Many of the best video games of all time fall into the science fiction genre. High-tech stories and a high-tech medium go together like bread and butter, with games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Dead Space showing just how good sci-fi games can be.
However, while many sci-fi games are celebrated, there are also games that are mostly forgotten. Games like Project Eden are rarely discussed by anyone. Even though these sci-fi games don’t get much recognition, they’re titles any fan of the genre should play.
Anachronox Is Perfect for Fans of Doom
Anachronox is a sci-fi RPG designed by Tom Hall of Wolfenstein 3D and Doom fame. The game is set on the titular planet, which is believed to have once been inhabited by aliens. Protagonist Sylvester “Sly Boots” Bucelli has the misfortune of finding this out and works with his newfound friends to stop it.
Fairly light-hearted for a Western RPG, Anachronox mixes humor with tropes such as film noir and cyberpunk. That tone is only half the story, as the gameplay mechanics are also fun to toy with, like the game’s “MysTech” system, which allows players to craft items like weapons out of any given object.
Anachronox is one of many underrated RPGs that could really use a remake. However, even though the game shows its age in some respects, the original is still fantastic. Since it’s currently available on Steam, it’s a title potential players can easily track down.
Remember Me Was One of John Carpenter’s Favorite Games
Remember Me is an action-adventure game developed by Dontnod Entertainment, which later went on to make the Life is Strange series. Set in Neo-Paris in the year 2084, the game follows protagonist Nilin as she helps take down an evil corporation that stole and erased all her memories. It’s a truly haunting and sentimental sci-fi story.
There are many unique gameplay mechanics in Remember Me that fit its cyberpunk theme. For example, when the player is low on health, the screen glitches, which adds to the tension of staying alive. Thankfully, Nilin has plenty of combat moves at her disposal. Remember Me is one of director John Carpenter’s favorite games, but it’s been forgotten by many others.
Project Eden Is a Fantastic Multiplayer Sci-Fi Game
Project Eden is an action-adventure game set in an unspecified futuristic megacity. A troubling problem is spreading through the city: its inhabitants are suddenly disappearing. The city’s Urban Protection Agency, which functions as its police force, has been sent into the bowels of the city to find out what is causing these disappearances.
Best played in multiplayer mode, Project Eden makes for an excellent cooperative experience, with players able to control every major character in the game, a la the Left 4 Dead series. Even in single-player mode, it’s fun to make the most of these characters’ strengths and weaknesses while going deeper into the megacity and coming across dangerous cannibals.
BioForge Is More Than an Interactive Movie
BioForge is an action-adventure game whose story is told through FMVs, hence its reputation as an interactive movie as well. The game takes place in an alternate universe where an intergalactic federation rules the entire galaxy and plans to rule other galaxies as well. A cyborg is tasked with assisting scientists in stopping the federation before it can go through with those plans.
Truth be told, BioForge is more than just an interactive movie where players have little input into what occurs. Instead, the game stays true to its action-adventure nature, with players having to fight their way through it all. It also has a neat health regeneration system, something that wasn’t present in most games at the time.
The Dig Is Steven Spielberg’s Gaming Masterpiece
The Dig is a point-and-click graphical adventure game that was originally conceived by Steven Spielberg as an episode for his Amazing Stories television series. It begins with the threat of an asteroid heading straight toward Earth. The asteroid is so hollow, but the technology needed to destroy it is hard to find without the help of a benevolent alien species.
Surprisingly intense for a LucasArts game, The Dig comes from the same company that made titles like Sam & Max Hit the Road and the Monkey Island series. It also shows that Steven Spielberg is just as great a game writer as he is a filmmaker, with players having to make tough decisions about how to prevent the asteroid from hitting Earth.
FreeSpace 2 Is a Surprisingly Realistic Space Combat Game
FreeSpace 2 is a space combat simulator that, in a departure from most games in the genre, is never set on any given planet. Instead, the game takes place in the void of outer space, which is still teeming with all sorts of ships that seem to like nothing better than gunning each other down.
Due to poor sales, FreeSpace 2 brought down the space combat genre, but the game itself is fantastic. When players aren’t firing on enemy ships, they can explore the vastness of space to their hearts’ content. Of course, it’s even more fun to square off against those enemy ships, and with the game presented from a first-person perspective, FreeSpace 2 can get pretty intense.
System Shock 2 Is Why AI Shouldn’t Run Free
System Shock 2 is an action RPG that, besides having clear sci-fi elements, also leans into survival horror. Set in the year 2114 aboard the desolated spaceship Von Braun , the game reveals that the crew has become one with “the Many,” a hive mind remotely controlled by alien forces that can take the form of their hosts.
This becomes the perfect opportunity for the rogue AI SHODAN to take over the ship and, if possible, the universe. Even though this builds on the story told in the original System Shock , it takes the franchise in a new direction, and the final result is one of the best games of the ’90s.
Both System Shock 2 and its predecessor are major contributors to today’s sci-fi survival horror games, and they simply do not get enough credit for it. Since System Shock 2 is available on Steam, it’s incredibly accessible, and gamers should give this classic a try.
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