This week in PC game releases (January 28 to February 3), we’ll be taking to the skies. A number of games with the same theme — flight — are zipping their way to stores this week. You’ve got Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, Sunless Skies and Genesis Alpha One coming in hot. However, if you’d like to keep things on the ground, then Warhammer Quest 2: The End Times, Wargroove, and Re-Legion might be more to your liking.
As usual, if you’d like to look over the horizon, we’ve got our updated PC games release date list which tells you the games coming out this 2019 onwards.
Genesis Alpha One
- Release Date: January 29
- Developer: Radiation Blue
- Publisher: Team 17
The main goal of Genesis Alpha One is to colonize a planet by amassing a number of clones and killing said planet’s hive queen. Getting there, however, is no easy feat. That’s because the game combines multiple genres into one package. It’s part ship-building and part management. It’s a roguelike where you have permadeath enabled. Finally, it’s also a first-person shooter.
Combining all of these makes Genesis Alpha One fairly unique in that regard. As a cloned spaceship captain among other clones, dying ends with you getting replaced by another captain. Starting with a small vessel, you’ll need to upgrade your ship with new modules. In order to do that, you’ll need to gather resources. You can hop from one planet to another to collect said resources, and beaming them up can also bring threats onboard. You’ll need a trusty shotgun or rifle to help you out.
Just how well all these systems mesh together is still up in the air. We’ll have our review shortly once the game is made available.
Sunless Skies
- Release Date: January 31
- Developer: Failbetter Games
- Publisher: Failbetter Games
The sequel to Sunless Sea, Sunless Skies takes to the air this time around with your captain onboard a flying locomotive. Set in an alternate reality, steampunk and gothic horrors abound. You can explore vast game worlds surrounded by beautiful landscapes down below not knowing the great unknown in the distance.
Sunless Skies provides a roguelike experience wrapped in a gamebook of sorts. There’s a lot of reading to be done and the game won’t hold your hand to explain what goes on around you. You’ll need to piece the puzzle yourself. It is, however, clear early on that there’s a war brewing between the Victorian regime and rebels looking to fight for their freedom.
As it is also, partly, a horror game, you’ll encounter deadly creatures and fearsome locations. As terror increases, so too will your sanity (and your crew’s) deplete, making for what could be some nail-biting moments.
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown
- Release Date: February 1
- Developer: Bandai Namco
- Publisher: Bandai Namco
The long-running flight combat franchise from Bandai Namco is back in only its second outing for PCs. Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown puts you in the role of Trigger, a pilot whose career takes a turn for the worse after a grave incident. As part of a penal squadron, Trigger and co. are sent on suicide missions during the war between Osea and Erusea. Scoffed at and looked down on quite early, you’ll eventually gain your compatriots’ grudging respect as you become an ace.
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown features breathtaking visuals and awe-inspiring setpiece moments. Its single-player campaign has 20 missions which you can replay to gain more credits. These credits allow you to buy new aircraft or upgrades which you can also use for the game’s multiplayer mode. You can check out our official review. We’ve also got a technical review for those who want to go more in-depth with graphics, performance, and controls.
Other Releases This Week
As mentioned earlier, if airplanes and spaceships aren’t your thing, then you can always keep things level on the ground. A couple of PC games releasing this week ought to pique your interest:
- Warhammer Quest 2: The End Times (January 31) – The world of Warhammer Fantasy Battles is ending. You’ll need to use a variety of classes from different races against the tide of Beastmen, Skaven, and Warriors of Chaos in this turn-based strategy game from Perchang.
- Re-Legion (January 31) – Made by Ice Code Games and published by 1C Entertainment, Re-Legion gives a unique take on resource-based RTS games. That’s because you’ll need other humans to bolster your ranks. You don’t just train them, you need to convert and indoctrinate them to fight opposing forces.
- Wargroove (February 1) – Pick your character and duke it out with your friends (via four-player co-op). Wargroove has Advance Wars vibes and art style. You can also edit maps and even cutscenes to share. And yes, it even has cross-platform support for PCs, the Xbox One, and the Nintendo Switch.
Next Week
Next week’s PC game releases include Ape Out and God Eater 3. We’ll also see Monster Energy Supercross (the sequel), and Astroneer leaves Steam Early Access.
Release dates listed are for North America.
