 is the only one that I'm not really hyped for. The whole EU/HoI hybrid idea is not appealing to me whatsoever, so I'll put it on hold for now.

 

[seattle]

Hello! I haven't played any Hearts of Iron games before, but am eagerly awaiting HoI IV.

So, quick question to those of you more familiar with these games; should I buy Hearts of Iron III now and get more acquainted with the mechanics of the series before buying HoI IV, or wait until Hearts of Iron IV comes out and just buy that?

Buy "Darkest Hour". It replaces HoI2 entirely and is way better than HoI3. Skip that one completely.

 

[Victor Cortez]

Considering the latest news, wait for HOI4.
My understanding is that it can't be more than 5/6 months away.

 

[Sythesol]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I think I'll wait for HoI4 to come out, but I might pick up Darkest Hour before then.

 

[Aries666]

HoI 3 is a pretty fun game.

If anything I would pick it up to see if you have any liking for the type of game that it is, beforeyou shell out what I expect to be at least 30 euros for HOI4

If HOI4 came out for 30 Euros I would be very, very, very surprised. The last expansion to EU4 was 20 Euros!