The final week of February 2020 is set to become the busiest due to numerous PC game releases, many of which are strategy titles. This week’s Content Drop features a plethora of new games, re-releases, remasters, and expansions. Wasteland Remastered, Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders, and Mega Man Zero/ZX Collection arrive this week. We’ll also see titles such as Broken Lines, Hearts of Iron IV: La Resistance, One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows, Bloodroots, Foregone, and Beautiful Desolation. There’s also the western version or English translation of Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV (RTK 14). Oh, and Dota Underlords officially launches with the start of Season 1.
Note: For all other PC games releasing in this month, check out our monthly listing here. For everything else releasing throughout 2020, as well as 2021 and beyond, check out the full calendar of PC game release dates.
Dota Underlords
- Developer: Valve
- Publisher: Valve
- Release Date: February 25
- Store: Steam
Dota Underlords is, arguably, one of the biggest PC game releases in February 2020. The reasons for that are two-fold. First, Valve is a pillar of PC gaming and the studio rarely releases brand new IPs. Oftentimes, these products become hits and pioneers in their respective genres. Second, the last IP they released, 2019’s CCG/card battler Artifact, lost a significant chunk of its player base within a couple of weeks. Dota Underlords will have a lot riding on its shoulders. After all, the free-to-play auto chess/auto battler peaked at over 200,000 players months ago. The player count has since dropped to just around 10,000.
So, what exactly is Dota Underlords? It’s a spinoff of a spinoff, one crafted and supported by Valve’s ingenuity. The auto chess genre is one where you place units a board. After preparations, these units then duke it out without additional player input (hence the “auto” part of the term). The subgenre was popularized by China-based Drodo Studio after making Dota Auto Chess, a mod for Dota 2, which gained millions of players. The developers made note that they were inspired by the Chinese game “mahjong.” As a side note, both mahjong and Dota are super popular here in the Philippines.
Since then, Drodo Studio made its own Auto Chess game while Valve made Dota Underlords. The subgenre’s rise also led to the creation of Riot’s Teamfight Tactics (based on League of Legends), Blizzard’s Hearthstone Battlegrounds, and Ubisoft’s Might & Magic: Chess Royale. Think of it as 2019’s “battle royale craze.”
Dota Underlords has been in development since last year. It’ll officially leave Steam’s early access program this week, kickstarting the beginning of Season 1. You can view the announcement here.
Wasteland Remastered
- Developer: inXile Entertainment
- Publisher: inXile Entertainment
- Release Date: February 25
- Store: Steam
Wasteland Remastered takes players back to the original game. Wasteland, which released in 1988, is considered one of the all-time classics in the strategy RPG genre. A nuclear war has devastated humanity, and the Desert Rangers are set to discover an even greater threat in the form of a genocidal AI construct. Wasteland‘s gritty and mature undertones were refreshing in the late 80s.
Wasteland Remastered will feature updated visuals, though still retaining the concepts and spirit of the original game. Wasteland Remastered could lead to a trip down memory lane in preparation for Wasteland 3 which comes out in May 2020.
Broken Lines
- Developer: PortaPlay
- Publisher: Super.com
- Release Date: February 25
- Store: Steam
Broken Lines, a turn-based tactical strategy RPG, takes place in an alternate World War II setting. Your troops have been shot down behind enemy lines and you’ll need to find a way to escape hostile territory. Along the way, players will be able to choose from different missions each chapter, experience story events, make decisions that have consequences and find the source of a deadly bioweapon.
Broken Lines features a “pause-and-play” mechanic like Mode 7’s Frozen Synapse, and, in some ways, it’s also a bit like Dota Underlords‘ auto battler concept. Each turn pauses the game and lets you command your soldiers to do various actions. Hitting the play button will have these actions run in real-time for a few seconds. You can also check out our Broken Lines official review. The game does have noticeable flaws, though the action can still keep you engaged.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV
- Developer: Koei Tecmo
- Publisher: Koei Tecmo
- Release Date: February 28
- Store: Steam
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms franchise is celebrating its 35th anniversary. To be fair, Kou Shibusawa and Koei Tecmo haven’t changed its long-standing formula. The latest offering, Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV (RTK 14), still lets you choose from various leaders who ruled during the tumultuous period encapsulating the fall of the Han Dynasty, the rise of warlords, and the eventual supremacy of the Sima clan. Oh, and you can still march with your armies, capture cities, and manage lands in your path to victory.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV released in January 2020, but English localization won’t be supported until this week. This is also considered the release date for western audiences.
Other Content Drops this week
Mega Man Zero/ZX Collection (Capcom): February 25 – This trove of classics includes four Mega Man Zero titles as well as Mega Man ZX and ZX Advent. You can find it on Steam.
Hearts of Iron IV: La Resistance (Paradox Interactive): February 25 – This Hearts of Iron IV expansion lets you use covert operatives and spy rings to infiltrate and wreak havoc behind enemy lines, or bolster collaborators as an occupying force. You can find it on Steam.
Beautiful Desolation (The Brotherhood): February 26 – A 2D isometric adventure game featuring a post-apocalyptic landscape with jungles and “tribal punk” twists. You can find it on Steam.
Bastide (MedievalNexus): February 26 (early access) – Combining city-building and resource management, you’ll need to help your 13th-century village survive and prosper in the harshness. You can find it on Steam.
Foregone (Big Blue Bubble): February 27 (early access) – An action game in the vein of Dead Cells and Blasphemous, with some elements that Diablo and Dark Souls players will be familiar with. You can find it on Epic.
Overpass (Zordix Racing): February 27 – Bring your UTVs and ATVs and prepare for some off-road racing. You can find it on Epic.
One-Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows (Spike Chunsoft/Bandai Namco): February 28 – Form your favorite team of heroes and villains and reign supreme in this battler based on the anime series. You can find it on Steam.
Bloodroots (Paper Cult): February 28 – A colorful hack-and-slash title where you get to use the environment to take out your foes. You can find it on Epic.
Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders (Blueside): February 28 – Engage in an all-out war between two factions in this epic hack-and-slash RTS. Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders originally launched for the Xbox 16 years ago, and it’ll finally arrive on PCs this month. You can find it on Steam.
Next week’s Content Drops
Next week, we’ll kick off March 2020 with a couple of content drops featuring Ubisoft’s The Division 2: Warlords of New York expansion and Mediatonic’s Murder by Numbers. We’ll see you then.
Note: All release dates are for North America.
Published: Feb 24, 2020 08:47 am