Hearts of Iron III: For the Motherland
Review
Improving the experience, but bugs still remain.
by Ryan Sandrey
reviewed on PC
Theatre - The whole world is a stage!
Another new feature introduced in For the Motherland is the Theatre system, which now allows you to instantly observe and make any changes on any front you or your allies are fighting. Upon opening the Theatre interface, you can now make almost instantaneous decisions about the actions to take on a particular front, whether it be change the stance on your Lithuanian frontier to offensive or to assist the Slovakians in protecting themselves from the French. Either way, you can now decide what stances to take, as well as see which fronts need what reinforcements and when, allowing you to build in the long term so that the front gets the units it needs when it needs them most. This is incredibly useful for budding war leaders, and it is therefore a useful introduction, even if you never need to use it.
There are other additions as well which all seek to make For the Motherland the definitive version of Hearts of Iron III for newcomers and veterans alike. These include the ability to seize strategic resources from the regions you conquer to fuel your war machine, allowing you to continue your ‘Blitzkrieg’ offensive at a continued rate. Add these to improved internal politics, where you have to pay attention (or get the AI to pay attention) to the domestic situation, with disgraced ministers and party popularity all playing a major role in whether your party will stay in power long enough to wage war. The improvement to internal politics also means that coups can be triggered off the political nature of your country with extremist politicians and opposition spies all playing a hand in toppling your government. This can be useful as a democratic country wishing to cause the collapse of a Fascist regime by fracturing its government, and this again adds another dimension to the game in the form of ‘Diplomatic warfare’.
The Night of the Long Games
Now, Paradox strategy games aren’t exactly known for linearity and low replay value. Hearts of Iron III has a lot of replayability in it, even without For the Motherland. However, Paradox has decided to add even more incentive to continue playing in the form of Battle Scenarios. Not seen since Hearts of Iron II, Battle Scenarios are essentially mini-campaigns, allowing you to jump right into a specific historical event, such as the Battle of the Bulge, and control proceedings from then. This adds the option of a quick ‘drop-in’ game for occasional users.
Whilst so far all of the changes have been positive, For the Motherland is a flawed title. As is so often the case with Paradox titles, the game has a whole host of bugs which mar the experience you will have with it. Some of these bugs are utterly trivial, such as the fact that Rommel commands an army-group in the Battle of the Bulge scenario, despite dying two months before the battle in the Ardennes even begins, which has been addressed in the first of many patches. Some of the bugs, however, will ruin the Hearts of Iron experience. The heralded changes to neutrality, rather than making any improvements, has seen a substantial problem emerge in that when you take control of some minor countries, it can take until the 1950s to even begin involvement in a war. This isn’t conducive to a war game at all.
Like a Puppet on a String
Even as a ‘major’ country, there are occasional bugs that mean your enjoyment is inhibited. When your enemies occupy certain countries, there is an annoying bug where every country conquered is immediately turned into a puppet state rather than being explicitly controlled, meaning that it’s not particularly historically accurate if Germany puppets every country it conquers. That is even if they get that far, with the supply system in For the Motherland being horrendously bugged. All logic is removed with regards to supplies, with your army dancing between the extremes of having plentiful supplies whilst your forces a few hundred miles away are stranded without any. This has been a major problem since the main game came out, and it still isn’t fixed.
All in all, For the Motherland is a great addition to the regiment. Making some valid and useful changes to the formula of Hearts of Iron III, it is a worthy purchase for anybody with a vested interest in grand strategy games. However, as with many Paradox titles, it will need a patch or two to iron out the bugs before it becomes a truly great game. But if you didn’t enjoy Hearts of Iron III, this won’t change your mind.
7.9
fun score
Pros
Better performance and historical experience. You don’t have to play as a major country to make a difference. Easier than ever to supply your invading force. New Mini-Campaigns offer more flexibility in your games. Partisan system. Theatre System.
Cons
Supply problems often grind your war machine to a halt. Occupied countries instantly become puppets. UK and USA have an unfair advantage as their economies are incorrectly set up. Incompatible with Dies Irae Götterdämmerung.
