7 Great Sci-Fi Games That Fans Consider to Be GOATs (& 1 That Desperately Needs a Remake)

Science fiction is a hugely popular genre in gaming. It provides an excellent backdrop for role-playing games, horror titles, shooters, and many other types of games. Both sci-fi and fantasy are fantastic for creating detailed and immersive worlds, letting you explore universes vastly different from our own. Franchises like Star Wars and Star Trek have mastered this in other media, but video games offer the special ability to *experience* these worlds firsthand. As gaming technology has improved, these interactive sci-fi environments have become increasingly detailed and original. It’s a truly exciting space for game development.

Here’s a collection of highly praised sci-fi games. While other great games certainly exist, this list features some of the most popular and well-regarded titles in the genre. You can find the list below. It’s a great starting point for anyone interested in exploring sci-fi gaming, and we think you’ll enjoy it.

7) Alien: Isolation

Alien: Isolation earns its place on this list because it’s a fantastic game, and it’s remarkably true to the source material. With so much groundwork already established by the original films, it’s no surprise it’s one of the best sci-fi games available. Creative Assembly carefully maintained the distinctive visual style – often called cassette futurism – which draws heavily from the 1970s, featuring large, old-fashioned computer terminals, unsettling but awkward androids, and somewhat basic-looking analog technology, such as the radar you can use.

Alien: Isolation is widely considered one of the greatest horror games ever made, largely due to how genuinely frightening the xenomorph is. The xenomorph uses sophisticated AI to follow the player’s movements and change its tactics based on how you try to fight it, ensuring that every encounter with the alien feels fresh and unexpected. It’s a truly unique experience, making this one of the most terrifying and challenging alien opponents you’ll find in any video game.

Isolation emerged alongside popular first-person horror games such as Amnesia, Outlast, and PT, which all featured completely vulnerable players. Isolation takes inspiration from these games, creating a sense of being somewhat weak, but not entirely defenseless. While you can fight the alien and other threats, stealth is also a useful strategy, and you have the option to escape if a direct confrontation isn’t possible.

The game remains popular even after many years, and its player base actually continues to grow. Each fall, we see a significant increase in the number of people playing, which probably enabled the developers to announce a sequel to Alien: Isolation last year – a full decade after the first game came out.

6) Dead Space

Continuing with the scary theme, Dead Space is a fantastic sci-fi horror game. It stands out as a truly unique title in the genre, putting you in the role of Isaac Clarke, an engineer sent with a team to check on a mining ship that’s lost contact. They soon find out the ship uncovered something ancient and terrifying, releasing a dangerous alien infection on everyone aboard. As the story unfolds, you learn about a much bigger plot involving the necromorphs and the mysterious marker, and even a cult dedicated to worshipping these aliens.

A standout feature of Dead Space is how its user interface is almost entirely diegetic – it feels like a natural part of the game world, rather than something simply displayed for the player. Things like your health and ammo are shown as holographic projections that Isaac actually sees, which also makes the game look much cleaner. Furthermore, Isaac’s weapons aren’t just generic firearms; they’re all modified tools originally designed for space mining and engineering, giving them a unique feel you won’t find in other games.

Unlike games like Resident Evil where the focus is on hitting precise headshots, Dead Space centers around strategically cutting off alien limbs to disable and ultimately destroy them. Isaac Clarke’s plasma cutter is a perfect illustration of this – it’s designed to sever arms and legs rather than simply shooting through them. Overall, Dead Space borrows elements from many excellent horror games, but adds its own unique and engaging sci-fi spin.

5) Titanfall 2

Titanfall 2 is a fantastic shooter that really utilizes its science fiction world, especially in the single-player campaign. The game boasts some of the most satisfying gameplay in the shooter genre, thanks to its incredibly smooth movement system – you can run on walls, make huge jumps, and slide effortlessly. However, it also manages to feel impactful and powerful. The main draw, of course, is the massive, self-controlled mechs that drop from the sky, destroying enemies and engaging in epic battles with powerful weapons. It’s always exciting to watch these giant robots descend and start fighting before you get a chance to jump inside and take control yourself.

Titanfall 2 boasts a remarkably creative single-player campaign, with each level offering impressive sci-fi moments and clever design. A prime example is the “Effect and Cause” level, where you navigate a deserted and ruined complex. You soon discover a device that lets you jump between different points in time with a single button press. This allows you to bypass challenges by going back to a time before the destruction occurred, or even quickly move in and out of combat, confusing enemies as if you were teleporting around like Nightcrawler.

As a huge fan, it really bums me out that Titanfall 3 might never see the light of day. It’s not just an amazing shooter – it’s one of the best sci-fi games I’ve ever played, and that’s because of how brilliantly it uses technology *in* the gameplay itself. It’s a real shame, honestly.

4) Halo: Reach

Honestly, you could build a good case for almost any Halo game released before 2012, but Halo: Reach is, in my opinion, the best in the series. It’s a complete experience, featuring a compelling story campaign, engaging multiplayer options, lots of player-created content, and an exciting co-op mode where you fight off waves of enemies. Reach introduced a more realistic feel to the Halo universe while still keeping the Spartans central to the story. Instead of playing as a lone hero blasting through space, you’re part of a team that needs to collaborate to overcome difficult challenges.

The game offers a more realistic and intense experience, putting you right in the middle of the conflict and letting you witness how the war affects both ordinary people and animals. You’ll find a good balance between human weapons and vehicles and the more futuristic technology of the Covenant, creating a noticeable difference as you scavenge for items. Players also have access to unique abilities, including jet packs, active camouflage, and incredibly strong armor. This armor briefly makes the wearer invulnerable and can obliterate anything that collides with them.

Even though the game takes place in a more realistic environment, it still features incredibly exciting moments that will give you chills, like the ending where Noble 6 bravely fights the Covenant alone. In the end, Halo: Reach served as a fantastic send-off to Bungie’s work on the series, delivering the thrilling action fans wanted and expanding upon one of the best science fiction worlds in gaming.

3) Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is widely considered one of the greatest Star Wars video games, largely because it lets you truly shape your destiny within the expansive sci-fi universe. Throughout the game, you’ll face many decisions that influence whether your character falls to the dark side, resulting in a complex and engaging story full of moral dilemmas and inner turmoil.

It’s also a deeply engaging experience within the Star Wars gaming world, letting you delve into the seedy criminal side of Taris, compete in races on Tatooine, and discover much more. Because it came out in the early 2000s, during the height of Star Wars prequel mania, BioWare had a great chance to really expand what was possible in a game. It was a role-playing game that could truly take advantage of cutting-edge technology, letting players witness and experience parts of the Star Wars universe previously unimaginable.

A new version of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was first revealed in 2021, but it’s been stuck in a difficult development process for quite some time. The initial idea wasn’t simply to update the visuals, but to significantly alter how the game plays, possibly even replacing the turn-based fighting system. Even though the KOTOR remake has switched development teams, work is still continuing, and we’re hoping to see it released before too long.

2) Mass Effect 2

Here’s another BioWare RPG on the list: Mass Effect 2, which many consider the best in the sci-fi RPG series. Mass Effect 2 took the strong foundation of the first game and built an even more compelling story with incredibly high stakes. What’s particularly memorable is that almost any important character can die during the final suicide mission – and it all depends on the choices you make throughout the game. While it’s difficult to make *everyone* die unless you try, each character is vulnerable. This really makes your decisions matter, and some of them even have consequences that carry over into Mass Effect 3.

Mass Effect 2 builds upon its already impressive sci-fi world, introducing memorable characters like the Illusive Man. This villain is willing to do anything to help humanity, even if it means making difficult moral choices – and he always looks sharp while doing it! He’s part of a large and diverse group of characters who support Shepard, each with their own unique backgrounds, personalities, and connections.

For almost twenty years, the core narrative of Mass Effect 2 has received high praise. But the game’s optional content adds a lot of personality and depth too. Simply exploring the Citadel and browsing its shops – which function like a space station mall – is surprisingly enjoyable. The Mass Effect series is unique among sci-fi RPGs, and the second installment is widely considered the strongest game in the entire franchise.

1) Half-Life 2

Half-Life 2 is often considered a masterpiece. The game begins with Gordon Freeman waking up in a grim city controlled by the Combine, a powerful alien race from another dimension. He joins forces with a resistance group to fight back. While the storyline is fairly straightforward, it’s made memorable by compelling characters and fascinating, unexplained elements – most notably, a shadowy figure in a suit known only as the G-Man. He appears and disappears at will, silently observing Freeman. This creates a very unsettling atmosphere and has led to countless theories about his identity and motivations.

As Freeman, I get a really cool mix of weapons – everything from standard SMGs and shotguns to seriously advanced sci-fi stuff like the gravity gun. That gravity gun really lets me get creative with how I handle fights. But it’s not just the weapons; Valve built this amazing physics system where everything *reacts* to what’s happening. Stuff bounces around after explosions, and thanks to the gravity gun, I can literally use anything as a weapon. It all adds up to a way more engaging and immersive world because there are fewer things holding me back.

Naturally, the subsequent installments ended with a huge cliffhanger. But, as time passes, it increasingly appears that Half-Life 3 is actually going to be released. We’ll simply have to be patient, but Valve might at last provide a satisfying conclusion to one of gaming’s greatest stories within the next few years.

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2025-09-29 21:43