(Insert a tasteful John Williams score and scrolling text) These are the digital voyages of the best playable sci-fi games today.
Their mission: to explore strange new locations, seek out (and most likely destroy) new lifeforms, and to boldly go where no gamer has gone before…….at least during beta testing before the game mass releases on the market:
#13. Rebel GalaxyGrand Theft Auto. In space. So, Grand Theft Starship? Eh, whatever. Pilot and command a personal star destroyer and zoom across the galaxy and beyond while you battle pirates, explore strange areas of space, befriend friendly aliens, scavenge battle wreckage, mine asteroids, and discover artifacts.
Top 3 Things That Make This Game Great
- The level of morality that you choose for your character affects the outcome of your character’s adventure.
- Lack of a main story arc gives players a relaxing game that isn’t confined by completion anxiety.
- Simple trade and credit system when purchasing items in-game.
Millenium Falcon Ain’t Got Sh*t on me: Customize and outfit your personal space craft for speed, strength, or both.
Mother Friggin Space Pirates: Need I say more?
#12. Borderlands
Play as one of four “trigger-happy” mercenaries and take out everything that stands in your way as you shoot through hordes of enemies with an even bigger horde of guns in your arsenal. Like sci-fi Mad Max, except with more sarcasm.
Top 3 Things That Make This Game Great
- Radical art style combines traditional rendering techniques with hand-drawn textures to create a unique and eye-catching spin on the First Person genre
- Combines frantic first-person shooting action with accessible role-playing character progression
- Vehicular combat allows the player to get behind the wheel and engage in intense vehicle-to-vehicle battles.
Basically Australia: Everything that’s not you, wants to kill you.
So Many Guns: So, so many guns……
#11. No Man's Sky
No Man's Sky is a game about exploration and survival in an infinite procedurally generated universe. Travel through space in real time and choose your own intergalactic destiny.
Top 3 Things That Make This Game Great
- Real time exploration. No loading screens when going from one galaxy to another. Basically a spaceship flying sim when operating your vessel.
- Hundreds of available ship upgrades.
- Explore the planets themselves in the galaxies you discover and trek across their surfaces looking for resources, or just about anything else.
Are We There Yet?: I have to pee and there’s no in-flight movie.
This is not the mod you are looking for……
#10. PreyIn this heart-pounding survival thriller, you are the key subject of an experiment meant to alter humanity forever – but things have gone terribly wrong. The space station has been overrun by hostile aliens and you are now being hunted.
Top 3 Things That Make This Game Great
- Set out to unravel the clues you've left behind for yourself, and discover the truth about your past as the main character, Morgan Yu.
- Explore a lavish craft designed as an homage to the corporate luxury of the 1960s, and navigate interconnected, non-linear pathways built to hide countless secrets.
- Gain alien abilities and upgrade your unique skills, and craft increasingly useful items with the blueprints, gadgets and tools on board the station.
Hello Darkness My Old…….. Blob.
Minions 2.0: Banana Beep Boop Boop.
#9. Elite DangerousSimilar to the previous game, Elite Dangerous is an outer space themed open-world exploration that also operates in real time with more focus on piloting through space than scouring the planets surfaces. What the previous game doesn’t have is a map comprised of an exact, full-scale copy of our own galaxy. It’s like being a part of NASA, without any hard work, or even basic training. Or a diploma of any kind.
Top 3 Things That Make This Game Great
- Journey around the real stars, planets, moons, asteroid fields and black holes of our own galaxy that are built to their true epic proportions in the largest designed playspace in videogame history.
- Hunt, explore, fight, mine, smuggle, trade and survive in our cutthroat galaxy set in the year 3301.
- Experience the gameplay alone in Solo mode or with players across the world in Open Play.
Do a Barrel Roll!
My God……. It's full of lasers.
#8. Star Wars Battlefront IIIt was only a matter of time before this fanbase was mentioned *sigh* Join the rise of Darth Vader’s elite 501st Legion of Stormtroopers as you fight through a story-based quest-line where every action you take impacts the battlefront and, ultimately, the fate of the Star Wars galaxy.
Top 3 Things That Make This Game Great
- Fight inside the corridors of the second Death Star, in the marshy swamps of Dagobah, and more familiar locations from the classic movies.
- Choose from six distinct soldier classes, plus bonus hero characters for each of the four factions: Rebels, Imperials, CIS and the Republic.
- Play five different online game modes including Conquest, Assault, one-and two-flag Capture the Flag, and Hunt that can hold up to 64 players!
Don’t Get Cocky [Insert player username here]!
I Wonder If Space Santa Claus Lives On Hoth.
#7. Starcraft 2From the dorks over at Blizzard comes World of Warcraft in Space!......... I mean Starcraft……….2! Like it’s predecessor, this game helps the players experience intergalactic warfare through an epic story campaign, best-in-class multiplayer competition, and collaborative co-op missions.
Top 3 Things That Make This Game Great
- Play as the games three standard races in the entirely free story- campaign.
- Three main commanders are completely free to play, as well as every other commander up to level 5.
- Also includes best-in-class multiplayer battles and co-op missions.
I See You: ZAP
We Are Family! I Got All My Swarm Friends With Me!
#6. Endless Space 2This strategic “Space Opera”, (Gustav Holst would be proud. Google him y’all), featuring the compelling “just one more turn” gameplay, is set in the mysterious Endless universe. As the leader of your civilization, your objective is simple: build the greatest stellar empire in existence.
Top 3 Things That Make This Game Great
- Explore mysterious star systems to seek out allies, or defeat enemies as you build your empire.
- Build colonies on distant planets and exploit trade routes to build your empire’s economy.
- Manage your populations like never before as they react dynamically to your decisions and to their environment, express their wants and needs through political parties, and dictate the laws that your Senate can pass.
You Can’t Expect to Wield Supreme Power Just Cuz Some Watery Alien Threw a Blaster At You!
Welcome to This Week’s Edition of “Pimp My Destroyer”!
#5. StellarisForge a galactic empire by sending out science ships to survey and explore, and construction ships to build stations around newly discovered planets. Discover buried treasures and galactic wonders as you spin a direction for your society, which may or may not cause alliances, or brutal wars, with other intergalactic species.
Top 3 Things That Make This Game Great
- Grand strategy gameplay that operates in real time.
- Characteristically complex and unique planets/celestial bodies in a highly detailed universe.
- Thousands of randomly generated planet types, galaxies, quests and monsters lurking in space.
I’m the Map! I’m the Map! I’m the Map! I’m the Map! I’m the Map! I’m the Map!
Rule Number 1: Don’t look directly at the star. Rule Num...... WHAT DID I JUST SAY?!
#4. EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New DespairIt's a fight for the future of the planet between the Ravagers, a merciless swarm of alien insect invaders, and the Earth Defense Force in this Kaiju inspired third-person shooter. Now if you will please excuse me, I need to calmly get my fly swatter, flame thrower, and nuclear bomb. *Distant vomiting noises*
Top 3 Things That Make This Game Great
- Play as four different classes in over 80 missions with a range of 800 weapons at your disposal.
- Overwhelmingly large amounts of enemies to destroy for countless hours of gameplay.
- Co-op mode enabled online or through local multiplayer.
Whelp…… Nice Knowing You Guys.
*Slowly and Carefully Burns Down My Entire House*
#3. Detroit: Become HumanStraying away from humor for a second, this game is a choose-your-own adventure type game that takes place in a world where androids are treated like slaves and then rise up in rebellion. Will there be peace or war? The choices you make determine the game's outcome.
Top 3 Things That Make This Game Great
- Interactive story with dozens of different choices and outcomes.
- Compelling and heart-wrenching story that emotionally attaches the player to the game.
- No “You Died” or “Game Over” screen. YOu can go back and change a choice if you didn’t like the outcome.
Who's Cutting Onions?
Red Pill or Blue Pill: Is Purple an Option? What About Cyan. Or a Nice Emerald.
#2. Warhammer 40,000 Space MarineBased on the cut-throat tabletop series, this game puts the player in the shoes of Captain Titus, a Space Marine and a seasoned veteran of countless battles. As Titus, your mission is to defend a planet sized forgery from a million-strong Ork horde that is quickly descending upon your forces. Achieve victory, or die trying. (The second one sounds easier).
Top 3 Things That Make This Game Great
- Experience 40,000 years of evolved combat with a brand new war arsenal.
- unlock new weapons, upgrades, armor & abilities through an accessible progression system.
- Form your own Space Marine squad or Chaos Space Marine warband and face off in 8 vs 8 online matches.
Here: Hold This… Thanks.
Peek a Boo! I’m Gonna Shoot you!
and finally........ *drumroll*
#1. XCOM® 2In this sequel to the 2012 award-winning strategy game of the year, Earth has changed in the last 20 years, and is now under alien rule. Facing impossible odds you must rebuild XCOM (Extraterrestrial Combat Unit), and ignite a global resistance to reclaim our world and save humanity from our sinister overlords who silently exterminate those who go against the new order.
Top 3 Things That Make This Game Great
- Open-ended gameplay lets you decide where to guide your strike team, how to grow popular support, and when to combat enemy counter-operations.
- Five soldier classes, each with its own skill tree, let you create specific soldiers for your tactical plan.
- Randomly play against squads of humans and aliens and battle head-to-head in multiplayer on randomly-generated maps.
Sorry Madame: I Don’t Think You’re Quite My Type.
“No Funny Faces In This Next Photo, Guys. I’m Serious.”
Hold on just a second! You thought it was over! We still have to check out the best upcoming sci-fi games too!
*[Official Descriptions used for this section]*
#6. Star Citizen“Imagine a universe that combines the freedom of exploration, the thrill of combat, and the unique challenge of building a life in space. Star Citizen puts ultimate control in the hands of the player, whether you're making your way as a cargo hauler, exploring the vastness of space, or scraping out a living outside the law, you will navigate through a mixture of procedurally generated and handcrafted worlds and interact with a variety of characters.”
“Age of Wonders: Planetfall is the new strategy game from Triumph Studios, creators of the critically acclaimed Age of Wonders series, bringing all the exciting tactical turn-based combat and in-depth empire building of its predecessors to space in an all-new, sci-fi setting.”
“Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world, action-adventure story set in Night City, a megalopolis obsessed with power, glamour and body modification. You play as V, a mercenary outlaw going after a one-of-a-kind implant that is the key to immortality.”
“The Empire seeks to eradicate all Jedi after the execution of Order 66. You, a Jedi Padawan-turned-fugitive, must fight for your survival as you explore the mysteries of a long-extinct civilization in hopes of rebuilding the Jedi Order. Use the Force to augment the way you explore, allowing you to traverse new paths and discover parts of locations you’ve been to before. Move quickly, though. The Empire is on your trail and won’t stop until every Jedi is exterminated.”
“From one of gaming’s most acclaimed sagas, Gears is bigger than ever, with five thrilling modes and the deepest campaign yet. With all-out war descending, Kait Diaz breaks away to uncover her connection to the enemy and discovers the true danger to Sera – herself.”
“At the hard edge of the galaxy lies a group of planets ruthlessly exploited by militarized corporations. Brimming with loot and violence, this is your home—the Borderlands. Now, a crazed cult known as The Children of the Vault has emerged and is spreading like an interstellar plague. Play solo or co-op as one of four unique Vault Hunters, score loads of loot, and save the galaxy from this fanatical threat.”
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