The common meme among Civilization fans goes that it takes two expansions for the newest game in the series to be up to the standard of its predecessor. So, it took Civilization IV until Beyond the Sword, and Civilization V until Brave New World for fans to be happy with those games.

Civilization 6 came out a few years ago, and it was a great game, but it ended up removing quite a few mechanics from Civilization 5’s Brave New World. The first expansion for the game, Rise and Fall, was a marked improvement, but ask any fan of the series, and they’ll tell you Civilization 5 is still better. Going by the meme, then, what the game really needs now is the second expansion.

That second expansion may be coming—the YouTube channel for the series has posted a brand new video livestream, titled only ??? (You can see this video for yourself below). The timing suggests that a second expansion for Civilizastion 6 may be imminent—hopefully it is as much of a revelation as Brave New World was.

Civilization 6 is out now on PC. If you want, you can also play it on iOS, and on Nintendo Switch.

https://youtu.be/fgrphndbpgE

EA Sports UFC 3

EA Sports UFC 3 is coming and yes, Ultimate Team mode has microtransactions which let you enhance fighters for the best results. For the rest of the experience though, it’s all about submissions, your mat game and conserving your stamina. EA Sports UFC 3 changes its career mode up by implementing G.O.A.T. In this mode, you can make decisions to advance your fighter’s career, engage in social media feuds with others fighters to build your public image and much more. It releases for Xbox One and PS4 on February 2^nd.

Shadow of the Colossus

During the PlayStation 2 era, there was a game that stuck out among the various exclusives – Team ICO’s Shadow of the Colossus. The studio’s first game may have presented a unique artistic vision but Shadow of the Colossus did the same and was also an awesome game. Bluepoint Games is bringing that experience to the PS4 but in a brand new way, remaking the game’s visuals from the ground up with new textures, an enhanced draw distance and oodles more detail. This is still the same classic you remember though – hunt down enormous Colossi with your trusted horse Agro, find out how to defeat them and move on to the next. Shadow of the Colossus is out on February 6^th for PS4 and trust us when we say you won’t want to miss it.

Civilization 6: Rise and Fall

When Firaxis releases expansion packs, it doesn’t mess around. Civilization 6’s first expansion Rise and Fall is the latest example. Releasing on February 8^th, it brings Golden and Dark Ages which occur by meeting or failing certain milestones. The Dark Age implications are intriguing due to the challenges present – overcoming these will bring about a Heroic Age, which offers bonuses far beyond a typical Golden Age. Then there are Loyalty ratings, which can result in Free Cities uncontrolled by any civilization if they drop far enough; alliances between civilizations; Emergencies which involve numerous civilizations taking sides; new units and a new District type; and of course, new civilizations. If that sounds like the rest of your year, then best to wrap up everything right now.

Dynasty Warriors 9

With a new generation comes change. You wouldn’t expect Omega Force’s Dynasty Warriors to follow that path but the Musou developer is going all out to revamp the experience with Dynasty Warriors 9. It introduces an open world rife with main story missions and side quests, a day/night cycle with dynamic weather, weapon crafting and the ability to customize your own hideout. There more than 83 characters to play with revised movesets along with the same large scale battles that fans love. Dynasty Warriors 9 is out on February 13^th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC so we’ll see just how far it changes the formula.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance

Warhorse’s long-in-development and crowd-funded open world action RPG is finally out in February. Kingdom Come: Deliverance takes place in medieval Bohemia and players will essentially lay siege to castles, survive in the open world while performing various deeds and combat different foes using realistic weaponry. It may all sound a bit Witcher-esque but Kingdom Come: Deliverance promises an entirely unique experience with all the grit, grime and guts befitting a medieval war epic. It releases on February 13^th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Bayonetta 1 and 2

The bullet witch finally comes to the Nintendo Switch. Bayonetta 3 is still a ways out but in the meantime, we’re getting double-game package Bayonetta 1 and 2. We’ve already seen the graphical enhancements provided by Bayonetta 1 when it released for PC last year – it’s Bayonetta 2 on the Switch which should prove more interesting. If, like many people, you didn’t pick up a Wii U and happened to miss the critically acclaimed sequel, this is the best way to experience it. Plus you receive a portable version of the first game as well. Bayonetta 1 and 2 arrive for the Nintendo Switch on February 16^th.

Fe

Make music, scale giant beasts (without administering the coup de grace a la Shadow of the Colossus) or simply sing to animals in Zoink Studios’ platformer Fe. Published under the EA Originals label, Fe will feature a main quest that’s 7 to 8 hours long but promises a huge world with plenty of secrets. The art direction and unique gameplay mechanics have us interested but will it stand out in this season of excellent indie platformers like Celeste and Iconoclasts? We’ll find out when Fe releases on February 16^th for Xbox One, PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch.

Secret of Mana

You’ve probably heard of Secret of Mana and what an influence it had on the hack and slash action RPG genre. If you’ve yet to find a game to scratch that itch – and CrossCode’s updates are too slow – then Secret of Mana is worth revisiting for PS4, PS Vita and PC. This version is a full remake with 3D graphics and features full voice work, new arrangements for classic tracks, more AI options for your teammates, mini-maps and an auto save function. Secret of Mana is out on February 15^th and we can’t wait to see how it plays.

Metal Gear Survive

We’ll be perfectly honest – Metal Gear Survive’s open world survival and stealth mechanics combined with zombie crystal things has us bizarrely intrigued. Maybe it’s because this is unlike anything we’ve ever seen from the MGS series. Or maybe there’s something deeper that’s worth looking forward to. It may also be like watching a train wreck in slow motion complete with microtransactions. Would that be a money train wreck then? Either way, Metal Gear Survive releases on February 20^th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Check it out if you happen to pick up the other nine games on this list, finish them and don’t have the good sense to play anything else.

Age of Empires: Definitive Edition

If you grew up in the 90s, then real time strategy gaming on the PC was consistently amazing. Command and Conquer: Red Alert, StarCraft, Warcraft 2 – there was no shortage of awesome games to play and Age of Empires was among them. The classic returns on February 20^th as Age of Empires: Definite Edition. Revamped graphics with 4K resolution support, numerous improvements and quality of life features, full online support and a completely redone soundtrack – what more could you want? Aside from remakes of the other games, which are also thankfully in development.

Back in November, we reported on Civilization VI’s upcoming expansion and what it would add to the game. As the release date for this expansions draws closer to its release, Firaxis has been steadily revealing information about new civilizations and leaders that we can soon expect to see in-game.Most recently, they have revealed The Cree which will be led by Poundmaker.

Poundmaker was originally a great leader of The Cree and is today remembered for securing a treaty between his tribe and the Canadian Government, even though this eventually broke down. His unique ability as leader is called Favorable Terms and it grants shared visibility to any civilization in alliance with the Cree.This civilization has other unique features as well. When The Cree research Pottery, they are granted a free trade route thanks to their unique ability Nihithaw. This ability ensures that when a Trader moves to an unclaimed tile within three tiles of The Cree city, the tile becomes claimed by them. The Cree’s unique improvement is called Mekewap and it provides production and housing and in some cases even gold. The Cree’s unique unit is called Okihtcitaw and is basically their Scout unit but possessing extra combat strength and they can also receive free promotions.

The expansion Rise and Fall is set to release on February 8. You can check out more details about The Cree and their leader in the video below.

Civilization games often assign a leader for each country or civilization to represent them in game- and historically, India has always been represented by Gandhi. This makes sense- not only is Gandhi one of the most prominent and well known political figures of all time, but his legacy is also tied to the Civilization series, thanks to a hilarious bug in the original game that made him absurdly aggressive, in stark contrast to his real life pacifism.

But it is a bit of a bummer, because India has had a lot of great rulers and politicians who don’t get their due in Civilization– while IV also offered Ashoka, the legendary Maurya king, as an option, mostly we get Gandhi, and that’s it.

The upcoming Rise and Fall expansion of Civilization 6 will be adding a brand new leader for India- the legendary Chandragupta Maurya, who was Ashoka’s precursor, and was in fact responsible for consolidating all of India, over 2,000 years ago.

Civilization 6 launches on PC on February 28.