Hearts of Iron, Brains of Molasses

I recently submitted my review of Hearts of Iron II to Computer Games Magazine, so look for it in a month or two.

I'm not going to cut into my master's profits by giving away much of what I said, but I will confess to being a little disappointed by the the game's AI. Once again, Paradox Studios has shipped a computer opponent that simply stops doing stuff. The sleeping AI is a characteristic of all their games, but they've done nothing to fix it. Ever.

This is not a crippling problem, since you can always play it MP. But a Paradox Grand Strategy game played online is asking for trouble. The games take forever as it is. Put all the vagaries of the multiplayer world into that and you may never finish unless you are one of the dedicated fans of these games. I am one of those, but one of those who knows his limits. Heavens, I'm still waiting on turns in two War: Age of Imperialism games.

These games are designed for single player and play best in single player, but a computer opponent who can't do the one thing that HoI2 is about - fight a war - isn't much fun after a while.

Anyway, this is far from my only opinion of the game, and in fact my opinion is mostly positive. So check out that review if and when it is printed.