This past week has given fans some truly stellar (pun intended) content drops and PC game releases. We saw the launch of Panzer Corps 2 and the brutal and gory Doom Eternal. Likewise, Total War: Three Kingdoms had A World Betrayed, its latest expansion. These examples have themes centered on conflict, however, Paradox Interactive’s Stellaris did have its Federations DLC which focused more on diplomacy.
Note: For all other PC games releasing in this March, check out our monthly listing here. For everything else that’s coming out throughout the year, as well as in 2021 and beyond, check out the full calendar of PC game release dates.
Stellaris: Federations
- Developer: Paradox Interactive
- Publisher: Paradox Interactive
- Release Date: March 17
- Store: Steam
A majority of the PC game releases and content drops this week were part of the strategy genre with Stellaris: Federations kicking things off. The Federations expansion adds some much-needed features to Stellaris‘ 4X space sandbox gameplay especially with regards to diplomacy.
In this new add-on, Stellaris players will be able to form all-new federations with different effects and rewards. There’s also the Galactic Community mechanic which lets all spacefaring races band together to propose resolutions and pass laws. Stellaris: Federations also adds the Origins system that gives your chosen faction its own backstory, possibly leading to new missions, tasks, or quirky results. You can read our impressions here.
Total War: Three Kingdoms – A World Betrayed
- Developer: Creative Assembly
- Publisher: Sega
- Release Date: March 19
- Store: Steam
Speaking of chosen factions and quirky results, Total War: Three Kingdoms – A World Betrayed has these things going for it as well. The latest expansion adds leaders like Sun Ce and Lu Bu, and a free update even lets everyone use Yan Baihu and experience the overhauls to all bandit leaders.
A World Betrayed is set four years after the events of Total War: Three Kingdoms‘ original campaign. The Yellow Turban threat has been almost forgotten, and the tyrant Dong Zhuo has fallen. Now, the aforementioned rulers and other warlords vie for control of China in a more open-ended sandbox, almost akin to a free-for-all from start to finish. You can check out our Total War: Three Kingdoms – A World Betrayed official review as well as our guides hub.
Panzer Corps 2
- Developer: Flashback Games
- Publisher: Slitherine
- Release Date: March 19
- Store: Steam
Panzer Corps 2 is yet another strategy PC game release this week. The sequel to 2011’s Panzer Corps and the spiritual successor to the Panzer General series, this offering has a whopping 60+ missions for you to tackle.
Many of the events and battles that took place in World War II are depicted, and you can even create your own custom scenarios to find new challenges. Panzer Corps 2 also has ahistorical or “what if” scenarios and battles, such as the German Wehrmacht managing to invade the continental United States. You can read our official review here.
Doom Eternal
- Developer: id Software
- Publisher: Bethesda
- Release Date: March 20
- Store: Steam
The hotly-anticipated Doom Eternal also released this week, and it’s that one game that’s not of the strategy variety. Instead, Doom Eternal gives you non-stop action — a lot of it, plus brutal kills, gore, guns, explosions. It’s typical Doom with even more over-the-top badassery.
To quote Andrew who recently reviewed the game, he considers Doom Eternal as quite possibly “the most intense first-person shooter [he’s] ever played.” With countless demonic hordes from hell and destructive weapons and abilities for you to play with, Doom Eternal is a “masterclass in modern action game design, improving upon its predecessor (Doom 2016) in every way.”
Looks like it’s time to hell, Doomguy. Go check out some guides while you’re at it.
Next week’s content drops
Next week, we’ll see PC game releases and content drops such as Bleeding Edge, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III, and Iron Danger. That’s about it. Oh, wait, yes, Half-Life: Alyx, an original VR title set in the Half-Life universe, also launches. We’ll see you then.
Note: All release dates are for North America.
