Video games are uniquely suited among mediums to bring science fiction worlds to life. Being a genre based in ideas and world-building, the immersion offered by games has been used by creators to craft intriguing and iconic sci-fi stories. Big ideas like humanity's relationship with technology, the ethics of augmentation, and the morality of actions in extreme environments can be made more intimate and personal through putting the player in the driver's seat. Or we can just blow through some crazy-looking aliens with big laser guns too. Video games are meant to be fun after all.
But while some games can pull off the balance of fun and big ideas to create gripping stories and exciting gameplay experiences, some miss the mark entirely. Maybe the controls are too wonky, maybe the visuals are bland, or maybe the story is just too cliche and boring. The camera will usually be bad too. But whatever the reason, these bad games can't meet their peers when it comes to making both good video games and good sci-fi.
In that spirit, we're going to take a look at both in this list. The good and the bad. We're going to celebrate the games which create new and memorable science fiction stories and put the ones that don't measure up under the microscope to see why their sci-fi stinks. Whether that sci-fi is laser gunning aliens or examining complex issues. These are the 15 Best Sci-Fi Video Games Ever (And 15 That Missed The Mark).
30 Best: Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic
Ask any Star Wars fan what the best video game in the franchise is, nine out of ten will say Knights of the Old Republic. A sprawling RPG epic, KOTOR as its called took players to the distant past of the Star Wars galaxy to tell a grand story of good and evil. The plot twist at its heart still sends shivers down fans' spines. KOTOR's strength lay in remixing the familiar elements of a Star Wars story to build a new story on a strong RPG framework. It was what many fans wanted out of a prequel.
29 Worst: Mass Effect: Andromeda
With the popularity of Mass Effect, it's no surprise that Bioware would plan a spinoff for the franchise. Too bad it didn't quite pan out. Andromeda took players to a whole new galaxy with hundreds of new planets that wouldn't be generated until the player wit there. That was the plan at least, but after five years of development, Bioware couldn't get Andromeda to measure up to that promise. Combined with bad graphical animation and a muddled story, fans reacted to it with disappointment. No sequel is planned at this time, possibly ending the Mass Effect brand.
28 Best: Deus Ex: Human Revolution
If Blade Runner is the most cyberpunk movie, then Deus Ex: Human Revolution is the most cyberpunk video game. It has all the hallmarks of the subgenre of sci-fi; megacorporations, hackers, and that particular Philip K. Dick question of the line between human and robot. On the gameplay front, its mix of role-playing game, first-person shooter, and stealth elements created a unique experience that brought players into its engrossing if archetypal world. The story of Adam Jensen and its themes of transhumanism rang true in our increasingly digital world.
27 Worst: Star Trek (2013)
Movie tie-in games are almost universally terrible. Cheap, quick cash-ins made to ride on the movie's name. They get even worse when connected to such a storied sci-fi property like Star Trek. Made to coincide with the equally terrible Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Trek (2013) was bad even for a tie-in. Plagued by hacking mini-games and badly implemented co-op, this game reduced one of the most thoughtful franchises in sci-fi to a boilerplate cover shooter. Players had the option of playing as either Kirk or Spock, but in single player, the computer controls the other character. And the computer controls about as well as a broken golf cart.
26 Best: X-COM: Enemy Unknown
The alien invasion is a central story in the sci-fi genre and many games have used it as a backdrop. What makes X-COM special is that it portrayed an alien invasion in the present day from a tactical point of view. An updating of a classic PC game, Enemy Unknown brought its turn-based tactical gameplay into the 21st century. Not only do you lead troops into battle but you also manage resources, create new weapons, and plan strategies on a global scale. This is the game to play if you want to act out the fantasy of supreme commander fighting off the alien invasion.
25 Worst: Perfect Dark Zero
Perfect Dark was a seminal game for the Nintendo 64. Developed by the same team behind Goldeneye, it was a unique shooter that built on that legendary title with a brand new story. Anticipation was high for a sequel over the 5 years of development.
But when Perfect Dark Zero was released in 2005, the results were disappointing.
Time had passed the series by. The gameplay was stuck in the previous generation and the enemy AI was bad. But worst of all, the setting that was so unique on the N64 was cliched on the Xbox.
24 Best: EVE Online
Sci-fi wouldn't be sci-fi without spaceships and EVE Online is all about spaceships. An MMORPG with a major emphasis on the exploration of space, EVE is notable for hosting all of its players on the same mega-server. It's hard to beat when to comes to size. Thousands of players have come together in EVE, building huge fleets and conquering the stars through the game's meticulous management system. It's also unique in that the best stories come not from the game's narrative but from the machinations of the community itself. If you're looking to found your own Galactic Empire, with all the bureaucracy that entails, EVE Online is your game.
23 Worst: The Thing (2002)
Based on John Carpenter's classic 1982 sci-fi/horror classic, The Thing video game couldn't miss what made that movie great more if it tried. Set up as a sequel to the movie, its first mistake, what starts as a decent experience soon devolves into another generic survival horror game. Gone is the mystery and paranoia of the monster, replaced by generic guards and boring monsters. Some elements of the original movie survive but they're buried under lame shootouts and bad graphics. Why they made this 20 years after the fact, I'll never know.
22 Best: Space Invaders
Science Fiction has been with video games since the beginning. This is all the proof you need. While light on themes or story, Space Invaders did have simple to learn yet impossible to master gameplay that marked the best of the old arcade cabinets.
The game also had a huge impact in popular culture.
It was one of the first video games the mainstream took notice, due to its ubiquity in bowling alleys and pizza parlors. Space Invaders' simplistic alien invasion may not have rich or complex but it paved the way for all the great sci-fi games to come.
21 Worst: E.T The Video Game
Few games are so bad that they nearly destroy an entire industry. E.T. The Video Game is one such game. A bad adaptation of the classic 1982 film for the Atari 2600, E.T. has become infamous for its bad controls and lousy gameplay.
But what cemented its legendarily awful status is what it did to the games industry.
Atari made 15 million copies of E.T. but word got out about the game's near-unplayability and stores all canceled their orders. Along with other bad games not selling, the market nearly collapsed.
20 Best: Mass Effect
Game developer Bioware took everything they learned from Knights of the Old Republic and put it to use in this original setting. Mass Effect offered everything sci-fi fans could want; great characters brought to life by great voice acting, a huge setting with multiple planets and alien races, and a story that tackled big ideas that players felt like they were a part of. Also cool weapons. The original Mass Effect trilogy were juggernauts of their console generation and it still has a passionate fanbase. The ending of Mass Effect 3 notwithstanding.
19 Worst: Star Wars: Battlefront 2
Battlefront 2 is less despised for the game itself, a serviceable third-person shooter, and more for the shenanigans its publisher tried to pull. Instead of going down the traditional path of DLC, publisher EA introduced a "loot box" mechanic where all content could be bought for an additional fee.
Including selling content needed to be in the finished game.
People were up in arms about this, calling it "pay to win," and Disney had to step in to fix the situation. The game's story also wasted the opportunity to see Star Wars from the Empire's perspective for a more rote narrative.
18 Best: BioShock
Philosophy is embedded in science fiction in all its form, including video games. Nowhere is this more clear than BioShock. Underneath all the body horror, the story is a dissection of Objectivist beliefs. The game's moral choice system used game mechanics to make players examine their own selfishness for this very reason. But even if the ideas flew over some players' heads, the undersea setting and engaging plot were more than enough to keep them hooked. BioShock also added a dose of horror to sci-fi games, further making it one of the smartest and most unique first-person shooters ever made.
17 Worst: Sword Of The Stars 2: Lords Of Winter
Looking pretty won't save a bad game. Sword of the Stars 2 was the anticipated follow-up to a turn-based strategy game, but immediately disappointed fans and newcomers alike. Though the graphics were praised, critics were less keen on the game's numerous bugs and glitches that rendered it unplayable. A poor tutorial didn't help anyone overcome its learning curve either. It's a shame too, as the original Sword of the Stars was generally positively received. But the developers' ambition exceeded their ability on this one.
16 Best: Mega Man
While his contemporaries took players to cartoon lands and fantasy worlds, Mega Man took gamers of the NES era to the far future of 20XX. A classic platformer, Mega Man is known for two things above all else: its varied and colorful cast of robots and its anger-inducing difficulty.
But while it's hard almost to a fault, the game brought a sense of anime-inspired optimism about robots and the future to the gaming scene. In Mega Man, any problem started by a robot can be fixed by a robot. The series also has some of the best music in video game history.
15 Worst: Metroid Other M
Controversial is the word to describe Other M. Though gameplay wise it returned to Metroid's traditional third-person exploration, the story left fans angry. Focusing on Samus Aran's relationship with a father figure from her past, many took issue with what they saw as a pathetic version of Samus' always great character.
Fans who loved Metroid Prime called it a betrayal.
Not helping things was Team Ninja, the development team, being known for the cheesecake Dead or Alive series. While Other M has its defenders, the poor reception has made Nintendo put the series on hold for the time being.
14 Best: Halo: Combat Evolved
Halo has earned its place in the pantheon of video games and with good reason. It revolutionized first-person shooters with a more balanced weapon set and a shift toward multi-player.
It was the game that made the Xbox worth having.
But aside from its technical achievements, Halo's story embraced classic sci-fi story elements like no game before it. Many players learned about ringworlds from this series and the Covenant's alien religion brought a needed element of thoughtful world building to gaming. Through its innovative gameplay, Halo brought military sci-fi to the masses.
13 Worst: Bomberman: Act Zero
The gritty reboot has become a punching bag in popular culture and with examples like Bomberman: Act Zero it's not hard to see why. An Xbox 360 update of a classic series from the NES era, Act Zero ditched the character's cartoony art design for a generic dystopian power armor look. Besides the silly change in aesthetic, the game was also poorly balanced and had a lack of variety in its level design. It all looked the same and nobody liked the look they changed it to in the first place. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
12 Best: Metroid Prime
Metroid was already one of Nintendo's storied properties when this new installment hit in 2002. Always the slightly more dark and mature of the company's catalog, Metroid Prime took the story of space bounty hunter Samus Aran in new directions.
Still, Prime held true to the series' exploration roots by dropping players into alien environments and leaving it to them to figure things out. It created an immersive experience unlike what Nintendo fans were used to. As the first Metroid on Gamecube, it left an impression.
11 Worst: Duke Nukem Forever
For the longest time, Duke Nukem Forever was gaming's biggest punchline. A game that was in development for fourteen years, leading many to doubt that it would ever be released. We probably would have been better off if it did. Finally released in 2011, Duke Nukem Forever was out of date the minute you took it out of the box. What had been funny and edgy back in the 90s felt tone-deaf and stupid. That the gameplay itself felt like it hadn't changed to reflect the passage of time either didn't help. Even as popcorn sci-fi, Duke Nukem Forever fell short.