11 New Sci Fi Games Coming Out in 2016

Updated:

22 Aug 2024

11. Mass Effect: Andromeda

Official E3 Trailer for Mass Effect: Andromeda

In 2007, BioWare introduced us to the ride of our lives: Mass Effect. With that, a galaxy that needed to be explored and saved from an enemy that threatened to wipe out the existence of all life. A trilogy that will live forever in our hearts is now continued in a new adventure.

Little is known about Mass Effect: Andromeda but that does not stop us from being excited. What does seem to be coming in through interviews and blogs is that the developers at BioWare are striving to keep to the original Mass Effect feel while bringing us a brand new story and characters. It is a new adventure and breath of fresh air for a series that we have grown to love.

The tentative release date is still set for the Holiday season of 2016. As the year progresses forward, we should expect to hear more about the development of Mass Effect: Andromeda.

A new world, a new story.

10. Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak

Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak Trailer

Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is a real-time strategy computer game and a prequel to the original video game Homeworld. It is set approximately 100 years prior to the events that take place in Homeworld.

The story of the game is that the planet is dying. All the inhabitants want is salvation. An anomaly is detected in the deserts of Kharak.

You join Rachel S’jet, a science officer who is likely related to Karan S’jet from the original game. You go on an expedition to seek out the anomaly and discover their fate.

The game is set to release on January 20, 2016.

Exciting and explosive combat.

9. Star Citizen

Official Gameplay Trailer

Star Citizen is a space sim that is set in the 30th century. It is a massive multiplayer first person shooter/space simulator with a focus on the players' interactions with each other as well as their massive environment. It is currently still in testing but is set to release in the ending quarters of 2016.

While gameplay is focused on player interaction, it also focuses on emergent gameplay. You choose your destiny and can be anything from a lawful and fair merchant trader, a ruthless thief, sky pirate or anything your heart desires. Every choice made in the game ripples throughout the environment.

The developers boast a realistic journey into space exploration. Ships were created with a Newtonian physics engine. They are varied in design and each has unique flight characteristics, giving you a one of a kind ride and experience in space flight.

Once you get your ship, you hire a crew, and you explore the vast expanses of the universe, forging a path and a name for yourself. What path will you create?

View from the cockpit of your very on fighter.

8. Overwatch

Overwatch Official Gameplay Trailer

If you enjoy multiplayer first person shooters, then get ready for Blizzard’s Overwatch. This game is set in a futuristic Earth where you choose and play your hero. You play with five other team members against another six-man team.

There are four types of heroes: offense, defense, tank, and support. Each character has a set role and that role is important to the survival and success of your team. Choose wisely.

Dual-wielding air fighting heroes!

Overwatch currently has two separate game modes. The first is point capture. One team captures points on the map while the other team defends and stops the enemy team.

The second game mode is Payload. This is a timed mode where the attacking team must defend and lead a vehicle to a given point on the map while the opposing team attempts to stop them.

Maps are inspired by real locations of past Earth; California, Japan, and Africa to name a few.

Hero not working out for you? A unique feature of Overwatch is the ability to switch characters upon death, giving you a chance to undo... or redo your mistakes.

Overall, Overwatch is looking to be a fun and exciting game. Though currently in beta, you can pre-order Overwatch through Blizzard’s website. The game is set to release in the Spring of 2016

Hanamura point capture map.

7. Routine

Routine Gameplay Trailer

Routine is a horror exploration game played in first person view from Lunar Software. It takes place on an abandoned moonbase. You have been sent to investigate the disappearance of the other crew members of the base.

You have only your wits, which are frazzled, and your handy CAT (Cosmonaut Assistance Tool), which truly is not a suitable weapon, but it will have to do. However, you can upgrade it, with convenient floppy disks you find throughout the dilapidated base. Explore and uncover the truth all while surviving.

As if that was not enough, how about a Perma Death? Yep. In Routine, there are no multiple lives or healing kits; if you die, that’s it. The trailer below is a creepy peek into Routine.

Routine is hopeful to be released in 2016.

You’re being stalked.

6. Battleborn

E3 Gameplay Demo

From the creators of Borderlands, Gearbox Software is rolling out a new game in 2016. Battleborn is a first person shooter with MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) elements.

Upon release there will be 25 playable characters. Each hero can level up and unlock skills. Similarly, you can earn badges and titles by leveling your profile which may be used to benefit heroes you play.

In actual gameplay, there will be three modes upon release. Each mode will have different objectives that teams will have to complete in order to win. There is Incursion mode, Devastation mode, and Meltdown mode.

In Incursion mode, AI minions attack your base and you must defend it. While you do this, you must try to destroy your enemies base with your minions at your side.

In Devastation mode, you will find yourself fighting for your life in a death match while completing and dominating objectives to achieve victory.

In Meltdown mode, your team must lead your minions to the center of the map where they will sacrifice themselves. If your team has the most minion sacrifices, you win!

Each mode delivers a different type of gameplay, keeping the game fresh and interesting. Overall, Battleborn looks to be a fun approach to the MOBA genre and I look forward to playing it.

The official release date for Battleborn is May 3, 2016

Support your allies and slaughter your enemies.

5. P.A.M.E.L.A.

P.A.M.E.L.A. Storyline Trailer

Quite often we see that when a whole world strives for perfection, something goes drastically wrong. One of the first things I noticed when I watched the trailer for P.A.M.E.L.A. was that I was reminded of a scene from Joss Whedon’s Serenity where the inhabitants strived for perfection, only to find that it had deadly consequences.

You wake up from cryo-sleep to find that Paradise has fallen. The people of Eden have become infected with something, causing them to be hostile toward you. On top of it all, you must find a way to survive.

Then you meet Pamela, Eden’s AI, who witnessed the downfall of the place that was meant to be a utopia. She can help you, but even she knows that eventually you may meet your end.

P.A.M.E.L.A. is an open world sandbox that unfolds a storyline as you progress and discover what has happened to the citizens of Eden.

He's gonna feel that in the morning.

4. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Gameplay Trailer

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is the sequel to the 2011 Deus Ex: Human Revolution and is set two years after the events of Human Revolution. It is a first person perspective game set in Prague in the Czech Republic.

You continue playing as Adam Jensen, the story’s protagonist. Augmentation has been looked down upon due to the effects of the Panchaea Incident, where augmented people were responsible for attacks on “naturals.”

With the encouragement of the Illuminati it has become custom to persecute those who have been augmented. While fighting off terrorists you are also working towards equality for augmented people.

One can expect we'll find Jensen back crawling around in air-vents and stealing PDAs, just like he always has.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is set to release on August 23, 2016.

Ready for action.

3. Dreadnought

Dreadnought Gameplay Trailer and Summary

Dreadnought began to show up on our radar in 2014 and has been heavily in the works ever since.

In Dreadnought, you take on the role of a new captain. Your job is to build a fleet of capable ships and team up with other captains in the galaxy.

The game’s developers boast that there will be 5v5 team based PVP in which you can join other captains and battle against other teams in the galaxy. In doing so, you will build a reputation for yourself amongst other players in Dreadnought. Will you be respected or feared?

Though this project is still in its early stages, Grey Box appears hopeful about the release of Dreadnought and has a projected plan.

In January to February 2016, the developers plan to open up Dreadnought for Alpha. By the middle of the year they hope to move into closed Beta and then open Beta. They have an ambitious goal of releasing the game by the end of 2016.

You can currently sign up for the Beta on their website, so if you haven’t already, what are you waiting for? This is a game that I definitely want to try.

Looking for trouble.

2. EVERSPACE

Explore the galaxy in EVERSPACE.

I know in my lifetime I will never see space the way I would like. That is why games like EVERSPACE appeal to me. I can explore galaxies in a way that I would never be able to in my own lifetime.

EVERSPACE is a game that has successfully funded a Kickstarter campaign to date. With their amount of funds nearly doubled, they can do whatever they choose with this game.

The game is a 3D space shooter that will have rogue-like elements. Each run you do gives you the chance to pick up upgrades for your ship, making you stronger each round you go without dying. However, death is eventually inevitable and you will meet your end.

The developers claim that even death is rewarding. In your next game, you will be able to alter your starting conditions. The conditions will vary, but either way, your death will not be in vain.

Perhaps the most intriguing catch for me is that this game does have a story, whereas in most rogue-like games, the story serves only to justify gameplay. The developers do not give us a hint to what this story is, just that there is a great mystery to solve and with each run, success or failure, a piece of the puzzle will be uncovered.

The expected release date of EVERSPACE is October 2016.

A view from space.

1. No Man’s Sky

No Man’s Sky Gameplay Trailer

Perhaps one of the most anticipated games coming out next year is Hello Games’, No Man’s Sky. It is a first person adventure survival that is open universe that uses deterministic algorithms to create a procedurally generated universe.

The goal of No Man’s Sky is to explore and collect information to upload into a galactic database. Once the information is uploaded then you are paid in units, which you can use to upgrade your gear, ship, weapons, and other items that will help you be more successful in exploring.

No Man’s Sky is scheduled to release in June 2016.