The sci-fi genre is one of the most prominent genres in all of gaming. It’s a great setting for RPGs, horror, shooters, and everything in between. Both fantasy and sci-fi both lend themselves to incredible world building that allows you to immerse yourself into new universes that are so different from our own. Star Wars, Star Trek, and many other franchises have done this so expertly outside of gaming, but video games have the opportunity to let you actually play through these worlds yourself. As the industry has evolved, these interactive sci-fi worlds have only gotten better and better to become more dense and unique.
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I’ve rounded up a list of some of the most acclaimed sci-fi games out there. Of course, arguments can be made there are some other games that should be on this list, but these are just some of the most beloved and respected titles within the genre. You can take a look at the list below.
7) Alien: Isolation
Alien: Isolation makes the list not just because it’s a great game on its own, but it is so painstakingly faithful to its own IP. It’s hard not to be one of the best sci-fi games out there when so much of the foundation has been laid for you. Creative Assembly kept the aesthetic, now known as cassette futurism, of the original films which is very rooted in the 70s with bulky computer terminals, creepy yet clunky androids, and somewhat cheap-looking analog tech like the radar you can equip.
Alien: Isolation is also easily one of the best horror games out there thanks to how terrifying the xenomorph is. The xenomorph’s advanced AI tracks the player and adapts to how you combat it, allowing each encounter with the alien to be unique and unpredictable. There’s nothing else quite like it, making it one of the scariest and toughest aliens you’ll ever go up against in a video game.
Isolation also came around the time of first-person horror games like Amnesia, Outlast, and PT, all of which made the player totally defenseless. Isolation builds off the ideas from that game by making you feel slightly underpowered, but not helpless. You can still fight back against the alien and other enemies, but stealth is also a viable way forward with the option to run and idea if you can’t take on a direct fight.
The game has managed to stand the test of time, only growing in popularity as time goes on. Every fall, it seems like it gets a pretty big boost in players and that’s likely what allowed the team to announce a sequel to Alien: Isolation last year, a decade after its original release.
6) Dead Space
Keeping in the horror spirit, Dead Space is yet another amazing sci-fi horror game. It’s one of the most original games within its genre and follows Isaac Clarke, a space engineer who is sent alongside a crew to investigate a mining ship that has gone dark. Unfortunately, they discover that the mining ship unearthed an ancient evil which unleashes an infectious alien force on the passengers. As you go along, you begin to discover there’s a much larger conspiracy involving the necromorphs and the marker, including a cult that worships these aliens.
One of the great things about Dead Space is that much of the game’s UI is entirely diegetic, meaning it exists in-universe as opposed to just something glued to the screen that only the player can see. Your health, ammo, and more are all represented on holographic imagery that Isaac himself can see which also results in a much cleaner presentation. Additionally, Isaacs weapons aren’t just random guns he finds lying around, they’re all repurposed tools used for space mining and engineering, allowing them to feel totally unique and unlike anything you’ve seen before in a game.
It’s not a game about scoring headshots like Resident Evil, but instead severing limbs to weaken and eventually killing the aliens. Isaac’s signature plasma cutter is a prime example of this as it can be used to chop off arms and legs instead of piercing them with bullets. All in all, Dead Space takes cues from a lot of other great horror games but puts a fun, immersive sci-fi twist on them.
5) Titanfall 2
Titanfall 2 is one of the great shooters that makes the most of its sci-fi setting, particularly in the campaign. Titanfall 2 has some of the best gameplay of any shooter out there thanks to its fluid movement that lets you run across walls, jump high, and slide around, but it also has something with a bit more weight to it as well. Of course, the big selling point is the giant autonomous mechs that rain from the sky to shred soldiers and battle each other with thunderous guns. It never gets old seeing a hulking robot fall out of the sky and begin fighting anything in its vicinity before hopping in to pilot it yourself.
Titanfall 2 also features an extremely inventive campaign where every level has some flashy sci-fi set piece or brilliant level design. The most notable example of this is the level Effect and Cause where the player explores an abandoned and destroyed facility. However, you eventually come across a device that allows you to travel back and forth through time with the press of a button. Because of this, you are able to overcome obstacles by teleporting back to a time before (or after) things were destroyed and even blink in and out of fights with enemies who think you are teleporting around them like Nightcrawler.
It’s a true shame that Titanfall 3 may never happen because it’s not only one of the best shooters, but one of the best sci-fi games out there as well thanks to its unique usage of technology through gameplay.
4) Halo: Reach
Truthfully, you could make a reasonable argument for any Halo game from before 2012, but Halo: Reach is the pinnacle of the series for me. It is a robust package with a strong campaign, captivating multiplayer modes, creative custom-made content, and a thrilling co-op horde mode. Reach brought a somewhat grounded tone to the Halo universe without ditching the Spartans, but instead of being a guy who flies through space with giant bombs, you’re part of a team that has to work together against the odds.
It’s a more gritty, boots-on-the-ground experience where you get to see the civilians and wildlife directly impacted by this galactic war. You also get a stronger mix of the human weaponry and vehicles compared to the more advanced technology of the Covenant, allowing for a significant contrast when picking up things off the ground. We also have special abilities that allow players to utilize jet packs, active camouflage, and even an impenetrable armor that briefly covers their body and can destroy anything that tries to crash into the person wearing it.
Despite its more grounded setting, there are still epic set pieces that send goosebumps across your body, such as the finale, where Noble 6 makes a final stand against the Covenant all by himself. Ultimately, Halo: Reach was a great conclusion to Bungie’s era on the series that provided the epic thrills fans were looking for while deepening one of gaming’s greatest sci-fi universes.
3) Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is one of the best Star Wars games ever made and a large part of that is the agency it gives you in one of sci-fi’s greatest universes. You’re allowed to make a variety of choices throughout the game that determine whether you go to the dark side, which creates a morally rich story filled with all kinds of internal conflict.
It is also one of the most immersive experiences in the Star Wars gaming universe, allowing you to explore the grimy criminal underbelly of Taris, race on Tatooine, and much more. Additionally, the fact it was released in the early 2000s and in the midst of the Star Wars prequel craze meant that BioWare had the opportunity to do so much more with the game. It was an RPG that could make proper use of exciting new technology, allowing players to see and experience parts of the Star Wars universe that they could only dream of.
A remake of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was announced back in 2021, but it has lingered in development hell for years now. The original plan was to not just give it nicer graphics, but also potentially make sweeping changes to gameplay, including moving away from turn-based combat. Although the KOTOR remake has changed developers, it is still in active development and hopefully, it won’t be too long before we see it again.
2) Mass Effect 2
Yet another BioWare RPG makes the list with Mass Effect 2, the pinnacle of the sci-fi RPG franchise. Mass Effect 2 deepened an already great concept from the first game, creating a dramatic story with hefty stakes. There’s even an outcome where literally every character can key character in the game can die on the suicide mission, all of which is determined by various decisions you make in the game. Of course, you almost have to do that intentionally, but they can all die individually as well. It makes your choices feel consequential, especially since some of those decisions can carry into Mass Effect 3.
Mass Effect 2 continues to flesh out an extremely compelling sci-fi universe with new characters like the Illusive Man, a morally compromised and sharply dressed villain who does whatever he deems necessary to advance humanity’s goals. He is just one of many people who help round out a robust cast of colorful characters with varying motivations, personalities, and relationships to Shepard.
While the main story has been praised up and down for nearly two decades now, Mass Effect 2‘s side content also gives the game a ton of flavor as well. Even just exploring the Citadel and shopping on what is essentially an interstellar mall has its charm. There’s not really any sci-fi RPG quite like the Mass Effect series, but the second game is without a doubt the best in the franchise.
1) Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2 is widely regarded as one of the best games of all-time. Gordon Freeman awakens in a dystopian city occupied by the Combine, a multidimensional alien empire, and must rebel against them with the help of a group of resistance fighters. Its story is largely pretty simple, but is held up by strong characters and intriguing, unexplained concepts such as a mysterious suited figure known only as G-Man. He comes and goes as he pleases, lurking in the background of the game to monitor Freeman. It’s very eerie, but also spawned no shortage of theories about who the G-Man actually is and what his goals were.
Freeman is given a combination of both grounded weaponry such as standard SMGs and shotguns along with advanced sci-fi weaponry like a gravity gun, empowering the player to be pretty creative with how they resolve combat encounters. Valve also created an impressive physics system where everything can react to any sort of interaction with the world. Items will bounce around after being blasted away with an explosion, any item can be used as a weapon thanks to the gravity gun, and more. It creates a much more engaging, immersive world with less barriers and restrictions to the player.
Of course, its episodic follow-ups left fans on a massive cliffhanger. However, as time goes on, it looks more and more likely that Half-Life 3 is finally going to happen. We’ll all just have to wait and see, but Valve may finally give us closure on one of the best sagas in gaming in the next couple of years.
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