10 Best Sci-Fi Video Games You've Never Played

[Music] ever since the first little blip an oscilloscope let some researchers play virtual tennis video games have been a big part of our lives as the medium developed into more complex graphics sounds and controls more and more people found themselves entertained by a plethora of available options one of the biggest genres of video games has and likely always will be science fiction if you look back at some of the earliest games to be commercially developed you'll find classic hits like asteroids space invaders and tempest all of which are sci-fi and well-known classics to boot the genre continued to develop as video games became more advanced and these days everything from turn-based strategy to first-person shooters incorporates sci-fi elements because of this there are thousands of sci-fi video games that have been developed over the years and that means there's a library of games you've likely never played it could be due to the fact that some sci-fi classics came and went before you ever touched a video game or they were drowned out by other options when they were released whatever the reason there are some amazing sci-fi video games many people never got a chance to play I am Kirsten from walk culture gaming and these are 10 best sci-fi video games you've never played number 10 vanquish 2009 vanquish was released in 2009 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 to consider of all critical approval the game was developed as a third-person shooter but incorporates elements of beat-em-ups 2d bullet hell shooters and it introduced an innovative sliding booster mechanic which has since been copied into many other games this is just one of those titles that just didn't get the kind of attention other triple-a games got when it was released it was an entirely new franchise so there wasn't a ton of people lining up to buy a copy like they might have done for the latest Call of Duty efforts making it one that a lot of people missed out on of course the fact that it was released on the same day as Fallout New Vegas didn't help its sales either while too few people enjoyed vanquish when it was released those who did play it found it to be a complex and entertaining game it did suffer from a campaign that was far too short but other than that the mechanics gameplay setting theme soundtrack and graphics were all praised because vanquish brought innovative new mechanics to the third-person shooter genre it should definitely be checked out by anyone who loves playing these types of games all games are followed with a sliding mechanic Oh a debt of thanks to vanquish unfortunately it's been given a game of the Year Edition and a PC port so it's still available to play number nine enslaved Odyssey to the West 2010 enslaved Odyssey to the West was developed from a 16th century Chinese novel titled Journey to the West though it incorporates elements of a post-apocalyptic landscape so it is a fairly loose adaptation that relies heavily on the novel's themes more than anything it's set 150 years in the future following a global war and most of humanity is long gone enslaved is strange in a lot of ways but that only serves to make it more entertaining the odd setting and ridiculously well voiced characters given life by actors like Andy Serkis give enslaved on a sea to the west a cinematic feel as if you're not playing a video game so much as taking part in a movie the player takes control of a guy named monkey who must escort trip home after they survive a ship crash when it first entered development it was planned as a CGI film but it went to video game territory as time went on though the cinematic qualities remained sadly enslaved on a sea to the west was a commercial failure and there's a good chance you've never played it as a result despite not selling many copies when it was released it was a critical success and a few people lucky enough to stumble upon it continue to sing its praises number 8 anachronox 2001 anachronox is a 2001 third-person role-playing game that revolves around a massive story campaign blended with humor action and sci-fi it incorporates numerous subgenres including cyberpunk and film noir but it's probably best known for not taking itself too seriously which involves a lot of humor spread throughout the game gameplay is centered around Sylvester sly boots boot Shelley who works in the slums of anachronox which is an abandoned planet located near the galaxy's Jumpgate hub players can travel to other planets build up a gathering of allies and solve a mystery that threatens the fate of the entire universe and that cranach's was heavily inspired by others in the genre including the Final Fantasy franchise and Chrono Trigger it was also inspired by the animation style of Chuck Jones so the visual elements are as about as entertaining as any other parts and it uses a huge color palette with expressive camera lighting and particle effects it was a bit ahead of its time when it came out but for some reason it didn't sell well at all it was a financial flop despite being loved by the few P or who bothered to pick up a copy there were plans to develop a sequel but it was scrapped and the developer ion storm closed a few days after it was released number 7 wipeout 2048 2012 the wipeout franchise has been around since 1995 since then eight sequels were released and wipeout 2048 is easily the best and most recent title in the series wipeout 2048 is just like the ones that came before it as it's a racing game where players take control of an antigravity ship that they can cruise along almost any surface no matter if it's on a ceiling wall or floor it's a fun and exciting racing game but hardly anyone played it when it was released there's really just one reason for that do you own a PlayStation Vita probably not since the console was a commercial failure people don't play handheld consoles nearly as much anymore this the increasing playability of games on mobile phones so there's a good chance that you never touched a PS Vita and missed out on playing wipeout 2048 which is unfortunate because despite being released exclusively on that platform wipeout 2048 is an incredibly well designed game the graphics and controls are exceptional and even though it's a handheld console with ridiculously long loading times it's one of those games that you can just sit down and play for hours at a time fortunately you can play it even if you don't have a PS Vita wipeout 2048 was included in the wipeout zone mega collection which was released on the PlayStation 4 in 2017 number 6 child of Eden 2011 child of Eden is a 2011 rail shooter released for the Xbox 360 it was one of the first titles to incorporate the use of the Kinect camera but it's fortunately doesn't require it for the gameplay the title was developed as a spiritual successor to rez and to introduce unique mechanics players take control of a ship flying through Eden which is a new form of the Internet spanning the entire universe your job eliminate viruses to protect a digitized version of Lumi the first human born in space every level in the game is highly stylized and buried there are ocean levels not water levels so don't worry and levels that look like Gardens while others offer up scenes filled with clouds space and other sci-fi settings children of Eden is specially designed as an experiment with synesthesia which is the perceptual phenomenon some people have that lets them see numbers colors color and sound are the two main features of the game and jumping into the world of child of Eden is like stepping into a virtual painting it's a beautiful and grossing and innovative experience that you're not going to find in any other rail-shooter number five marathon 1990 for many years before Bungie would become synonymous with triple-a titles like Halo the developer released a first-person shooter that was way ahead of its time marathon was released in 1994 for the Apple Macintosh and it was a game changer thanks to the introduction of several elements now common in first-person shooters the gameplay is set hundreds of years into the future aboard a colony ship called marathon the player is a security officer who must defend the ship and all of its inhabitants from an alien invasion intent on their destruction the storyline was well developed and a major element of gameplay most first-person shooters from the early 90s didn't put as much emphasis on the story as much as marathon doom for instance had almost no storyline I was entirely focused on action but marathon flipped the script and stood apart from the competition by being innovative in this area it also featured a deathmatch mode allowing eight players to kill one another at once which was a lot in those days marathon is the first in a trilogy and has since been released as freeware by Bungie so you can still play it it's one of these titles that may not look good compared to modern FPS is but diving into this intricately detailed law keeps it highly entertaining so it warrants your attention number four axiom verge 2015 axiom verge is an interesting title for a number of reasons but most importantly it was developed entirely by one person Thomas Hauk developed it as a passion project which took him five years to complete and release axiom verge is something of a love letter to Metroid and shares numerous elements with the NES classic the game is a side scroller action adventure which puts players in control of trace a scientist who suffers a serious injury and wakes up in an ancient high-tech world unlike his own Metroid's influence is clear but it also shares many things in common with contra Bionic Commando & blaster master when it was released axiom verge received a great deal of attention due in large part to the fact that Happ did everything on his own including the artwork music and coding unfortunately because it is 10 an independent game it didn't receive as much attention as it would have were released for the NES in the 80s when it was being developed for release it was expected to come out on the PC and Xbox 360 but due to delay that couldn't happen as expected and some players missed out eventually it was released for every platform out there so you can still play which is a good thing as this is easily one of the best sci-fi 2d side scrollers released in the last 25 years number three descent 1995 first-person shooters were some of the most successful games in the 1990s and while that hasn't exactly changed with modern triple-a titles most modern FPS is tend to share a lot of the same mechanics 1995's descent was a first-person shooter but it redefined how those games were played by enhancing just about everything descent was the first true 3d first-person shooter and the graphics were exceptionally well done when compared to the flat 2d games that came before it players to control of a spaceship which they flew into an offworld mining facility to destroy dangerous robots infected by an alien computer virus instead of running through levels and shooting everything that moved descent put the player into a 3d landscape which they could fly through as if it were a space flight simulator this meant that you could fly up into passages through the ceiling or down through the shafts in the floor making the entire level your playground with no limitations while you can fire up the old version via an emulator you don't necessarily have to do this any longer a successful Kickstarter campaign is bringing the game back in a big way a new title which will simply be called descent is expected to release on PC and all major game consoles technically it's an entirely new game which serves as a prequel to the series and will introduce its innovative and unique mechanics to a new generation of gamers number two Shadowrun 1993 Dungeons & Dragons essentially established pen and paper role-playing games as a viable means of jumping into a world and playing an imaginative story but it was only the beginning of the genre Shadowrun entered the RPG arena in 1989 as a science fiction RPG and it was incredibly popular eventually it was adapted into video games and other media with the 1993 title for the super nintendo system being the best adapt Shadowrun made to date this is one of those games that was played heavily when it first came out but seeing as it's more than 25 years old the current generation of gamers likely missed out Shadowrun was based on a novel titled never deal with a dragon by Robert and Charette who co-created the original tabletop RPG it is set in the year 2050 and players take on the role of Jake Armitage and amnesiac who was seriously injured and must learn who wants him dead it wasn't a commercial success when it came out as many games that were critically praised didn't necessarily sell well despite this Shadowrun has been beloved for years by anyone who played it when it was released fortunately it gained new life in 2013 with a successful Kickstarter campaign for every release slash sequel slash tie-in titled shadowrun returns so it can be enjoyed with a modern update on the PC Mac iOS and Android number one dune to the building of a dynasty 1992 dune to the building of a dynasty was released back in 1992 so there's a good chance most gamers who enjoy realtime strategy games that never played it for those older gamers who found it when it came out doomed to was something of a game changer while it wasn't the first realtime strategy game ever made it was an early example that completely revolutionized how RTS a--'s were played its influence can be seen in pretty much every franchise in the genre that followed it including command & Conquer Warcraft and Starcraft just to name a few dune 2 was loosely based on David Lynch's 1984 film adaptation of Frank Herbert's book and incorporates elements of both if you were a fan of dune in any format there was a good chance that you played this game as it included sandworms the harvesting of spice and other thematic elements from the franchise being an archetypal RTS dune 2 introduces several elements to the genre that didn't exist before but are now ubiquitous these include resource gathering to fund construction a base and unit construction a world map for mission selection a technology tree for building and improving units the deployment of mobile units and construction elements multiple faction options and the ability to issue commands with a mouse and there we go those are the 10 best sci-fi video games you probably haven't played but if you have and you did enjoy them then leave us a comment down no speaking of enjoyment if you did enjoy this video give it a like and if you haven't already click that subscribe button but for now I have been Kirsten from what culture gaming and I will see you in the next video

Channel: WhatCulture Gaming

Views: 206,237

Rating: 4.8373795 out of 5

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Id: 96yXeXLQmGI

Length: 13min 30sec (810 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 01 2020