Games have made use of the popular themes of science fiction from 1978’s Space Invaders right through to the present day. In fact, sci-fi-themed games now represent some of the most successful and innovative titles you can find anywhere. From Triple ‘A’ console games to viral smartphone sensations, the calling cards of the sci-fi aesthetic are in evidence everywhere you look. Below we take a look at some recent all-star titles across a host of platforms that speak to this. If you’re looking to dive into a gameplay experience that is out of this world, you’d do worse than checking out these games in 2022.
Cyberpunk 2077
Following the success of The Witcher III: Wild Hunt, Polish developers CD Projekt RED turned their focus to a game that ended up being 9 years in the making, and at launch was the most pre-ordered game in history, Cyberpunk 2077. Their ambition for Cyberpunk was for it to become the Grand Theft Auto of sci-fi games with a vast open-world and dazzling array of vehicles, weapons, and locations to explore. Set in the near-future dystopia, Night City, the environment of Cyberpunk takes more than a little inspiration from the novels of William Gibson and Ridley Scott’s 1982 cult classic Blade Runner. With sophisticated branching storylines that mean every playthrough opens up new possibilities, narrative events, and gameplay missions, this is a title that compels you to plunge into its neon rich environment of high tech and low life.
Destroy All Humans!
One of the funniest sci-fi games to emerge in recent years comes by way of German developers Black Forest Games. Their whacky take on all things extraterrestrial,
Destroy All Humans! gets its inspiration straight from UFO lore. In the game you take charge of Cryptosporidium 137, a bizarre extraterrestrial tasked with invading Earth and wiping out humanity with a range of over-the-top alien weapons. UFOs and alien abductions are among the most popular topics for a host of games, ranging from the console caper in question to slots titles such as Invaders from the Planet Moolah, UFO Frenzy, and Space Fortune. Many people mistakenly think that you need to place wagers in order to enjoy games like these, but this is not the case. A host of platforms, such as VegasSlotsOnline, let you explore free slot games with no risk or complication, enabling you to experience everything each title has to offer without a cash deposit. The popular legends surrounding the 1947 Roswell UFO incident have inspired generations of games, with these titles among the latest great examples of this enduring trend.
Among Us
Developers InnerSloth’s Among Us is a testament to the way in which good gameplay design can circumvent the need for big budgets or impressive graphics. This cross-platform sleeper hit experienced a huge surge in popularity in 2020, with its number of monthly active players jumping from 500,000 to half a billion in a number of weeks. In a multiplayer title, players make up the crew of a spaceship confronting the issue of its crew turning up dead. In truth, one player is tasked with discretely murdering the rest while hoping to successfully avoid detection and pass the blame to an innocent player. The hilarious blend of murder mystery, subterfuge, and compelling mini-games make this a party game like no other, and one that is as relevant and entertaining today as ever.
Halo: Infinite
Since 2001’s Halo: CE stunned the world and changed FPS design forever the franchise has experienced a mix of highs and lows across its 20-year run, with original developers Bungie stepping aside following Halo: 3 to pursue other projects. Their successors, 343 Studios, have struggled to take up the mantle of the series’ former glories in their previous entries at the helm: Halo 4 & 5: Guardians. It was with this trepidation that fans cautiously welcomed the arrival of Halo 6: Infinite, the first to be released on the new Xbox Series X/S. It combines a true open-world map, a series first, with a back-to-basics approach to the core gameplay experience that early titles so noteworthy. It combines with this some of the most compelling multiplayer combat seen since Halo 3, making Infinite arguably the best Halo game, and by extension, Sci-fi FPS, in over a decade.
