When comparing Hearts of Iron 3 vs Empire: Total War, the Slant community recommends Empire: Total War for most people. In the question“What are the best grand strategy games for the PC?” Empire: Total War is ranked 5th while Hearts of Iron 3 is ranked 6th. The most important reason people chose Empire: Total War is:
The combination of turn based combat and real time works well with this game dues to how it plays out. The player starts off planning in a 4X type strategy game that once a battle commences they take charge of the troops in real time combat.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Mods available that improve historical accuracy
For those interested there is a mod that improves historical accuracy called the Historical Plausibility Project. This mod features many improvements to the game such as complex politics that were not originally in the default game.
Pro Combines real time with turn based strategy
The combination of turn based combat and real time works well with this game dues to how it plays out. The player starts off planning in a 4X type strategy game that once a battle commences they take charge of the troops in real time combat.
Pro Multiplayer is the strongest part of the game
Not having to deal with the poor AI is a good thing, which is what makes the multiplayer stand out as it is now time to use real tactics instead of cheap exploits to get ahead. This can make for really challenging games depending on who your opponent is and can be a real blast.
Cons
Con Difficult to get into
The game is really difficult to learn all the mechanics of and how to control, like most Paradox games. For those that like this difficulty there is a lot to like but for the most part it only appeals to the die hard fanatics.
Con Poor AI
The AI in the game is not very smart, which can give an upper hand as well as hold one back. If one chooses to not go into a real time battle, but let the AI take charge for their own troops it can lead to disaster. On the other side of things when going into manual controlled battle the enemy AI can often be exploited, which also lessens the experience of the game.