14 DAY TRIAL // With the 1.4 patch for Hearts of Iron 3 now online and available to all players, Paradox Interactive has announced that it plans to launch an expansion for the grand strategy title. It will be called Semper Fi and will be out at some point during the second quarter of this year.
The developer is saying that the main focus of the expansion will be on offering more historical context to the player and introducing mechanisms, which allow for power blocks to cooperate more easily.
It seems that Paradox is really listening to the player base and putting together an expansion pack that delivers on their wishes. Player controlled countries can ask allies for specific war moves and it appears that the Artificial Intelligence will be updated to better understand naval warfare and amphibious invasions. There is also a new system for manually designating Theaters of War and better visual representation of the order of battle for each nation.
With some players complaining that Hearts of Iron 3 is too free form when it comes to history, Paradox Interactive plans to introduce a wide variety of events, both for the historical path and for alternative scenarios. There is also more of a focus on the Pacific campaign and on island hopping.
Henrik Fåhraeus, who is an associate producer at Paradox Interactive, revealed as part of the announcement that “Our vision for Semper Fi is to transport the player into World War II in a way that previous installments have not been able to do. For instance, negotiating and working with the allies was a huge part of WW2 and players are now able to experience that first hand. Also, our historical buffs have long been screaming for more historical accuracy in our games, and while the game still won’t follow history to the letter, these historical events will create a stronger experience by giving you historical references and feedback alongside gameplay.”