Space Games to Play Waiting for Starfield
Science fiction is a boundless field for developers to come up with engaging stories supported by ingenious technologies. In games, we have already experienced more than one such epic adventure in space - here are the most interesting ones.
Table of Contents
Starfield is fast approaching and promises to be one of the hottest premieres of the year. At least for now, everything indicates that there will not be another delay, and strong emotions will accompany its release for two main reasons. The first is to sensitize gamers to the technical state of games on release day, especially after the recent annoyances accompanying the premieres of The Last of Us on PC, Jedi: Survivor and Redfall. And the second reason is that Starfield is described as a "Han Solo simulator" and "Skyrim in space" - so many expect an "epic" RPG adventure of all time.
In the case of both, developers face an extremely difficult task. After Redfall and the admission of shortcomings in its production, Microsoft can no longer afford another blunder with such a loudly advertised gamepass launch. And as for the benchmarks of an "epic" space adventure, we've seen more than a few, and the bar is probably higher than it used to be. We experienced many atmospheric, unforgettable stories in brilliantly created science fiction worlds. It is an extremely graceful genre, allowing for tremendous creative freedom and creativity.
So before we dive into the world of Starfield, let's recall some of the best SF universes players can experience in games. What do we remember them for? Who did we meet there? What made them stand out? Here is a very subjective review of such universes.
Of course, it is impossible to list all the worlds worth exploring, lest the article grow to the size of a book. For these reasons, I also decided to adopt a few limitations: this list does not include universes derived from movies or books, and I limited science fiction to the classic motifs of traversing space, so as not to fragment into cyberpunk, post-apocalypse and fantasy, where you can also find many SF elements.
Apart from the games describes below, it is also worth to mention such science fiction series as Gears of War, Homeworld, Dead Space, System Shock and Prey.
My brothers - aliens: Mass Effect
- Year of creation: 2007
- Developers: BioWare, Casey Hudson
Beware the Grim Reaper(s)
Mass Effect does not take us to a very distant galaxy. It all takes place within the boundaries of the Milky Way in the 22nd century, after the discovery of the secrets of light-speed travel and an alien outpost on Mars. Over the ensuing decades, humanity has encountered various alien races, some far more advanced. There was even an outbreak of war, which eventually ended with peace and the admission of the human race to the Galactic Council. As a result, people gained access to previously unknown technologies, allowing further conquest of space, and joined the ranks of the elite Spectre formation.
In the universe of Mass Effect everything revolves around the so-called dark energy - a hypothetical form that many in the scientific world actually believe exists, proving it with various studies. Dark energy is supposed to accelerate the expansion of the Universe. In the game world, it fills everything - means of travel, weapons, machines, biotic powers - it is critical to everything that happens in the galaxy. And life would be running its course if it weren't for the sinister race of mechanical Reapers, which has just begun its next cycle of total destruction of advanced civilizations. It is under such unhappy circumstances that we are introduced to the heroes of this saga....
With Wrex to hell and back!
We're used to stories of waging a full-out war and saving the world from most games - it's hard to impress us, the players, with anything here. What is most captivating and enchanting about the Mass Effect comes down above all to its characters and this extraordinary chemistry between them. Almost everyone is likeable here, each character is colorful, unusual, with a distinct feature - and certainly not because some of them literally look like visitors from another planet.
We may not remember what happened in individual missions, but we certainly won't forget that we were accompanied by Wrex, Garrus, Liara, Mordin, Miranda or Jacob. Well, and one can't help but to mention the charismatic Commander Shepard, who - despite having an established role in the story - actually allowed us to be partly ourselves. Thanks to the considerable possibilities of personalizing the appearance of this character and, above all, thanks to the choices made during the storyline , everyone could feel the kind of Shepard they wanted to be.
The vision of space in the game was inspired by authentic images taken with the Hubble telescope and from space shuttles. Many locations refer to real places, and the time of the action is not too far off either. This makes the game world seem very accessible and understandable, especially to newcomers. It doesn't overwhelm with an excess of science fiction - there are enough familiar motifs here that you don't feel disoriented. Combined with a brilliantly paced narrative, an extremely atmospheric soundtrack and an engaging storyline, it delivers an unforgettable experience. So intense, in fact, that we easily forgave the developers for the moments in elevators, the agonizing driving or the "refrigerators" scattered across the map foreshadowing each shootout.
