Well intended, but also well flawed.
Startup issues aside, this is actually a pretty good game. It DEFINITELY builds off the first two, and revamps the gameplay in every way like the developers said it would. Complete remake for technology and troop construction, and loads more provinces, so those annoyingly irregularly distances (looks like something should be in range when it really isn't.. and you really need it to be, that sortof thing) that popped up here and there in HoI2 simply don't exist; provinces are just all around better. Research of new technology isn't hampered by "historic dates" nearly as much as it used to be; if you want your nation to put special focus on your navy, say, you can do just that and plow through it for an advantage on the seas.
But then there is the issue of the map dragging and freaking out when you realllly don't need it to. For instance, you can be scrolling your way across from Germany to Ireland and then find that suddenly you are looking at eastern Siberia. If in rapid-paced multiplayer, that can be a bit of an issue. Again, I'd heard about it, didn't think it'd be that bad.. and then played some more and found it to be. But my biggest complaint is that the highest gamespeed in HoI3 is only about as fast as the moderately-fast setting in HoI2, which combined with the ridiculous loading times makes it not something I want to deal with.
All in all, astounding in all of what they did with the game from its predecessor, but so terribly flawed at the same time. The technology is excellent, and AI-run battlefronts are cool, along with the flexibility in diplomacy, but with startup and then regular play it's just too darn slow. If you have the patience for it, then it's wonderful, but as for me, I'll be playing HoI2 until 4 comes out.