A video game revolving around science
fiction isn't a very original idea, now is it? No --of course not.
Quite the opposite, in fact. But with the many, many, many sci-fi
games out there, what ones really left a mark on the genre? Here is a
list of Top 10 Sci-fi games that completely changed the way we play.
Star Fox 64:
Ooooof. That's really all I can say. No, really: animations beyond N64, multiple ways to complete missions (pretty unheard of in the early console days), an awesome story, a wolf that never let you shoot bombs at things, and a hare that kept telling you to do a barrel roll. Being in space wing has never been this fun except for...
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader:
From the very first moment you're thrust into the Death Star battle that put the original movie on the map to driving a '69 Buick through space, this game was everything a Star Wars fan could ask for. The Force is strong with this one.
Brute Force:
Not many people would include this game on their list, especially since it failed to live up to its hype back in 2001 (it broke Xbox sales records in the early post-Halo:CE days). But expectations aside, it's a very fun coop game. Each character in your four-man squad has unique abilities that help you get through missions all over the galaxy. You get to choose your assignments, what planets to explore, and how to go about the storyline. This game definitely turned the idea of space marines on its head. It's still a good time if you want an alternative to Halo.
Half-Life:
The original Half-Life would probably be the best scifi game of all-time if it weren't for its sequel, which pretty much slaps every other scifi game in the face. But here we have the original Black Mesa Incident, the event that changed Earth and multiple dimensions forever. We get cult icons Gordon Freeman, a mute scientist, and the G-Man, a mysterious being with a speech impediment, as they explore Black Mesa, an Area 51-ish underground laboratory where scientists are messing with all kinds of dangerous rays including one that blows a hole into a hostile alien dimension...
Dead Space:
OMGWTFROFHMWIC (the last one is: rolling on the floor hugging myself while I cry). This game scared me forever and the only reason I didn't wet the bed was because Joe Jasko was there to offer some support (RUN! OMG! SHOOT IT!). Seriously, Visceral Games took everything it knew from Alien, Event Horizon, The Thing, and Doom and turned it up to 11. It might be THE science fiction survival horror game. The sequel's real good, too.
Mass Effect:
Another colossal game that really set the bar real high for scifi games. If Half-Life 2 is the king of hard science fiction games, then Mass Effect rules over all space operas. An entire galaxy to explore, countless alien species, an awesome rogue super soldier, machines determined to destroy all sentient life, giant monoliths that might hold the secret to our very existence, and biotic (Force) powers. What else could a nerd ask for in a scifi game?
Doom 3:
Although we definitely love Doomguy, this reboot might be just a little bit better than the original. You are a nameless space marine tasked with annihilating every single demon on Mars before they can get to Earth. How did demons end up on Mars, you ask? Does it help to tell you that the demon infestation broke out in a lab after scientists ripped a whole into Hell? Yeah, we messed up...
Metroid Prime:
Another of Nintendo's few scifi entries, Metroid Prime introduced a new generation to Samus Aran, a bounty hunter bent on killing every last insectoid Space Pirate. It's one of the only examples of planetary romance in video game. After barely escaping a Parasite Queen on a Space Pirate frigate, Samus crashlands on Tallon IV, a mysterious planet with a dark history. Not only did you get to shoot lots of hostile creatures in the wild, you also got to study them and collect information for your database. It was as "scientific" as it was action-packed.
Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty:
This is the king of all scifi RTS games. Although its predecessor took everything that was good about strategy games and turned it into something worthy of being Warcraft's scifi counterpart, the sequel really tightened up all the screws on the hull made one of the greatest gaming experiences of all-time. The story helped spawn the larger Starcraft lore that countless fans obsess about on every occasion.
Halo:
Whether you think it's overrated or the game that revolutionized console shooters, there's no doubt that Halo presented scifi with style. Stealing a whole lot from Larry Niven's Ringworld series, this game made planetary romance sexy again as you explored the celestial Halo ring's secrets, eventually uncovering its threat to the entire galaxy. There's also that HUGE twist halfway through the game that made lots of gamers dive behind their couches...
Star Fox 64:
Ooooof. That's really all I can say. No, really: animations beyond N64, multiple ways to complete missions (pretty unheard of in the early console days), an awesome story, a wolf that never let you shoot bombs at things, and a hare that kept telling you to do a barrel roll. Being in space wing has never been this fun except for...
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader:
From the very first moment you're thrust into the Death Star battle that put the original movie on the map to driving a '69 Buick through space, this game was everything a Star Wars fan could ask for. The Force is strong with this one.
Brute Force:
Not many people would include this game on their list, especially since it failed to live up to its hype back in 2001 (it broke Xbox sales records in the early post-Halo:CE days). But expectations aside, it's a very fun coop game. Each character in your four-man squad has unique abilities that help you get through missions all over the galaxy. You get to choose your assignments, what planets to explore, and how to go about the storyline. This game definitely turned the idea of space marines on its head. It's still a good time if you want an alternative to Halo.
Half-Life:
The original Half-Life would probably be the best scifi game of all-time if it weren't for its sequel, which pretty much slaps every other scifi game in the face. But here we have the original Black Mesa Incident, the event that changed Earth and multiple dimensions forever. We get cult icons Gordon Freeman, a mute scientist, and the G-Man, a mysterious being with a speech impediment, as they explore Black Mesa, an Area 51-ish underground laboratory where scientists are messing with all kinds of dangerous rays including one that blows a hole into a hostile alien dimension...
Dead Space:
OMGWTFROFHMWIC (the last one is: rolling on the floor hugging myself while I cry). This game scared me forever and the only reason I didn't wet the bed was because Joe Jasko was there to offer some support (RUN! OMG! SHOOT IT!). Seriously, Visceral Games took everything it knew from Alien, Event Horizon, The Thing, and Doom and turned it up to 11. It might be THE science fiction survival horror game. The sequel's real good, too.
Mass Effect:
Another colossal game that really set the bar real high for scifi games. If Half-Life 2 is the king of hard science fiction games, then Mass Effect rules over all space operas. An entire galaxy to explore, countless alien species, an awesome rogue super soldier, machines determined to destroy all sentient life, giant monoliths that might hold the secret to our very existence, and biotic (Force) powers. What else could a nerd ask for in a scifi game?
Doom 3:
Although we definitely love Doomguy, this reboot might be just a little bit better than the original. You are a nameless space marine tasked with annihilating every single demon on Mars before they can get to Earth. How did demons end up on Mars, you ask? Does it help to tell you that the demon infestation broke out in a lab after scientists ripped a whole into Hell? Yeah, we messed up...
Metroid Prime:
Another of Nintendo's few scifi entries, Metroid Prime introduced a new generation to Samus Aran, a bounty hunter bent on killing every last insectoid Space Pirate. It's one of the only examples of planetary romance in video game. After barely escaping a Parasite Queen on a Space Pirate frigate, Samus crashlands on Tallon IV, a mysterious planet with a dark history. Not only did you get to shoot lots of hostile creatures in the wild, you also got to study them and collect information for your database. It was as "scientific" as it was action-packed.
Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty:
This is the king of all scifi RTS games. Although its predecessor took everything that was good about strategy games and turned it into something worthy of being Warcraft's scifi counterpart, the sequel really tightened up all the screws on the hull made one of the greatest gaming experiences of all-time. The story helped spawn the larger Starcraft lore that countless fans obsess about on every occasion.
Halo:
Whether you think it's overrated or the game that revolutionized console shooters, there's no doubt that Halo presented scifi with style. Stealing a whole lot from Larry Niven's Ringworld series, this game made planetary romance sexy again as you explored the celestial Halo ring's secrets, eventually uncovering its threat to the entire galaxy. There's also that HUGE twist halfway through the game that made lots of gamers dive behind their couches...
