Not every sci-fi concept will be the next Star Wars, Avatar, Blade Runnerand so on. That said, props to any filmmaker or game developer who tries something new or reinvents traditional conventions. In video games in particular, there have been a metric ton of sci-fi games that have either gone a long way, flopped, or fallen somewhere in the middle.
10 classic sci-fi games that are perfect from start to finish
Out of hundreds of choices, these classic sci-fi epics that remain perfect from start to finish came out on top.
The most tragic examples are those that came so close to perfection that no one noticed them for any number of reasons. Some of these games are still around, while others are a bit more lost in time, but either way, let's remember them today.
Binary domain
A robotic invasion is coming
Binary domain has a wild concept for a sci-fi game involving sentient robots that rise up and start killing civilians. That's where the heroes come in, as players take on the role of Daniel, the leader of a specialized unit tasked with dealing with this robot uprising.
Think of it as Gears of War missing Terminatorbecause this is a team shooter with killer robots. Players can choose their allies, upgrade their relationships, upgrade equipment and more in the relatively fun cover shooter from Yakuza team, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, at Sega.
Enslaved: Odyssey To The West
Horizon Zero Dawn
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is a linear action-adventure game that is based on Sun Wukongor The Monkey Kingmyths from Chinese folklore. The game puts a twist on the tradition by setting it in a post-apocalyptic version of Earth.
Monkey is a playable character, a raw man with supernatural powers who is controlled by a woman, Trip, as they both try to escape a dystopian landscape filled with robotic pursuers. Think of it as Dragon Ball missing Horizon Zero Dawn with action Devil May Cry and platform majesty an Uncharted game. It's a short mish-mash of ideas that's worth playing at least once.
Lost Planet: Extreme condition
Starship Troopers
Lost Planet: Extreme condition was an early shooter for the Xbox 360 about a group of colonists who set out on an icy alien planet for a rare energy source, only to be bombarded by alien bugs. Players can blast aliens with all kinds of weapons and escape injury with a grappling hook.
Best of all are the various mechs called Vital Suits, which come in a variety of forms, from stereotypical large tanks that walk upright to more mobile vehicles. Maybe it's a little monotonous, but shooting alien bugs is a concept that never gets old, and neither do mechs.
World War Robot
Metal Arms: A glitch in the system
- Released
-
November 19, 2003
Metal Arms: A glitch in the system is one of the many platformers that hit the PS2, GameCube, and the original Xbox in the early 2000s. Instead of a cute creature or some weird humanoid as the star, this game was all about a brave robot fighting a robot war.
10 Best Open World Sci-Fi RPGs, Ranked
Shoot evil robots, fight dystopian corporations and much more in this open world RPG that is the king of the sci-fi genre.
Players could acquire different weapons such as machine guns or rockets and pilot several vehicles and turrets during their run. The shooting was surprisingly good for a platformer, even if the rest of the game's level design wasn't that exciting.
Panzer Paladin
Shovel Knight With Mech
Panzer Paladin is an underrated modern pixel game featuring a Flame robot pilot who controls the titular Paladin mech named Grit. Players can pick up a variety of melee weapons from enemies, from swords to spears, and Flame can also get out of mechs in some sections to grapple and unlock paths to continue forward.
Developed by Tribute Games, which some may know it from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge or Marvel Cosmic Invasion, Panzer Paladin is an 8-bit game that plays and looks just as good as Shovel Knight. One of the cooler elements is the weapon editor, which allows players to create their own melee monstrosity.
Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy
Flame On!
Third-person shooters were very experimental in the 2000s and Psi Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy is a good example. Instead of just blasting enemies with guns, players also had a plethora of psychic abilities at their disposal.
Lighting enemies on fire was just as fun as throwing objects at them like in some weird, futuristic, deadly dodgeball match. It's a shame there aren't more physical shooters these days, because it makes for a good sci-fi thriller concept, or at least if Psi Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy.
Rogue Galaxy
Avast Ye Aliens
Rogue Galaxy it came out late in the PS2's life cycle in North America, well after its Japanese debut. It's an action RPG from Level-5, one of the best RPG developers to touch the PS2. Players were part of a group of space pirates, which is already a fun idea, traveling from planet to planet to find adventure, from a desert city overrun by monsters to a set of ruins hidden deep within a lush jungle.
Maybe not the best level 5 on PS2 but Rogue Galaxy it has a good party system with different characters, weapon evolution mechanics and challenging gameplay that will make the adventure more rewarding with a little patience.
Shadow complex
Nathan Drakevania
Shadow complex was one of the first indie games to attempt to carry on the Metroidvanias legacy in the 2000s, but through a different lens. Set in a near-future society, two cave explorers, Jason and Claire, stumble upon an underground device, which leads to Claire being kidnapped and Jason having to rescue her.
The 10 Darkest Endings in Sci-Fi Video Game History, Ranked
The word “dark” doesn't even begin to describe the bleak endings of these sci-fi games.
It's a low-fi sci-fi story, as the design of the secret bunker isn't very flashy, but the futuristic weapons and robots help set it apart from other 2D Metroidvania. Also Jason is voiced by Nolan North so you can pretend it's like 2D Uncharted game since North voices the franchise's hero, Nathan Drake.
Starhawk
Build bases and dominate the skies
Starhawk he was an ambitious spiritual successor Warhawkone of Sony's oldest games from the PS1 era. Set on an alien planet, players could gain rift energy during gameplay to summon structures from space and build walls, bases, and other structures during conflicts.
It was part RTS, part tower defense, and part third-person shooter, and watching those buildings fall from space could be immensely satisfying. In addition, there were hovercraft, jets flying around in dogfights, mechs and more. The gameplay mechanics are what sold the game, even if the world and story itself wasn't that interesting.
Transformers: War For Cybertron
Robots in disguise
There are a lot of them Transformers games out there, most of them bad, but Transformers: War for Cybertron is a forgotten classic. The original game allowed players to be Autobots and Decepticons, but both sides had a plethora of heroes or villains at their disposal.
The characters could fire a variety of weapons from cannons to rifles, but the coolest part was the transformation between vehicles and humanoid forms in battle in the blink of an eye. Transformers is such a rich sci-fi cartoon series that it's a shame there aren't as many good games as Transformers: War For Cybertronor that it is no longer possible to purchase digitally.
8 Sci-Fi Games That Would Be Better Than Red Dead Redemption 2 If They Were Only Westerns
Red Dead 2 is an all-time classic, but these games could be even better if they traded their spaceships and lasers for horses and revolvers.
