Jogos de estratégia de negociação espacial

TechRadar.

11 melhores jogos de espaço no PC que estão fora deste mundo.

Olhando para as estrelas.

Introdução.

Há muito espaço lá fora. Uma infinidade disso. E há muitos jogos espaciais para preenchê-lo. (Bem, não realmente, já que é infinito e eles são compostos de dados indefinidamente grandes, e mesmo se fossem físicos eles são finitos - mas é uma metáfora, sabe?)

E eles estão por aí para sempre. Elite, um dos primeiros e melhores jogos de exploração espacial, foi lançado em 1984. Durante uma geração, jogos como o X-Wing contra o Tie-Fighter, o Starcraft e o veículo Mark Hamill Wing Commander levaram os fãs felizes.

Eles caíram - pesadamente - nos anos 2000 e havia dúvidas sobre se os jogos espaciais seriam grandes novamente - mas a revolução indie os colocou de volta em órbita. Escolhemos nossos dez favoritos da turma atual - conte-nos o que sentimos falta nos comentários.

1. Programa Espacial Kerbal.

Como o seu diretor vestido de Kanye, o Kerbal Space Program é o jogo educacional mais sutil do mundo. Apesar de seus personagens rabugentos, o Kerbal Space Program é um simulador de física hardcore onde você pode explorar a galáxia - se é que você consegue uma única nave de foguete no chão. (Eu nunca consegui isso).

Você tem que construir esse foguete a partir de peças fornecidas por uma espécie de NASA, para que ele possa manter um Kerbal vivo para a viagem estressante para o espaço. Tudo bem, porque você ganha várias vezes e há muitos Kerbals dispostos.

Uma vez em órbita, você precisa levar em conta a gravidade, outros obstáculos e a velocidade do seu barco, se quiser colocar seus queridos Kerbals de volta ao seu planeta com segurança - ou, pior ainda, se quiser pousá-los no Mun.

2. Eve Online.

Eu me lembro da minha primeira viagem ao espaço MMO Eve, em seu beta público em 2003. Eu me lembro de pular o tutorial e me perder entre as estrelas, passando três dias em uma espaçonave starter perseguindo um amigo que estava explorando estrelas por perto. Mesmo assim, era lindo, complexo e estranho.

Mudou muito desde aqueles dias. O universo de Eva passou por uma evolução de alta pressão com o desenvolvedor CCP mal mantendo o controle, enquanto facções poderosas comandadas por pessoas inteligentes conquistaram seções de seu espaço, traíram-se mutuamente e desencadearam guerras que destruíram milhares de dólares em naves espaciais no jogo. .

Apesar de sua idade, Eve ainda consegue parecer deslumbrante. Upgrades regulares da CCP e de uma comunidade leal conseguiram manter o número de jogadores em cerca de 25-35.000 jogadores conectados em qualquer dia. E se você está procurando por um jogo social e inteligente que possa absorver 90% do seu tempo livre pelos próximos dez anos, você não precisa procurar mais.

(Ah, e se você tiver um fone de ouvido de realidade virtual, provavelmente deveria tentar Eve: Valkyrie, o spin-off de piloto de caça somente com VR).

3. Espaço Fraturado

Escolher entre os jogos espaciais de Born Ready é uma tarefa difícil. Strike Suit Zero é amplamente reconhecido por ser uma aventura de ação espacial sólida, onde você joga - mas então o pseudo-MOBA Fractured Space é como jogar Battlestar: Galactica com seus companheiros.

No Fractured Space, você assume o controle de um único navio de combate no verdadeiro espaço 3D repleto de asteróides. Apesar de seu cenário 3D, é o mais próximo de World of Tanks ou World of Warships em suas pequenas equipes de 5v5 e combate baseado em objetivos. Tirar uma das naves especializadas resulta em pequenas escaramuças ao estilo DOTA que resultam em combates intensos no estilo atirador.

No entanto, incluímos mais o Fractured Space nessa lista porque é muito brilhante. Voando entre as estrelas você vê a linda nebulosa à deriva e gigantescas estações espaciais. Isto é o que todos os jogos espaciais devem ter,

4. Homeworld remasterizado.

A série Homeworld, de 15 anos, tem uma justa justificativa para ser os melhores jogos de estratégia em tempo real ambientados no espaço (embora veja Battlefleet Gothic: Armada abaixo para uma alternativa 2D moderna) e foi uma alegria quando a Gearbox Software comprou os direitos e Lançado no início do ano passado.

Sua nave-mãe, o Orgulho de Higara, contém não apenas a capacidade de construir todo tipo de navios, mas também os remanescentes de sua raça quase extinta. A maioria das missões em sua longa campanha tem você tentando minar recursos e usá-los para construir navios para defender sua nave-mãe. Conforme a campanha continua, você reúne uma frota em torno de seu carro-chefe.

O melhor ponto é que o verdadeiro combate em 3D permite que você use esquadrões de bombardeiros para atacar a frágil armadura da fragata ou esconder sua embarcação atrás de nuvens de gás. Música soberba, visuais inigualáveis ​​e uma interface renovada fazem do Homeworld Remastered uma alegria para experimentar.

5. Civilizações Galácticas III.

Master of Orion foi o primeiro jogo a mover a jogabilidade de construção de impérios Civilizations 4X para o palco espacial - mas foi Civilizações Galácticas que o aperfeiçoaram. Os dois primeiros jogos foram recebidos em êxtase e, enquanto o terceiro foi lançado muito mais anonimamente, ele recebeu discretamente aplausos por sua jogabilidade horripilante e variada.

Na campanha, a humanidade se encolheu na Terra por dez anos, vendo o Império Drengin exterminar ou subjugar as raças livres da galáxia. Agora, uma frota terrestre errante retornou de um universo de bolso e espera libertar a humanidade em primeiro lugar e a galáxia em segundo.

Nos modos multiplayer e skirmish muito mais jogados, você começa com um único planeta e um punhado de espaçonaves. As raças alienígenas com as quais você luta e trata são charmosas e peculiares, e seus impérios se encaixam em suas personalidades. A quantidade de tecnologia para pesquisa, os tipos de estruturas que você pode construir no espaço e no solo, a variedade de estrelas e anomalias para explorar & hellip; este é um jogo gigantesco projetado para durar por muito tempo.

6. Efeito de Massa 2.

A última incursão do comandante Shepard no espaço pode ter tido um final mal recebido, mas a trilogia espacial sinuosa da Bioware certamente contribuiu para um arco de cinco anos. Tomando o papel do representante militar da humanidade no estágio galáctico, os jogadores lutaram, conversaram e traçaram o caminho através dos últimos dias da galáxia, viajando entre as estrelas em sua espaçonave SSV Normandia.

Mass Effect 2 seguiu um Comandante Shepard ressuscitado enquanto procurava encontrar mais informações sobre os Colecionadores de insetos. Logo, você percebe que precisa destruir a base do inimigo, mas precisa de uma equipe especializada para derrubá-lo. O jogo inteiro é como o Dirty Dozen, quando você recruta um bando de psicopatas, assassinos e magos tecnológicos, e depois conquista sua lealdade para integrá-los em uma equipe que pode fazer essa impossível missão suicida.

Outra edição, Mass Effect: Andromeda, será lançada em 2017.

7. Battlefleet Gothic: Armada.

Nós não poderíamos falar sobre o espaço sem o sapato em um pouco da escuridão sombria do futuro distante. Battlefleet Gothic: Armada é um jogo de gerenciamento de frotas no 41º Millenium.

Na longa campanha singleplayer, você toma o lado do Império, que são os 'guloseimas', na medida em que um império de limpeza étnica dirigido por um exército de super-homens fascistas pode ser bom. Você tem que defender várias áreas do espaço contra as frotas do Caos (uma versão sádica e adoradora de demônios dos ditos super-homens fascistas), os Orks (orcs espaciais com uma atitude de yob britânica para desfrutar de um soco) e os Eldar ( espaço elástico elfos que sempre acham que estão certos.)

As batalhas (individuais ou multi-jogador) são difíceis e taticamente ricas, onde você tem que gerenciar suas habilidades especiais e sua frota, mantendo-as vivas para batalhas posteriores. A campanha permite que você lentamente atualize e expanda sua frota ao começar a lidar com mais e mais inimigos. E há algumas reviravoltas horríveis no enredo.

Você pode ler a revisão do PC Gamer aqui.

8. Elite: Perigoso.

É difícil acreditar que a muito aguardada sequela do primeiro jogo espacial de universo aberto (Elite de 1984) tenha saído desde 2014. Em Elite Dangerous você explora uma enorme galáxia persistente, negociando entre estações espaciais, eliminando bandidos espaciais, asteróides de mineração e encontrar novos sistemas estelares enquanto você viaja. Você também pode pousar em planetas e explorá-los em veículos terrestres.

Embora nunca produza batalhas na escala de Eve Online, Elite apresenta combate em primeira pessoa, onde você voa com mais de 30 navios, desde o pequeno caça Sidewinder até o gigante Imperial Cutter e Federal Corvette. E, novamente, é um universo lindo para explorar, especialmente em RV.

9. FTL: mais rápido que a luz.

O FTL de 2012 foi um dos jogos espaciais mais influentes e estranhos lançado. Essencialmente, um simulador de Star Trek ladino, você assume o papel de um capitão da nave estelar tentando alcançar sua frota e derrubar o carro-chefe do inimigo.

No entanto, no caminho, você tem que saltar através de diferentes áreas e setores. Em cada um desses, você pode enfrentar uma batalha ou um diálogo de estilo de escolha de sua própria aventura. Batalhas são coisas complexas, com armas e mísseis disparando, robôs atacando, assalto a partidos que se teletransportam, incêndios se espalhando e quebra de cascos.

Além disso, ele apresenta algumas grandes missões em miniatura escritas por Tom Jubert, que podem desbloquear uma série de naves espaciais e layouts de tripulação para você usar sua próxima corrida.

10. Espaço Livre 2.

Ao inserir isso, garantimos que haverá pelo menos um comentário perguntando "Onde está o Freelancer". Por mais que gostássemos de colocar o último grande jogo espacial de Chris Taylor, ele simplesmente não está disponível para venda em qualquer lugar, então vamos ao Freespace 2 mais antigo (e provavelmente superior).

Na campanha, os jogadores assumem o papel de um piloto humano lutando contra uma misteriosa raça alienígena, os Shivans. Você realiza reconhecimento, transporte de escolta e combate outros caças-lutadores de dentro do cockpit do seu lutador, em enormes batalhas campais que envolvem navios importantes, caças e mísseis em abundância. Ao contrário de Kerbals, não é uma física espacial 100% precisa, então parece mais um simulador de briga de cães.

É notável que, como a Volition lançou o código-fonte do jogo em 2002, os jogadores criaram o FreeSpace 2 Source Code Project, que adicionou recursos, atualizações, mods e atualizações gráficas nos últimos 14 anos.

11. O céu de ninguém.

Nós sabemos, nós sabemos & mdash; O No Man's Sky tem sido amplamente criticado desde o seu lançamento, mas isso é principalmente porque a maioria das pessoas pensava que eles estariam recebendo um tipo diferente de título para o que surgiu dos laboratórios da Hello Games. Se você está querendo uma festa de tiro ao estilo de Destiny, então não vá lá.

No entanto, se um sentimento pesado de atmosfera, a sensação de estar perdido nas profundezas do espaço e descobrir novas plantas ocupam um lugar de destaque na sua agenda, então o No Man's Sky oferece espadas. Seus planetas gerados processualmente significam que você nunca sabe o que vai encontrar ao encaixar sua espaçonave em um novo planeta pela primeira vez.

Criaturas curiosas, malformadas (e altamente perigosas) ameaçam e fascinam em igual medida, mas a necessidade de caçar constantemente recursos para reabastecer a saúde e o suprimento de combustível significa que você nunca pode ficar por muito tempo. Park Star Trek, parte Interstellar, No Man's Sky ainda oferece uma fantástica experiência de viagem espacial & mdash; só não é um cheio de ação.

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Top 10 Jogos de Estratégia Espacial para PC.

Pode haver toneladas de jogos de estratégia, mas muito poucos deles ocorrem no espaço. Se você pretende olhar para as estrelas, aqui estão alguns jogos que você deve considerar.

ATUALIZADO: Adicionamos Civilization: Beyond Earth à lista.

Definidos em um futuro distante, os jogadores irão para as estrelas e explorar um planeta alienígena - um novo lar para a humanidade - em Civilization: Beyond Earth. É um capítulo da franquia Civilization que você não quer perder.

Artigo original continuado.

A vastidão do espaço inspirou incontáveis ​​mentes a imaginar mundos além do nosso mundo, em planetas como - e ao contrário - aquele em que vivemos, onde a presença da vida está em questão, ou imaginada como algo tão sobrenatural que eles só podem viver na ficção. e sonhos.

Algumas poucas dessas mentes tentaram imaginar como seria para nós encontrarmos seres do espaço - alienígenas, se quiserem, no futuro distante da humanidade, quando as viagens espaciais não são mais uma possibilidade distante, mas um todo realidade do dia.

Para esse fim, existem jogos em que os jogadores são convidados a assumir os papéis de seres humanos que viajam pelo espaço, ou aqueles de outras raças que entram em contato com os melhores da humanidade. Este artigo serve para mostrar dez dos melhores jogos de estratégia que abordam o assunto do espaço, seja para além do nosso planeta, ou aqui mesmo em casa, onde os alienígenas podem simplesmente achar conveniente invadir - assim como eles o fizeram no reino dos nossa imaginação.

Civilização: além da terra.

Civilization: Beyond Earth é um dos melhores jogos de estratégia com temas espaciais de todos os tempos. As várias facções e Afinidades garantirão jogos múltiplos e robustos, cada um apresentando cenários únicos que encorajarão o jogador a criar estratégias com novas formas desafiadoras em cada arquivo.

Poucos jogos de estratégia em tempo real contêm a singularidade oferecida pelo Homeworld. Mesmo com uma jogabilidade que se desenrola em três dimensões e sendo a primeira RTS do seu género, é a narrativa singularmente bem escrita e a mecânica de jogo que a acompanha, que a tornam uma experiência memorável.

Ao iniciar o jogo, você pode optar por jogar como as frotas Kushan ou Taiidan, que procuram o planeta Hiigara, o antigo planeta das duas espécies. O planeta do qual você emerge é logo destruído e sua única escolha é se aventurar por toda a galáxia para encontrar refúgio no seu destino. Ao longo do caminho, você encontra enigmáticas raças alienígenas que ou procuram ajudar ou atrapalhar sua jornada e desvendar os mistérios da sua espécie & # 8217; passado.

Os fãs do Battlestar Galactica vão se sentir em casa com o Homeworld tanto em seu ambiente quanto em combates espaciais.

Alpha Centauri.

Lançado em 1999, Alpha Centauri é um jogo de estratégia para pessoas que pensam. Fundindo a Civilização com a profundidade de temas como filosofia, geopolítica e a personalização do Mestre de Orion 2, o Alpha Centauri é melhor do que seu antecessor terrestre.

Alpha Centauri acontece no universo Civilization após o advento da vitória na Corrida Espacial em Civilization II, em que um ônibus espacial viaja para o distante sistema solar de Alpha Centauri para colonizar o planeta Chiron. Estrangeiros precursores conduziram experiências no planeta, deixando para trás vestígios de sua civilização na forma de monólitos muito parecidos com os de Stanley Kubrick 2001: Uma Odisséia no Espaço. Durante o trânsito para o planeta, os colonos dividiram-se em sete diferentes facções ideológicas que servem como civilizações do jogo. O jogador deve escolher uma das facções para levá-lo ao domínio de Quíron e descobrir os segredos do planeta.

Starcraft é facilmente um dos jogos mais conhecidos de todos os tempos. Com sua popularidade como um videogame insuperável, tornou-se um dos maiores fenômenos esportivos da Coreia, que regularmente transmite jogos ao vivo em três canais de TV separados para milhões de telespectadores.

Embora sua campanha single-player seja memorável para seus eventos, o coração do Starcraft está no modo multiplayer, que tem sido jogado por milhões de jogadores em todo o mundo. Os jogadores escolhem entre três raças únicas para jogar como: o Zerg bug-like; o alienígena Protoss; e os humanos Terrans e participam de escaramuças on-line.

Nenhum outro RTS, nem mesmo o Warcraft III da Blizzard conseguiu superar o equilíbrio competitivo da Starcraft.

Starcraft 2: Asas da Liberdade.

Sequela do RTS mais conhecido de todos os tempos, o Starcraft II é um forte concorrente por ser um dos melhores jogos de estratégia em tempo real já feitos. Com uma longa campanha single player e um modo multijogador igualmente forte, o Starcraft II planeja elevar a vantagem competitiva da Starcraft ao próximo nível com seu novo serviço de matchmaking Battle e futuros pacotes de expansão.

Decolando após os eventos do Starcraft original, os jogadores assumem o papel do herói terráqueo Jim Raynor enquanto ele busca libertar seus companheiros humanos do controle de ferro do Dominador autocrático dos Terranos. Ele se encontra com velhos amigos como o protoss Zeratul e faz novos para ajudá-lo na rebelião. Ele também descobre que seu interesse amoroso Kerrigan tem planos próprios como a rainha dos Zergs.

X3: Reunião.

Considerado como um dos jogos mais complicados de todos os tempos, o X3: The Reunion faz parte do X Universo em andamento. Embora projetado como um jogo comercial de espaço aberto, o X3 possui muita estratégia, os jogadores são jogados diretamente no cockpit de um navio e são encarregados de construir um império corporativo que se estende até os confins da galáxia.

Embora os jogadores possam optar por sair dos aspectos estratégicos do jogo para se envolver em seu enredo, o coração do X3 permanece em sua configuração aberta e economia impulsionada pelo mercado.

Mestre de Orion 2.

Concebido como um jogo de estratégia baseado em turnos 4X (explorar, expandir, explorar e exterminar), o Master of Orion 2 é um dos melhores títulos do gênero. Conhecido por sua jogabilidade complexa, Master of Orion 2 coloca sua ênfase no desenvolvimento de uma civilização alienígena, através do desenvolvimento econômico, tecnológico e social.

Os jogadores podem escolher entre várias corridas predeterminadas ou projetar sua própria corrida com um conjunto de pontos fortes e fracos. Os jogadores podem até escolher projetar seus próprios navios de guerra com base na tecnologia que pesquisaram. Todas essas escolhas permitiram um jogo extremamente complicado. Embora complexa, sempre permaneceu acessível através de seus sistemas bem projetados.

Pecados de um Império Solar.

Sins of a Solar Empire é um jogo de estratégia em tempo real que incorpora alguns aspectos do gênero 4X. Apresentando uma escala maior do que qualquer outro jogo de estratégia, Sins joga em uma teia tridimensional de planetas e outros objetos celestes onde várias civilizações do espaço competem pelo domínio de uma multidão de sistemas solares que abrangem várias galáxias, interligadas por buracos de minhoca.

A maioria dos aspectos sociais e tecnológicos do jogo são simplificados, em contraste com o Master of Orion 2, já que o jogo dá mais ênfase ao combate em tempo real. O jogo é melhor jogado com um grupo de amigos durante muitas horas, e as sessões podem ser salvas para serem retomadas em uma data posterior.

Civilizações Galácticas 2.

Sequela das primeiras civilizações galácticas, a GC2 é sua superior em todos os sentidos. Tal como acontece com outros jogos 4X, o seu trabalho é dominar o planeta da galáxia por meio do planeta, através da força, diplomacia, cultura ou tecnologia. A GC2 é altamente notável por sua IA, que joga de acordo com as regras do jogo e representa um desafio para o jogador sem trapacear. Pode surpreender você saber que até mesmo os melhores jogos de estratégia dão ao IA uma vantagem competitiva.

Também pode surpreendê-lo ao saber que o passado de Civilizations 2 é baseado em uma série de contos escritos por seu criador, Brad Wardell. Embora não seja exatamente a configuração mais original, ela fornece um cenário interessante para um ótimo jogo de estratégia.

Divulgação: O autor é conhecido pelo CEO da Stardock, Brad Wardell.

Espaço sem fim.

O Endless Space posiciona o jogador no papel de uma civilização nascente do espaço e oferece a você a oportunidade de cultivar seu império espacial através de uma variedade de maneiras e meios que apóiam seu estilo de jogo.

O núcleo do jogo será familiar para quem já jogou um jogo de estratégia 4X antes. Você pesquisa tecnologia de uma árvore grande e categorizada. Você gerencia seus sistemas e planetas com projetos de desenvolvimento. Você constrói frotas, coloniza o espaço, engaja-se em diplomacia e faz guerra. O Endless Space possui vários recursos e mecânicas que o diferenciam de sua concorrência e valores de produção que rivalizam com qualquer jogo de orçamento AAA.

XCOM: Inimigo desconhecido.

XCOM: Firaxis Enemy Unknown é um verdadeiro sucessor da série de jogos de estratégia por turnos da Microprose. XCOM: Enemy Unknown vê a invasão de nossas cidades por uma força extraterrestre que procura, aparentemente, expurgar a humanidade da face do planeta.

Os jogadores são encarregados de controlar um esquadrão dos melhores soldados da Terra para enfrentar a ameaça alienígena de frente em combate por turnos em locais que vão desde ambientes urbanos densos a estruturas alienígenas labirínticas.

Revivido pelos criadores de Civilization, o novo XCOM dinamiza tudo o que tornou o título original um pouco chato de jogar e melhora todas as suas melhores qualidades para um moderno jogo de estratégia baseado em turnos que não é igual a outro.

Os melhores jogos de espaço no PC.

Quais são os melhores jogos de espaço no PC? Essa é uma grande questão do tamanho da galáxia. Desenvolvedores têm produzido aventuras espaciais desde os anos 70, e com todo mundo se empolgando com Júpiter, e com o Kickstarter e o crowdfunding permitindo que os estúdios se unam sozinhos, atualmente estamos um pouco obcecados com o que está além do nosso pequeno mármore azul e verde .

Receba as últimas notícias sobre jogos em lugares onde as pessoas podem ouvi-lo gritar indo até nossa página inicial para receber notícias sobre jogos para PC.

Vamos dar uma olhada nos melhores jogos de ficção científica e jogos espaciais no PC que você pode jogar agora, de clássicos antigos a novos títulos AAA.

Star Trek Online.

Nos filmes e on-line, o Star Trek percorreu um longo caminho em um período de tempo comparativamente curto, embora, sem dúvida, seja o MMO inicialmente problemático que teve a jornada mais longa. Devastado um pouco após o lançamento por ser efetivamente um mau ajuste, o jogo acabou preenchendo seu uniforme de réplica muito bem, mesmo que permaneça não-regulamentado em sua maior parte.

É útil pensar em Star Trek Online não apenas como um jogo que consegue capturar o espírito do universo reforçado por Roddenberry - com suas incursões pioneiras no desconhecido, batalhas táticas de um-para-um e encontro com curiosos alienígenas com um permanente amor pela história humana - mas como parte de uma convenção de fãs online. Os jogadores exibem as suas afiliações para TOS, TNG ou DS9, satisfazem os seus conhecimentos em série e participam em vários jogos ao lado, nomeadamente através de missões de equipa e batalhas organizadas no espaço. Sendo um jogo financiado por microtransações, você também pode comprar um monte de dinheiro, mas o ponto é que Star Trek Online não é tanto um sim para gamers que gostam de Star Trek, mas uma diversão para os fãs de Star Trek que gostam de jogos.

E há muito jogo para gostar, desde o modo como você desenvolve seus personagens e agentes de bridge, passando por missões regulares de episódios. É como montar um ônibus aberto em torno de todos os cantos da história e da história da Trek. Onde o jogo se destaca, no entanto, é durante batalhas espaciais em equipe aberta, nas quais pequenos grupos de naves de jogadores se combinam para derrubar embarcações NPC indomáveis. Com a necessidade de gerenciar escudos e níveis de potência, considere velocidade e posicionamento, os fãs veteranos dos jogos Comando da Frota Estelar encontrarão muito a se envolver, especialmente quando parte de uma equipe bem treinada de navios da linha de frente e suporte destruindo a galáxia.

Conflito Estelar.

Star Conflict é um caso MMO-free-to-play, dogfighting, onde os pilotos se chocam em meio a cinturões de asteróides e acima de planetas em sucatas em ritmo acelerado. Enquanto estiver mais preocupado com batalhas PvP, você pode pegar algumas quests, explorar ruínas e se envolver em um local de artesanato.

São os navios que fazem o jogo, claro. Desde lutadores ágeis até fragatas corpulentas e destróieres volumosos, há um grande número de embarcações para desbloquear e melhorar, determinando o seu papel em qualquer conflito em que você se encontre disputando. Há mais de cem navios para escolher, mas ter acesso a eles tudo leva algum fazer.

Há um metagame, também, enquanto você luta por sua facção escolhida, caçando inimigos e entrando em batalhas campais em um esforço para espalhar a influência do seu grupo e ganhar boas recompensas.

Espaço sem fim 2.

Story, um designer 4X provavelmente diria, é algo que surge naturalmente da interação de sistemas em um jogo de estratégia - o confronto de fronteiras, uma guerra não planejada. A Amplitude Studios não acha que isso seja uma desculpa. Eles encheram o Endless Space 2 com o máximo de ficção científica que podem conter - e, dado que tem galáxias inteiras para preencher, isso é muito.

Aqui você encontrará cristais vivos, pequenos dragões, máquinas de guerra recicladas e milhões de clones de um cara chamado Horatio. É um universo repleto de ideias incomuns para aproveitar e depois escravizar, se você é esse tipo de explorador. Se não, você pode jogar como um grupo de árvores sencientes e espalhar ramos de oliveira pelo espaço conhecido.

Restam menos à imaginação do que à estratégia convencional - os recados são resolvidos em um belo mecanismo de batalha em 3D que vê suas elaboradas naves se juntarem no vácuo de um balé dramático e interplanetário. É como o Football Manager, mas com monólitos mais rápidos do que os leves. Não é isso que o catálogo da Sega está perdendo até agora?

Eve Online.

Eve tem sido o jogo espacial proeminente por tanto tempo que você pode ser perdoado por pensar que é o único jogo espacial existente. Inquestionavelmente, é um dos mais interessantes, em parte devido ao fato de que meio milhão de habitantes on-line jogam no mesmo mega servidor, em vez de ter que suportar as realidades cortadas oferecidas por seus muitos contemporâneos de fantasia.

Os jogadores se juntam para formar frotas que chegam aos milhares e alianças às dezenas de milhares, cercando regiões inteiras por meses a fio, apoiadas por uma extensa cadeia de fornecimento de mineradores, comerciantes, pesquisadores e fabricantes. Em termos de escala e substância, não há mais nada parecido.

O jogo não é sem suas desvantagens. Tem uma reputação de ser bastardo-difícil de entrar, mas depois de atualizações para a interface do usuário, gráficos e a racionalização quase constante de alguns dos sistemas mais obscuros do jogo, a Eva de hoje não é mais difícil de abordar do que seu single companheiros de peito de jogador X e Elite. Muito mais uma preocupação para o recém-chegado é o quão difícil pode ser ter sucesso, especialmente se o seu objetivo é criar um pequeno império para você mesmo dentro de algumas semanas.

O Stellaris, o híbrido de estratégia grandiosa 4x da Paradox, torna o espaço novamente surpreendente graças às cadeias de eventos que, a princípio, são evocativas do Crusader Kings II, mas acabam indo muito além. Espere rebeliões mutantes, rebeliões robóticas e a descoberta de textos alienígenas que fazem seus cidadãos questionarem seu lugar na galáxia.

Não é apenas um jogo 4X; é um jogo de RPG galáctico e simulador de império, oferecendo uma vasta gama de opções aos jogadores, permitindo-lhes criar espécies únicas, excêntricas e de espaço. Você pode jogar como uma sociedade fundamentalista construída sobre as costas de escravos, ou lagartos hiper-inteligentes que dependem de robôs, estejam eles lutando ou cultivando. O criador de espécies robustas e a multiplicidade de decisões significativas significam que você pode criar quase todos os alienígenas que puder imaginar.

E sustentar tudo isso é o foco do jogo na exploração. Enquanto a maioria dos jogos espaciais 4X seguem um método de viagem interestelar, Stellaris dá a você três para escolher, cada um com suas próprias forças e contadores. Em um jogo, a galáxia pode ser uma rede de hyperlanes, mas no próximo, você pode se encontrar construindo estações de wormhole e piscando através da galáxia.

O modo multijogador de Stellaris também não deve ser ignorado, transformando seres humanos decentes em tiranos alienígenas maquiavélicos no chapéu.

Elite: Perigoso

30 anos desde a primeira vez que agraciou a BBC Micro, a série Elite retorna na forma de Elite: Dangerous. Já existe há algum tempo nas formas alfa e beta, tempo suficiente para ser escrito milhares de vezes e jogado por incontáveis ​​piratas, caçadores de recompensas, comerciantes e exploradores. Então nós já sabíamos que seria um pouco impressionante.

Nosso parquinho é uma galáxia inteira. Não apenas qualquer galáxia. A Via Láctea é o cenário de Elite: Dangerous, construído em escala aterrorizante. É uma galáxia cheia de buracos negros, sóis gigantescos, anomalias espaciais e naves espaciais que voam como minúsculos pedaços de poeira sobre uma mesa inconcebivelmente grande. Ainda é familiar e autenticamente Elite, mas elevado pela tecnologia que teria confundido as mentes em 1984, quando 256 planetas eram maciçamente impressionantes. No entanto, o modo como você cria uma vida nesta galáxia é o mesmo, quer você se torne um comerciante, enchendo seu porão de carga com algas e microchips, ou um mercenário, lutando em uma guerra interestelar.

É ótimo, e os jogadores já estão aprimorando isso com coisas como conversas em IAs que reagem a comandos de voz, enquanto a Frontier continua engordando com atualizações gratuitas junto com a nova expansão Elite Dangerous: Horizon. E se você tiver sorte o suficiente para ter um Oculus Rift, então você é um deleite, até o ponto em que seu navio sai fora de controle e você mergulha de cabeça em uma bolsa doente.

Programa Espacial Kerbal.

A primeira ordem de fazer qualquer coisa no espaço é, claro, chegar lá. Infelizmente, a maioria dos jogos nesta lista de outra forma esplêndida faz a suposição bastante selvagem de que a ciência de foguetes não é tão importante e pular para o negócio de espalhar a violência, o capitalismo de livre mercado e todos os tipos de doenças humanas para todos os cantos de várias galáxias. Felizmente, o programa espacial para o qual os Kerbals se aplicam é mais fundamentado na realidade, no sentido de que o objetivo do jogo é evitar colidir com as coisas.

O Programa Espacial Kerbal é ostensivamente sobre tentativa e erro, primeiro na construção de uma embarcação capaz de tirar sua carga do chão, o que é relativamente fácil, segundo, na verdade, fazer com que a maldita coisa seja lançada e direcionada para algum tipo de órbita. Você logo percebe que passar pela Linha Karman é uma coisa, enquanto entrega a sua carga com segurança ao seu destino completamente outra. Felizmente, porque os passageiros que se agitam parecem muito felizes por serem sacrificados pelo bem maior da compreensão básica da astrofísica, a tentativa e o erro são tão envolventes e divertidos quanto qualquer sucesso passageiro.

E há muitos sucessos para atingir: alcançar o Mun (nee Moon), implantar uma estação espacial modular, e mineração em planetas distantes são todos alcançáveis, apesar de uma grande quantidade de falha esmagadora, mas divertida, tornada suportável graças a uma combinação de ciência difícil desafivelando um interior suave e fofo. Além de ser um jogo espacial muito bom, o KSP pode ser o sandbox enriquecido pela comunidade mais divertido desde o Minecraft - massivamente ajudado pelos mods do Kerbal Space Program.

Eve Valkyrie.

Há muitas cabines bonitas em realidade virtual, mas a CCP, criadora da Eve, fez o melhor quando contratou Owen O'Brien, produtor de Mirror’s Edge, para liderar seu simulador espacial de luta de cães.

Como o clássico de culto parkour, Valkyrie empresta imersão em primeira pessoa incomparável através de uma centena de minúsculos toques em animação, arte e design de som - da forma como o seu navio avança à medida que acelera para fora do hangar, através da visão de seus braços o painel de controle, para o rugido abafado dos seus propulsores.

O que a Valkyrie capta que os outros jogos espaciais não são escaláveis ​​- a sensação de que você está pilotando um pato de borracha em um banho de propriedade de gigantes da véspera, como o Amarr Titan. It’s impossible not to become acutely aware that you’re only a cracked windscreen away from a cold and unforgiving void, with just your maneuverability saving you from the ferocious and unyielding fire of enemy players.

The Ur-Quan Masters.

Here a quick sell for The Ur-Quan Masters: it's not only free, it's also one of the greatest free games you’ll ever find.

Played from a top-down perspective, UQM is a hitchhiker's’ fight for the galaxy in a game of exploration, diplomacy, role-playing, and combat. You play the commander of a lost research mission sent to re-establish contact with Earth. However, upon reaching the Sol system you soon discover the third planet has been conquered by the unpleasant Ur-Quan. Without the means to free the planet’s inhabitants or oppose its oppressors, your quest is then to head out to distant worlds and find the resources, allies, and clues to help overcome the three-eyed tentacle-beasts that hold humanity in bondage.

While UQM’s flight model isn’t much more evolved than a game of Asteroids, the extensive galaxy, populated by hundreds of planets, stars and moons – all of which can be scanned, visited, and plundered – making for a deeply involving game. Constantly having to land on planets and collect materials to trade can get a little tedious, but discovering ancient secrets and conversing with the game’s 18 unique and often hilarious races (20 if you separate the Zoq from the Fot and Pik) more than makes up for having to constantly take in so many identikit planets. If meeting the cowardly Captain Fwiffo doesn’t make you immediately fall in love with the game then you’re probably dead inside.

Homeworld Remastered Collection.

Homeworld’s the sort of game that gets inside your head and just stays there. It came out 15 years ago, eventually spawning an expansion, an excellent sequel, and most recently the Remastered Edition, and it’s a series that remains unsurpassed. It’s one of those rare strategy games that has a great story, both tragic and hopeful, filled to the brim with tension. It’s a voyage of discovery, of learning about the past and desperately struggling to create a future. It’s beautiful and a bit sad.

It’s more beautiful thanks to Gearbox’s Homeworld remastering efforts, too. Now the game looks like it does in our memories, even those clouded by nostalgia, with its beautifully detailed ships and its gargantuan space backdrops. And, thanks to its minimalist UI, none of that beauty is obscured.

Watching the game in action is like viewing an epic ballet. Tiny ships fly in formation in all directions; massive, heavily armed capital ships float around the vast mother ship; diligent resource gatherers work away to fuel a massive undertaking. Even the biggest vessels are dwarfed by the size of the 3D maps, and when the camera is zoomed out, they look alone and vulnerable. Which is exactly what they are.

Master of Orion 1 + 2.

Fans have been arguing since last century over which of the Master of Orion games is the better of the series and they only seem to agree that the third most definitely isn’t it, which makes the widely-available double pack featuring the first two MOOs something of an essential and stress-free purchase – at least until Wargaming finish their MOO reboot with the help of some "key members" of the original team.

Released in 1993, Master of Orion took the concepts of Sid Meier’s classic turn-based Civilization and applied it across a galaxy of planets rather than one, so that instead of various flavours of human settlers and terrestrial biomes, players were given a wide range of planet types and races to control and conquer, such as the Silicoids; able to thrive in the most hostile of environments, albeit at a glacial reproductive rate.

While the driving force behind Master of Orion and every 4X game since has been technological advancement and colonialism, Master of Orion was the first game of its type to really nail diplomacy and offer a route to victory in which some measure of galactic peace could be achieved. The sequel went even further, with customisable races and a political victory that required you to be elected as the Supreme Leader of the galaxy.

What is undeniable is that MOO I and II are important historical references, as seminal an influence on turn-based space conquest as the first two Doom games were establishing and defining the FPS. Unlike Doom, however, MOO has cast such a long monolith-shaped shadow over the entire space game genre that many would argue that the Orion games have yet to be eclipsed.

Mass Effect 2.

Admittedly, there’s not much fizzing and fwooshing of spaceships to be enjoyed in Mass Effect, but it's still a planet-hopping, alien-seducing space adventure, and one of the best sci-fi RPGs you're likely to play.

Mass Effect 2 merits inclusion here for two reasons: one is the obvious strength of the story and the characters, a story that sprouted strong in the first game and blossomed throughout its middle act to such a degree that the conclusion was always going to wilt a little bit. Secondly, in spite of a complete lack of direct spaceship control, you felt not just part of a crew, but in command of a functioning ship with an ability to explore the galaxy.

Parallels have been drawn – not least by Bioware themselves – between the Mass Effect trilogy and the classic exploration series Starflight, which was notable in the late 1980s for being one of the very first space exploration games and is notable today for not having been bettered in that regard since. In terms of storyline, with all that ancient technology end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it gubbins, Mass Effect’s storyline is remarkably close to Starflight’s. Indeed Starflight could almost be seen as the '70s original to Mass Effect’s BSG-style gritty reimagining, only without the risible Galactica 80 spin-off series to besmirch its reputation.

While the Mass Effect trilogy ended in 2012, we were recently graced with a new spin-off game. Check out our review of Mass Effect: Andromeda.

FTL: mais rápido que a luz.

Space is awful and will probably kill you: that's the lesson FTL attempts to impart on brave spacefarers. The permadeath ship management game is, on the surface, a simple race to deliver information to the hands of your allies, but you’re being chased. With every diversion explored, the enemy fleet gets closer and closer, and even if you do stay ahead of them, random death lurks around every corner.

Random violent encounters, shopping sprees, new worlds and races, unlockable ships and configurations, loads and loads of weird and wonderful weapons and tools - there’s so much in FTL that every game has the potential to be dramatically different. One could see you managing a tough vessel that employs ion cannons to disable enemy systems and drones to pepper them with lasers. Another might inspire you to use mind control to defeat your enemies, or teleporters to fill their ships with your own crew.

So much can go wrong. Sometimes it’s your fault, like when you mess up a fight and end up rapidly attempting to patch up hull breaches and put out fires. But sometimes luck just isn’t on your side, like when you agree to help a space station deal with a plague and one of your crew gets sick. But every failed attempt is a complete story full of adventures and misadventures, and a great excuse to make another valiant attempt.

Distant Worlds: Universe.

Another 4X game to add to the list, but really, Distant Worlds is whatever you want it to be, and we were rather taken with it in our Distant Worlds: Universe review. It's an exploration game where you have one vessel that's part of a massive empire, and you spend the whole time flitting around the galaxy. A trade game, where one eye is always on your bank account, while the other is hungrily looking at aliens, searching for good deals and diplomatic opportunities. A game where you are the master of everything, sticking your finger in every conceivable pie, from military matters to colonisation.

It's huge; mind-bogglingly, overwhelmingly massive. An entire galaxy is simulated from private traders going about their business, to pirates getting up to no good. It’s the most ambitious 4X space game that you’re ever likely to find.

At its core, it’s a tool for creating your own galaxies to play in. Players can curate the game to such a degree that one game could bear no resemblance to the next. Everything from the age of the galaxy to the aggression of pirates can be dictated before a game even begins.

Star Wars: TIE Fighter Special Edition.

LucasArts might be gone, and one could argue that it died long before it officially shut down, but we’ll always have reminders of what it once was, with brilliant games like Totally Studio’s phenomenal Star Wars: TIE Fighter, the villainous sequel to X-Wing.

Its predecessor was great, there’s no doubt about it, but TIE Fighter lets you play as an Imperial, and the Devil is always more fun. It was also, across the board, an improvement over X-Wing, from its graphics – now very dated, admittedly – to a targeting upgrade that allowed pilots to focus on specific parts of an enemy capital ship or station.

This isn’t some arcade space shooter like its not-quite-successor, the Rogue Squadron series. This is a space sim first, which comes with greater complexity but also greater control. For instance, if you’re being battered by laser fire from a pesky X-Wing and your ship’s been damaged, then you assign the order in which systems are repaired, allowing you to prioritise so you can survive for a few more seconds. Just enough to win the fight.

Being an oldie, expect a wee bit of fiddling to get the best experience. Thankfully, we've got a beginner’s guide to X-Wing and TIE Fighter, which should save you from some potential problems.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion is a game that successfully manages to combine the very best of 3D real-time strategy – albeit without a proper single-player campaign – with the kind of empire building offered only by the very finest 4X titles.

Played across a user-defined network of stars, players begin forging an empire around the gravity wells of planets with shipyards, research outposts, extractors, and defence systems, then assembling fleets combining frigates, corvettes, cruisers, and capital ships to map and eventually conquer neighbouring systems.

In earlier versions of Sins of a Solar Empire, conquest was largely achieved in the time-honoured RTS fashion of dragging a huge box around every single damn ship you owned and directing them towards the enemy systems so as to allow sheer force of numbers to win the day. However, with the introduction of diplomatic victories in a previous expansion and research and occupation victories as part of 2012’s Rebellion standalone – not to mention new Death Star-like titan ships as a much-needed counter to the ultra-defensive starbases structures – the stalemates that would often cause games to peter out can be pursued as potentially winning strategies.

And let's not forget about the mods that let you play out your Star Wars or Battlestar Galactica fantasies.

That's it from us, but we'd love to know your thoughts. Remember: in the comments, everyone can hear you scream.

Eve Online.

Star Conflict.

Star Trek Online.

TIE Fighter.

Kerbal Space Program.

The Ur-Quan Masters.

Master of Orion.

Mass Effect 2.

Distant Worlds Universe.

FTL: mais rápido que a luz.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion.

Homeworld Remastered Collection.

EVE Valkyrie.

Checked this article to confirm that it has Star Control 2 aka The Ur-Quan Masters. Not disappointed! One game that would be nice to see on this list as well is Oolite, basically the modifiable successor to the original Elite.

SC2 - still one of the best.

I imagine, "Note to self: Do not put something in a 'best of' category, before actually seeing it".

Homeworld indeed should be there.

Independence War 2, should be there.

ELITE (as series and genre patriarch) itself should be there (you never know where E:D will end up - seeing where X:R ended up - in the bin).

Same reasoning exactly, Wing Commander instead of non-existent Star Citizen.

Good that you put Mass Effect series (for the atmosphere and its universe).

SOASE should be in every list - and is.

Agree with Freespace 2 of course (and Open Source follow up).

Freelancer was pretty good too. The first that did the space thing right with a mouse!

Independence war 2.

that game was something special.

Now, only one question remains: WHERE'S FREELANCER!?

What ever happened to Battlezone?

Remove ME2 and put that in. You know ME2 doesn't belong on this list. Not because it's a bad game (because.. it's not), but it's not the right genre.

It's not a list of a single genre. There are space sims, an MMO, 4X games, RTS games, even a management roguelike. Why not an RPG? We've expanded most our lists to 20, though, so I might do the same with this one, and I'd probably add Freelancer.

While being a a solid game, the focus isn't about "space".

If you open up the door to such games that takes place anywhere but earth, then where are games like for example Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. That's a fantastic game off the top of my head which takes place on several planets where you travel between them. Or for example Martian Dreams (Ultima series). That game takes place on Mars, but again, it's not something I'd consider belonging in this category.

I'm sure there are a lot of examples of RPGs, Adventure games, and even first person shooters which take place in "space" that could/should belong on this list far ahead of some games listed here if you opened the flood gates. However, the focus on those games aren't so much "space".

But then, maybe I'm just wrong. That's certainly a possibility.

Sins of the Solar Empire is great, I just wish I was good at RTS.

Freespace 2 is godly.

You have a game about space travel and didn't include Starflight! SMH! This game is in dire need of a modern revamp.

Loved Starflight. Rebel Galaxy looks to have a very similar vibe.

Sim. does pcgamesn just recycle the same, tired stories again and again Or does this site promote somethinhg as 'new/recent' every time a new comment is added? Because that is not ideally providing new, newsworthy articles.

Nexus: The Jupiter Incident is by far one of the best RTS games, never mind being the best space RTS game.

Pretty sad when these are the "best" space games. It's even harder trying to find good MMO ones. Right now, Star Trek is about the only one that is a full MMO.

This is a very cool list, but I miss the "X" series. X2 and X3 were some of the best space sims ever made. They should be included here.

Where is Space Rangers and X series? Star Conflict and EVE Valkyrie, with all do respect, cant be in this list.

Dead Space? Alien Isolation?

How about the entire Egosoft X2/X3 series? Geez if you want to get into space, that has to be on the list.

I wish Star Trek Online had some diplomatic options, as a solution to anything, instead of like "Oh we had a minor disagreement.. time for an hour long marathon dodge and shoot battle"

A lot of times I got so bored and just shut the game off, because the battles would just seem to be endless.

I found it playable like an ordinary video game, because there was a lot of neat content and a fair of ST actor voice acting (much of which is very flatly delivered, probably with no direction at all), but as a replayable MMO, it leaves little to come back for, except when there's new story content.

The radiant missions are good the first time or two but then just grinding and listening to the same NPC dialogue over and over.

I have to turn off the public chat, because in populated areas, it's almost always full of vulgar, pervert talk and people yelling bible verses in all caps. ri muito.

The clubs are always totally empty since the two years or so I've been playing it.

Anachronox nobody ever remembers Anachronox. Only game outside of Mass Effect that has really felt like a true space adventure.

For an article about 15-best-pc-space-games why is everything in the rightmost column EVE-related? Are you pcgamesn folk being subsidised by CCP?

Nope, just every article has an associated game and the items in the right-most column are related to it. Eve was picked here because it's a good space game, unlikely to be removed from the list for any reason, and we have interesting content about it.

No mention of Avorion, Emperion, Space Engineers or X3. Dissapoint.

Freelancer is still missing, I loved that game so much, however seeing as I can't find anywhere selling it I guess that is fair enough to leave it off the list.

Why there s no X3 Albion Prelude, i think its best spaceship fighting simulator from 2011. Many things (example shipsymbols) from this game taked by eve online.

If something, then Imperium Galactica I or II REALLY deserves to be mentioned along with the best space games, I'm sad it's not listed here.

But the IG games aren't available, at least not on PC. Had it been it might have made the list, alongside Homeworld, TIE Fighter, etc.

If you guys want to try something different than the usual ''blow spaceships up with lasers" you could also try SpaceStation 13. It's 10 years old but i only discovered it this week. It reminds me of some kind of weird mix of Project Zomboid, Dwarf Fortress/Gnomoria and. i don't know what else.

You should check it out though, it's one of those strange sandbox experiences that relies on other people to make the experience. But some really weird stuff can go down, so fun!

You forgot Homeworld. Aaargh.

As far as I knew, the IG games were mainly released on PC. I got the first one with a PC magazine back in '99 and IG II was the first game I actually bought.. Give them a try :)

BDcraft is cool.

x:abortion and no homeworld?

your list is invalid/

A lot of good games on this list, but my personal all-time favorite has got to be Escape Velocity: Nova. Such a great game. Way ahead of its time IMO.

Hey man, I don't know if you are the same guy that posts on PcGamer as Hal 9000, but if you are, I'm the guy that argued with you that D&D Sword Coast Legends was gonna be shit and you defended it. I could not find your profile there so this is all I got. I told you that if the game released and was good I would be man enough to apologize. It is apparently awesome and the spiritual successor to NWN. As a man of my word, I apologize. You were right and I was wrong and I'm glad because there is a good D&D rpg out now. I bow to your optimism. Cuidar. my e-mail is [email protected] if you want to gloat :)

Nice gesture. But your initial assessment was correct. Sword Coast Legends is absolute garbage.

this list is a shit. where is the Privateer? Where are the Wing Commander series?

Add Space Engineers somewhere.

In the immortal words of William Wallace: Freeeelancer.

No, but seriously, Freelancer was a classic! Rather than simulate the labyrinthine intricacies of Galactic trade and politics (like EVE), or a vast, complicated, open-ended universe ( as in the X series), Freelancer created a fun and accessible, sandbox-lite experience. IMO it should make any 'top space games' list.

Aside from that I have no problem with any of the other entries on the list. It's refreshing to see a broad interpretation of the title 'Space Game'.

Spaceforce Rogue Universe should have been on this list :-/

There is also Starsector, It's Mount&Blade in space.

I'm trying to find game that would have as epic story as Babylon 5 but seems that is hopeless. Kotors worked and Mass Effects to a degree but I'd like bit more space fighting. 4X usually don't have story to speak of other space games have usually turned grindy rinse and repeat games.

Well at least Syfy's Expanse seems to be delivering so far.

18 reviewers answered 17 questions.

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PC Gamer.

Go to the final frontier and beyond with our round up of the best space games.

Welcome to our list of the best space games on PC. Short of training to become an astronaut or hitching a ride on a deep space probe, your gaming PC is the best way to leave Earth behind and journey through the cosmos. Whether you're trading or pirating your way around the Milky Way or being hunted by a monstrous alien on a stricken orbital station, these are the best space games you can play on PC right now. From survival horror and 4X strategy to deep simulators that let you live another life among the stars, there's something here for every wannabe astronaut.

Homeworld Remastered Collection.

Developer Relic/Gearbox Software.

One of the best singleplayer RTS campaigns ever made, and beautifully remastered by Gearbox. The sight of thousands of your ships streaking across the game’s vividly colourful space-scapes is hugely dramatic. And battles are tense and tactical, with many types of ship to command, including colossal battleships. The Remastered Collection looks great on modern PCs and comes complete with the original Homeworld and its sequel.

The crew has mysteriously abandoned the Tacoma lunar transfer station, and you’ve been sent to investigate and recover its precious AI, Odin. This atmospheric sci-fi mystery from the makers of Gone Home is wonderfully written, with a cast of rich, nuanced characters telling a compelling story through interactive AR recordings. Exploring the hyper-detailed station is a delight thanks to the game’s extraordinary attention to detail, and the more you learn about Tacoma, the deeper the mystery gets.

Elite Dangerous.

Developer Frontier Developments.

An entire galaxy is your playground in this space sim. Starting with a basic ship and a handful of credits, you shape your own destiny. Do you become a fearsome pirate? A master trader? An explorer? The beauty of Elite is being able to play in a way that suits you. From thrilling dogfights to gentle exploration, there’s something for everyone. And its ships are all an absolute dream to fly, whether it's a nimble fighter or a heavy duty cargo hauler.

EVE Online.

Live another life—in space! There’s nothing else like EVE Online on PC, a massively multiplayer RPG where everything is controlled by players. It’s a living galaxy in which thousands of capsuleers fight, trade, mine, and explore together. Break away from the relative safety of your police-patrolled starting system and you’ll find a ruthless, cosmic Wild West, where piracy, espionage and scamming are rife. Whether you’re fighting in a massive space war, where thousands of real-world dollars hang in the balance, or just exploring New Eden on your own, EVE is an unforgettable experience.

Star Wars: Empire at War.

Developed by Petroglyph, a studio founded by Westwood veterans, this real-time strategy is one of the best Star Wars games on PC. The streamlined interface and accessible systems might turn off some hardcore strategy fans, but in the thick of its chaotic, thrilling land and space battles the game is irresistible—especially if you’re a Star Wars fan. And hero units like Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker only add to the excitement.

Despite being viewed entirely through a retro-futuristic computer interface, Duskers is one of the scariest, most tense sci-fi horror games on PC. In it you pilot a fleet of drones searching derelict spaceships for fuel, upgrades, and clues about why the galaxy is so mysteriously devoid of life. The ships you board are crawling with strange creatures, which makes looking for clues in those narrow, dark corridors an especially nerve-racking experience.

A mission to divert an asteroid heading for Earth goes awry, sending a group of astronauts to a distant, seemingly abandoned world. Some of the puzzles are maddeningly obscure, even for a LucasArts point-and-click adventure, but the colourful, bizarre planet feels genuinely alien. Great voice acting too, with X-Files star Robert Patrick playing the lead character.

Universe Sandbox 2.

This space simulator lets you become an all-powerful cosmic deity, manipulating replicas of real galaxies and solar systems and witnessing the (often catastrophic) results of your meddling. Increase the mass of Jupiter and you’ll see the rest of our solar system being sucked into it, or delete the Sun and watch Earth and the other planets drift away confused.

Developer Ocelot Society.

Stranded alone somewhere near Jupiter on an old luxury starship, your only hope of returning home is an AI that has serious emotional problems. You interact with Kaizen using your keyboard, and sometimes it'll be willing to help you. But then it'll change its mind and decide the best thing to do is close the airlock and trap you outside the ship until you run out of air. A clever adventure with the understated mood of a '70s sci-fi film.

Mass Effect 2.

If you’ve ever fantasised about being Captain Picard, in command of your own starship, exploring the galaxy, meeting weird aliens, being confronted with cosmic dilemmas, then Mass Effect 2 is that in game form. It’s part Star Wars space opera, part brilliant Star Trek episode, and one of the best sci-fi games on PC. It doesn’t have the freedom of Elite and is largely a linear experience, but it takes you on an unforgettable journey around the galaxy, visiting bizarre planets and getting involved in the lives of the aliens who live on them. We love the whole series, but we all agree that this is our favourite.

Developed by Paradox, of Crusader Kings and Europa Universalis fame, this sci-fi epic puts the ‘grand’ in grand strategy. Explore the universe, form alliances with alien factions, and engage in the odd large-scale space battle. The multitude of systems makes Stellaris a powerful story generator, and you never know what strange beings you’ll meet among the stars.

Alien: Isolation.

Developer Creative Assembly.

Amanda Ripley, daughter of Ellen, is hunted through a dilapidated space station by a xenomorph in this incredible survival horror. Taking its cues from Ridley Scott's original 1979 film, it's a masterpiece of slow-burning tension. And the station itself, Sevastopol, is a great example of lo-fi sci-fi, with chunky retro-futuristic tech and eerie flickering lights. One of the most faithful movie adaptations ever, and a great horror game in its own right.

No Man's Sky.

This is one of the most dazzlingly colourful sci-fi universes on PC, and being able to seamlessly transition from space to the surface of a planet is an impressive technical feat. The addition of features like base-building and a mission system in recent updates give you a lot more to actually do when you touch down on these worlds, and the procedural generation algorithm has been tweaked to make for weirder, prettier planet surfaces.

Star Wars: TIE Fighter.

A rare opportunity to be the bad guy in George Lucas’s beloved space opera. With a variety of Empire-themed missions—dogfights, escorts, attacking capital ships—and a story to follow, it’s one of the best Star Wars games LucasArts ever published. Of course, you can replace this entry with Star Wars: X-Wing if you’d prefer to play as the boring old Rebel Alliance.

FTL: mais rápido que a luz.

FTL mixes turn-based and real-time strategy together to capture the experience of captaining a Star Trek-style spacecraft. It’s a strong roguelike, too, with a backdrop of a familiar yet fun sci-fi universe that comes with its own semi-humorous lore and a neat set of narrative beats that make the journey to its finale endlessly exciting. Being able to name your ship and crew makes it all the more heartbreaking when they die together in enemy space.

Wing Commander: Privateer.

Developer Origin Systems.

Fans of the series will argue endlessly about which Wing Commander is the best, but we love Privateer’s darker feel. It’s a rich sandbox in which you can be a mercenary, a pirate, a merchant, or a mix of all three. You jump between systems looking for bounties to hunt and ships to rob, and the first-person dogfights are a thrill. There’s a linear story, but the real joy lies in doing your own thing and carving your own path through the stars.

EVE: Valkyrie.

If you have a VR headset, this is the game to play on it. In Valkyrie you get to experience EVE Online’s famous space battles from the more intimate perspective of an individual fighter pilot. The feeling of being strapped into a cockpit, hurtling through space at immense speeds, is a visceral one. And the combat has been tuned specifically for virtual reality.

Kerbal Space Program.

Wrestle with gravity and the laws of physics as you build your own spacecraft and attempt to explore the cosmos. A robust, compelling sandbox of possibilities that’s as funny as it is clever. Escaping Kerbin’s atmosphere and landing on the Mun (without exploding) for the first time with a ship you’ve built yourself is about as satisfying as PC gaming gets.

Take On Mars.

Developer Bohemia Interactive.

If you like your space games a little more grounded, try Arma developer Bohemia’s Take On Mars. It’s a space exploration and colonisation simulator largely based on real astro-science. You can build a Curiosity-style rover and explore the surface of the red planet or construct your own Martian colony. A game for folk who want the sci without too much of the fi.

Pecados de um Império Solar.

Developer Ironclad Games.

Mixing real-time strategy with 4X elements, Sins is a game of galactic conquest. Choose a faction, gather resources and become a mighty space-lord. Commanding its real-time wars is thrilling, but combat isn’t always the answer: you can use diplomacy to conquer systems too. A refreshingly slow-paced RTS with some truly massive space battles to stare slack-jawed at.

Space Engineers.

Developer Keen Software House.

Harvest asteroids for building materials then craft them into floating bases, flyable spaceships, and more besides. You can hover around the map with a jetpack or build a gravity generator to walk safely on the surface of bigger asteroids. One of the best co-op build-’em-ups on PC.

Developer Chucklefish Games.

Terraria-esque survival with a science fiction twist. Hop between randomly generated planets on a starship, hunt alien creatures for food, build colonies and underground bases, and try not to die in the process. A brilliant sci-fi sandbox with a charming art style. Playable races include robots, beings made of solar energy, ape-like creatures, and colourful wingless birds.

SpaceEngine.

Developer Vladimir Romanyuk.

Do you like feeling small and insignificant? Then play SpaceEngine, which features, incredibly, the entire universe. Or at least the bit we know about. Focus on Earth, then pull back at top speed, and you suddenly become aware of how you’re on a tiny speck of dust hurtling through an endless void. The tech is remarkable, allowing you to travel effortlessly between galaxies and land on planets. But besides exploring, there isn’t much else to it.

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The best space games on PC.

By RPS on February 1st, 2018 at 5:00 pm.

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Space games have experienced a rebirth over the past few years, particularly space sims, but as many in the comments pointed out, you don’t need to be sitting in a cockpit to enjoy the stars. This updated list broadens our search for the best space games on PC, throwing strategy games, roguelikes and at least one RPG into the mix.

Read on to see what the top picks are.

Words by Richie Shoemaker and Fraser Brown.

If you feel like cheating, you can skip ahead to different sections of the list with these handy links below.

Is your favourite game missing from the list, and are you now racing towards the comment section? Good – but remember that “No game X?” doesn’t help anyone, while a considered explanation of why X is great is useful to everyone.

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170 Comments.

It’s pretty strange that I-War 2 isn’t on this list, given some of the stuff that is, and I just can’t get behind Elite: Dangerous as even a good game, let alone the “third best” space game on PC. I see the justification you’re going for but as someone who also played Elite since the BBC Micro, and who was one of the first backers for E:D, E:D is nothing but a massive disappointment that makes me wish the older, more fun-oriented, less tedium/grinding-oriented, less sim-ish Elites had been the evolutionary path Elite followed, instead of become a very a bad MMO and a slightly questionable space sim (albeit a very visually and sonically polished one). It’s a bad game, in the end.

I was surprised to see the first I-War instead of I-War 2, which is the much more polished version of the concept. Best flight/fight mechanics of any cockpit-level space game ever.

I wish Elite Dangerous had used the full 6DOF and high-speed flight mechanics in I-War 2. It’s the only space cockpit game where I felt like I was flying *fast*, which you’d think would be a requirement for a spaceship.

My one complaint about the game was how linear the story and missions are, but that’s the same in other space games of the era like Tie Fighter and Freespace 2.

I just assumed that the inclusion of Independence War included the second game by reference, with the first getting the nod for the list because it was, as stated, “the first” to do what it does. it doesn’t really matter, anyhow – both games are great for much the same reasons.

I’d definitely rate the second one as higher, if only because the first has that godawful mandatory training course before you’re allowed to play.

For those who loved the old Elite and who’d like the same thing only more, Oolite might fit the bill nicely. The base game initially looks and feels like Elite-with-fancier-graphics (unless you turn on wire frame mode). Looking closer, there are loads of stuff going on under the hood with AI behaviour and system politics/economy.

Throw in the hundreds and hundreds of mods available, and you can pretty much customize the game to be exactly what you want it to be. And last time I checked, the forum was still the friendliest this side of Riedquat.

Pioneer Space Sim deserves a mention. Essentially a free HD remake of Elite 2 then taken to another level.

Walterar’s Scout+ version adds even more of everything and is the recommended way to play.

…the older, more fun-oriented, less tedium/grinding-oriented, less sim-ish Elites …

You are either joking or your memory of the old Elite games is less precise as you think: for one, compared to Frontier: Elite II and First Encounters, ED plays like a arcade shooter. Secondly, the old games were (even) far more grind-oriented and repetitive than ED. In the old games, it took you ages of repeating the ever same cycle of trade runs to get enough money to upgrade your ship and/or buy a better ship. ED on the other hand drowns you in money, allowing you to make a hundreds of thousands, if not millions of credits within less than an hour – even without exploits.

This reminds me that I need to go back and play Sins of a Solar Empire since it got that performance patch last year allowing to use more memory and optimizing a few things. Love the game to bits but I was never able to actually finish a full game as the fleet battles became so large that the framerate would slow down to a single digit crawl.

There’s also a terrific Star Trek mod, Star Trek Armada 3, taking after the ancient Activision RTS game series. It’s the best Star Trek fleet combat game bar none, and also benefited from the performance patch you described. The latest version has just today slipped into Beta so I’m looking forward to seeing the new stuff and changes.

The Halo mod’s not bad either.

I’d stick House of the Dying Sun and Allegiance to the list somewhere. House of the Dying Sun is the main true successor to stuff like TIE Fighter and Freespace. Its dogfighting combat is expertly tuned and super intense.

Allegiance is one of the most innovative games of all time and is the only game aside from Freespace 2 that has truly made me feel like I’m flying as part of a fleet of ships. That’s the sort of experience that makes for some of the best space game fun ever: not just a dogfight, but a full-on battle.

Mass Effect 2 is fun but I don’t really think of it as a space game. It’s sci-fi, sure, but it all takes place on the ground, basically!

Yeah, including Mass Effect 2 is kinda silly, might as well include Duke Nukem 3D and Wolfenstein since you have a entire levels of both on the Moon.

HoTDS is awesome, it’s a pity that there has been no follow-up.

You have a spaceship and you travel through space. It’s a space game.

I mean yes you technically travel through space in what is potentially the most anemic splaceflight mechanic ever implemented in an interactive medium. It feels more like a joke than anything. A much better replacement would be Star Control II, I think. It’s got all the “travel around the galaxy, meet interesting alien races, land on planets” stuff that Mass Effect 2 has, but your spaceship is much more integral to the whole thing (you use it to fight, you upgrade and customize it, etc.), you actually feel like you’re exploring space (there are a zillion planets, the fuel mechanic actually means something rather than just wasting your time), the game is clearly not interesting in being a Gears of War clone, etc.

Gears of War clone.

Well yeah, if the game had bayonets like Gears it would’ve been better.

Acordado. ME2 isn’t a “space game,” it’s a game that happens to involve traveling through space. You might as well be sailing a ship over the ocean or journeying across the countryside in a horse-drawn buggy for all the difference it would make. The fact that you’re in space has no gameplay bearing at all. Your ship is just a hub world you use to travel from one environment to another. You never fly the thing. Hell, even the “upgrading the ship” stuff only manifests by changing which scripted cutscene(s) you get during the final mission.

I always wanted you to go.

Play some Space Gaaaames (Intergalactic Christ…?)

You got me with intergalactic Christ. Aka Space Jesus.

I can never hear that song now without thinking of the Brass Eye interview where they had no idea how utterly they’d just self-owned.

No Master of Orion 2? (while Stellaris is there?)

No Space Rangers 2? (while Rebel Galaxy is there?)

Tell me it was just a mistake.

Master Of Orion 2 missing when Stellaris & Sins of a Solar Empire & Distant Suns are there? It must be a joke…

I did expect it to pop up at number 1, but nowhere at all.

I think i’ve spent more time playing MOO2 than all of the other space sims put together, Stellaris was completely soulless for me.

Gotta agree there, MoO2 is painfully absent.

No MoO, no Homeworld, and no Elite.

Worst list ever.

I agree on Space Rangers, but I’m going to open the can of worms here and say I agree with MoO2’s omission. It’s incredibly influential and a good game, but at the same time, I think it’s sort of…boring, I guess? Like, I think MoO2 took one too many cues from Civilization and, as a result, the game can feel too much like Civ 2 with a science fiction paint job, complete with fiddly micromanagement after your empire reaches a certain size.

For my money, both 1 and 3 were more interesting in terms of design, yet 2 was held up as this gold standard, so for years we basically had this constant cycle of space 4X devs trying to capture the “magic” of MoO2 yet seemingly always falling short. Frankly, I’m glad that with games like Distant Worlds and Stellaris, it seems like developers have finally broken with the MoO2 obsession and are actively trying to do new things with the space 4X once more – even if their reach sometimes exceeds their grasp.

Homeworld 1&2! It’s set almost entirely in space! 3-D RTS, maps that have true tactical verticality, some are mostly empty, some are full of debris, but nothing is based on capturing some grounder shmuck’s base of landlubbering immobility (although there are some space stations and asteroid bases). Gameplay is dynamic, the player’s fleet has continuity from mission to mission, and it’s an RTS where thoughtful use of resources is usually more effective than steamrolling. The skyboxes are huge and beautiful and hint at an ancient galaxy of lost lore and precursor megastructures. Grumble grumble grumble.

Also, no MoOII, bah humbug.

I was flabbergasted to see that Homeworld did not feature, especially so now that Remastered has brought it back to life.

Considering that the only point of these ranking articles seems to be stimulating debates in forums, omitting Homeworld may be a feature…not a bug.

I was equally dismayed to see Homeworld not make the list…then I wondered if the authors were too young to have experienced it.

Flying a fighter over the decks of a capital ship in 3D glory was amazing when it first came out!

ermmm… none of these games you can play happily for years. Maybe KSP…. but seriously leaving out EVE online does overlook its impressive single shard nature (shout out to Wicked Creek!) and thus it multi lingual multi cultural multi time zone nature, its longevity as a viable concern, mass battles, national press coverage, 15 odd years of updates, rich story and history (both player and lore), its birth of Valkyrie (VR) and Dust (Playstation), the latter which integrated (sorta) with EVE and what has to be one of the biggest gaming spaces ever conceived. But leaving all that aside and more, none of the titles above offered customers to have their player names carved into granite to last long after the human has expired. It also has the best community made propaganda and songs. I think it was also once Iceland’s leading single source of foreign currency!

Failing to place Eve in the better half of the list is a real mistake. It easily deserves on this list.

I-War 1 (Independence War), I-War 2 (Edge of Chaos) and Frontier First Encounters (Elite 3) should be in first 3 positions, choose the order. And Elite Dangerous the 4th.

Number (2)1 should be Nexus the Jupiter Incident. A forgotten classic that is just aching for a more modern remake.

Oh man, I wonder by what means I own this. Is it a physical disc tucked away somewhere? Is it some digital download on an obscure site that I can’t remember? I simply don’t know. It has been misplaced, yet I would love very much to have another go at Nexus.

It’s on GoG, if you don’t locate it elsewhere.

I really enjoyed that one too. They tried to go at it on kickstarter for a followup, didn’t make it.

God I loved that game. Really the first strategy/3D space game I played that had full x, y and z plane maneuvers. And the maps were huge too. Totally underrated as far as great space games are concerned.

Bridge Commander, Sins, Mass Effect, and Tachyon all get my vote! Deserving of a place is Battlezone.

The next big release for Elite Dangerous is the Engineers beta update in May? Am I living two years in the future or something?

Indeed, 3.0 beta 2 is already on the ED test servers. When will it be live though? No-one yet knows, and I’d hope FDev take their time with these huge changes to both Engineering and the whole Crime & Punishment system.

It seems like they just copied the text from the last time they did the Best Space Games article.

Guys, Hardwar seems gone from Dot. Emu (though it could be a geoblocking shenanigan).

When I saw the article, I was absolutely sure EVE Online would be #1, and it’s not even on the list. 0.o.

Like I don’t get it. There are tons of old games, there is no stake in constructing such list, there will be no wining party or anything, games that are consdiered classic will remain view as such. So for the love of god, if you are gonna make Freespace2 a number one space game, at least give Starlancer a fair shake. Your little addeneum clearly implies that you didn’t.

Starlancer does so much things better then Freespace, like gigantic difference is mission briefings, Freespce is full of boring menus, Starlancer has excellent briefings, you feel like a pilot and not someone browsing interent.

Starlancer for what I have tried is very rough around the edges like all the Chris Roberts spacesims. Wing Commander IV is indeed his best work (and I suspect it’s because he didn’t follow it as closely as other games he worked on) and still doesn’t come close to Freespace and Tie Fighter.

What are these rough edges then? Story? Mission design? Flying model? Ships and weapons? Almosteverything Freespace does, Starlancer does equally well or better.

It’s clear to me Starlancer has not receive a fair shake up here as well because what is always omitted when this game comes up is that whole campaing can be played on co-op which is a unheard feature in these games.

Not too mention that Freespace is full of rough edges.

OK, from the little I could try of the game:

There is an overreliance on mid-mission cutscenes that break the flow of the gameplay.

Energy controls use that stupid analog triangle system that sucked in Wing Comamnder Prophecy and sucks here too, using simple button commands like in Freespace and the Xwing/Tie Fighter games is much easier when under fire.

Story feels a lot like the classic Roberts military fantasy with ace pilots that save the day, much less interesting than the cosmic horror story and the “cog in the machine” feel of the Freespace series.

The mission design is difficult to judge having played only a few missions but it has a lot of that Wing Commander feel which is not a good thing in my book since it tends to get repetitive really fast.

As if Chris Roberts had anything to do with Starlancer but taking credit.

Roberts’ fingerprints can be seen all over it though, the guy might not have much to do with it but it’s clear they were following his way of doing things.

Starlancer is impossible to buy though, so it would seem a little unfair to give a billing if no one can play it.

I think had I played Freespace 2 in high school i could have loved all of it’s elaborate keyboard controls and slick piloting options, but the low level keyboard ninja skills needed to re-route all shield power to the rear while barrel rolling my bomber in an evasive manuver before whipping around to re-jigger my shields and fire the correct weapon grouping was just too much for me as a sad boring grown-up. Looking forward to the completion of Outer Wilds though as I got quite a kick out of their demo’s fun but lightly technical zero-g piloting and landing shindigs.

Doesn’t Freespace 2 support HOTAS controllers? It’s been a long time since I played it, but I think I remember this coming out during that period when it was assumed hardcore players would be using a joystick with many buttons, if not a full HOTAS rig. Makes all that quick energy management and weapon selection much more intuitive, once you build in the muscle memory.

Freespace 1&2 (both retail and modded) only supports one gaming peripheral with stick, throttle and rudder out of the box, if you have a HOTAS you will need to use something to create a virtual peripheral to make everything work (well, the most expensive ones and some of the cheap ones usually come bundled with such a software).

I played it again a few months back, it’s quite competent if you have a multibutton mouse. Fills in pretty well for a proper joystick.

I just wish the list criteria weren’t so loose, I would definitively have omitted all the strategy games, since those are strong titles in their own genre.

Strongly disagree that Freelancer can’t benefit from some HDifying! This isn’t vanilla Freelancer, it’s a Star Wars total conversion called Freeworlds: Tides of War, but you won’t get this sort of visual prowess from the base game (or any other mod). Bit disappointed we weren’t included.

Each of FTL‘s procedural adventure casts you adrift in space with a single goal: outrun the Federation and bring their secret plans to your Rebel allies.

Minor correction, since I’ve been playing FTL recently: you play as a Fed officer and are trying to outrun the Rebels, to bring their plans to the Federation.

I would’ve liked to see some Homeworld on the list but otherwise not bad.

I’d definitely like to see Homeworld on the list. Its sound design is still gorgeous, and the atmosphere it creates is incredible; it features a fair few entities that feel truly alien rather than just humans in rubber suits; and its theme of space as a desert rather than an ocean, and its allusions to Jewish lore, still feels fresh today. Plus, there’s something darkly delightful about being the bogeyman of the enemy empire, everything they’ve feared for thousands of years suddenly erupted forth into an unstoppable fleet of reverse-engineering masterminds.

Homeworld: Cataclysm is also worth a mention as a stunningly good horror game, and a far superior sequel to Homeworld 2.

A few corrections regarding Tie Fighter and the X-wing series: only X-wing alliance had a mission builder (or to be more precise, an official one, there are some fanmade ones available), the film room was missing from X-wing vs Tie Fighter and the historical missions were omitted from X-wing Alliance in favour of simple demo scenarios for the basic mission builder (though you could replay campaign mission from the same menu).

The difficulty curve in Tie Fighter was much better calibrated than in X-wing which had some missions that were stupidly difficult very early on, it has also difficulty levels and most of all *the game tells you if you failed a mission* (in X-wing there was no objective feedback for mission failure). If anything X-wing was incredibly inconsistent, I remember having some very easy mission and then a mission that had me stumped for almost a year, you could also lose all the rank points of you got blasted in the wrong place at the wrong time or the eject system got damage while in Tie Fighter there was a back-up feature built-in for the save to avoid that (you can disable it in the options if you want the full masochistic hardcore experience).

Reagarding the joysticks I would contend that the more expensive ones are the ones that have a better possibility to work as at the time the games came out there were only two categories of sticks: two button ones and stuff full of buttons that came with a mapping software to configure it properly, the latter part being true for basically all expensive sticks as long as you take the time to use its software and create a profile for the game you should be fine and nowadays there are a lof of thir party solutions for models that don’t have one. The only real issue is that only Alliance has rudder support. The throttle in XW and TF is always in 1/3 steps (even in the windows version, it can be done in the dos versions with external utilities), with analog throttle only being introduced in X-wing vs Tie Fighter and X-wing Alliance.

The problem with using the joystick throttle to control your ship’s speed in Tie Fighter is that the keyboard controls are much more practical. It’s faster and less distracting to hit either the “match speed” or “full speed” button on the keyboard than it is to fiddle with the throttle lever on my flight-stick trying to do the same thing.

Yeah, I never used the throttle either until I got a HOTAS (in that case it’s a boon, even in 1/3 steps) but some people feel the need to configure it somehow even if reaching for that wheel/slider/whatever at the base of the stick is nothing but a way to distract you from the keyboard.

Star Traders: Frontiers from the Trese Brothers should be on there somewhere. The Trese Bros invariably deliver FAR more than your money’s worth and they’re living up to that reputation with ST:F. Absurdly deep sandbox in which you can live out virtually any SF fantasy.

Hmm. Curioso. This had better not be a ‘made in 1995’ spreadsheet special…

Ohhhhh, noooooo, it most certainly isn’t! This looks fab! Thanks for the recommendation!

I play a lot of Star Traders: Frontiers lately and the Trese Bros are impressively engaged developers. But, it is still in Early Access.

This does look excellent, thank you. I’ve wish listed until it comes out of EA.

Seriously, you ditched Privateer? Space trading has been done better? Onde? When?

Games are not about graphics or size, they are about fun, atmosphere (no pun intended) and style. Which game delivers this more than Privateer? Privateer should and could have been Number 2 – at least.

Also, Descent instead of Descent 2 – well, I can understand this, somehow. But Descent 2 is clearly the better game.

And last: seriously, have you even played Albion Prelude? X³ – Terran Conflict is much more beautiful. The story is better, it’s at least more positive. Granted, there is more fighting in Albion Prelude. It’s quicker, it’s more accessible. You get rich quicker and the missions are easier. But, in the end, it’s basically the same as Terran Conflict, just less beautiful – and less demanding.

Privateer is the best space game.

Clank clank clank.

I can still hear the coming into orbit and taking off music!

Clank. Clank. Clank.

This post made me happy.

I used to love Privateer. I loved flying to new planets and stations for the first time. I loved upgrading my ship. I loved the ambient music on stations and planets. But Privateer has not aged well at all. The combat is terrible. The sprite-based graphics make it hard to tell how close an enemy ship really is or which way it’s really facing, so that you can’t properly lead your target without one of the advanced “shoot here, dummy” targeting systems. And, while the game lets you trade, the trading is largely pointless. It’s easier to earn money by running missions from the mission computer or one of the guilds. To make matters worse, there’s nothing to do with your money but upgrade your ship. The story missions are all combat-centric, making the dedicated merchant vessel largely pointless.

Privateer is still decent, but the fact that getting out of the first galaxy is high risk, weapon effectiveness is not related to cost (highest but one gun is the best), and that trading deals are cancelled if you don’t go direct to the target system are a little annoying.

Having Freespace 2 at the top of the list means this list can be taken semi-seriously, but Bridge Commander instead of Klingon Academy? Elite better than TIE Fighter?! It’s a laudable attempt, but there are still issues here. Thanks for mentioning some wonderful space games, though.

I forgive you everything wrong on the list, because you got the number one good.

stop putting screenshots above their respective titles.

Agreed, it needs to stop.

At least put it after the game title, if not at the end of each segment.

+1 I never can tell which image belongs to what part. Unless that’s your goal.

Yep, agreed, somehow I can still never tell without scrolling up and down a few times. Very illogical.

The Freespace series is one of my great gaming regrets. I loved Privateer and I especially loved Tie Fighter, but I never played Freespace or Freespace 2 back when they were the exciting new thing. I bought both games from GOG a few years ago, but I have yet to play either apart from a brief flirtation with the tutorial in Freespace 1. I’m not sure why. It may be that my PC is hooked up to the TV in my living room these days. I have learned from bitter experience (revisiting Privateer and Tie Fighter, naturally) that it’s harder and much less comfortable to play a game with a flight-stick while sitting on a couch or on the floor than it is while sitting at a desk. I’m not sure if they can be played (either well or at all) with mouse and keyboard and I don’t care to find out. I just don’t feel like an ace space-pilot without a joystick.

Elite’s next big update, dubbed The Engineers, is due for beta testing in May and aims to introduce a new mission system that rewards players with crafting materials as well as credits.

Err… something tells me that this entire feature has been recycled in a quick cut and paste job. The Engineers update came out in May 2016 .

House of the Dying Sun is definitely in my top 3 space games of all time. I would argue it’s better than Freespace 2, since it has built on that game’s legacy, and then stripped and polished until it’s much more streamlined, intense, and satisfying. Strongest argument: try going back to Freespace 2 after finishing HotDS! I did… It feels like dodgem cars in space.

3. Original Elite on my BBC B (I got a free copy of the new one and completely bounced off it)

4. X-Wing & Tie Fighter.

Eve should be there somewhere i expect, but not played it myself, i hate other people too much :).

Plot twist: that’s actually why you should play EVE.

I’m pretty sure that Steam has Tie Fighter 95 nowadays too, not just 94 and 98.

Hardwar was an excellent game (despite the combat AI) and it is a travesty both that the game didn’t exert more influence on game design and that the Software Refinery went under.

I genuinely think that 1998 may actually have been the best year for PC games.

Also, no love for Homeworld or AI War? Boo! Boo I say!

And no mention about the cool IDM soundtrack featuring Autechre (when they hadn’t become highly esoteric sound sculpturers and were actually making… music.)

Oh, can we all at least agree on the worst space game ever made?

Frontier: Elite 2.

There is Privateer 2 too, I never played Frontier but I know for sure that Privateer 2: The Darkening is one of the worst games I ever played and one of the few I’d consider *really* bad.

It was better than the first Privateer in several respects, but the space combat really suffered because of the terrible AI for the enemy pilots, all of whom tended to fly directly at your ship at all times. It was more like a game of bumper cars than a proper space-dogfight. I’m not sure if the fact that collisions did so little damage helped or hurt.

Sacrilege! Frontier: Elite 2 might not have made this list but it deserved to. (Although its immediate sequel FFE made the galaxy seem more alive by adding a time-based storyline, it lacked the austere flat-shaded charm of the original.)

Prepare yourself, sir, as this can only resolved one way. We must space-joust to the death!

I might be misremembering, but wasn’t the problem with Frontier the fact that the Amiga 500 was just too underpowered to run it properly, or was it something else?

Considering the scope of the game, it running at all on Amiga is nothing short of amazing. A procgen galaxy with Newtonian physics and planetary landing in 400k of assembly.

I never noticed the framerate being an issue at the time on my stock A600 (unless I was being chased off a planet by the police and happened to look backwards).

While FFE on PC looked better at the time of release than FE2 on 68k Amiga did, it doesn’t hold up nearly as well.

Oh, the cracks in the gameplay are glaring (oh, how convenient that these pirates know exactly where I am, 40AUs out) and combat devolves into literal space jousting, but many of the criticisms leveled at FE2 can also be leveled at E:D (yes, NPC commanders who apparently only exist in a bubble around your ship, I’m talking about you.)

For its time, it surpassed everything else that had come before. For sheer scale of ambition I think it has yet to be surpassed.

Empire! by Firebird.

Also, Psi 5 Trading Company by Accolade.

I was expecting to see Captain Blood on the list, few games have left such a strong impression on me.

Captain Blood conveyed a profound sense of the mystery and loneliness of space. CGA graphics helped. Its nonchalant, fatalistic cool helped too.

Out There managed that peculiar sense of impenetrability and cosmic indifference very well.

I forgot to plug Sword of the Stars (1 of course) in my earlier comment! There’s an alternative universe where SOTS became sort of like Total War In Space, instead of never releasing a second game.

They did release a second game, and a dungeon crawler… the problem was, the second game was half baked.

Fraser – Overload is the modern remake of Descent, by the original team. It’s more Descent than Descent:Underground! Can you please add this to the list of “like games” below Descent? It also has a free playable demo on Steam, which I’ve spent a few hours with and it’s pretty good. Only problem is, it’s so much like the original Descent, it feels like it’s not bringing anything new.

Oh god – please ignore the post above. That will teach me to read articles in patchy, non-linear fashion.

There’s an awful lot of nostalgia in this list, such as putting Tachyon: The Fringe on it at all, but I’ll forgive ya because you put Freespace 2 at #1. Maybe I, too, am overly nostalgic.

Anachronox is a great and funny game which deals with space and time in a kind of mindfuck-ish way. I love the writing and characterization and the game oozes charm. The soundtrack is great, the dialogue is very good and surprisingly funny even from no-name NPC’s.

The combat was very enjoyable and if jrpg’s generally have the same combat, then I might stop avoiding them like the plague (except for the ones with the oversized doe eyes for girls, don’t like that art style).

Have anyone here played a game called Precursors? I think it is a russian title, I don’t know…

It was my first ever space “sim”, and maybe the closest I could get from landing on planets (before Elite Dangerous and Evochron).

Every planet has its own art style, soundtrack and quests to interact with, even with completely different NPCs.

Imagine if Mass Effect was in first person and you actually could fly your own ship; hell, imagine if STALKER and Mass Effect had a baby game: it’s Precursors.

You missed Homeworld, Homeworld 2, Homeworld Catacylsm, and Sword of the Stars… you put Mass Effect 2 ahead of those. But I applaud you for getting Distant Worlds on there at least.

So is this a completely new list, or just a reworking of the previous edition. I see that you’ve cunningly hidden the first version from sight.

Anyway: you’ve done this twice, and EVE Online has been missing both times. I’m sorry, but that’s the final straw. I’m afraid you’ll just have to leave. It’s over between us.

The one game on the list I was missing is Starsector. Sure, it’s technically not a release version yet, but it’s been really damn good for years now. It’s basically a combination of Mount & Blade campaign map with Star Control 2 combat and plays wonderfully.

Yes, it’s a well-hidden space game gem.

Freespace 2 singleplayer campaign… o man… played it over 10,12 more like 15 times since I first played the game almost 20 years ago. I still consider it the most well made, fun and immersive story and gameplay I ever played on PC. It’s simply the game that made me fall in love with space games.

As a suggestion for “games like FTL”, Convoy is of a similar bent, except you’ve crashed on a planet and need to get a convoy of ragtag vehicles together to repair yourself.

Sorry, great piece but the grammar was driving me nuts all the way through.

*ducks back out of sight*

This is also my main takeaway from reading the article.

Also, it was clearly written over a year and a half ago and just copied and pasted for a filler article today. The Engineers update to Elite: Dangerous, the one it claims is about to enter beta in May? It dropped May 26th… of 2016.

No wonder Endless Space 2 didn’t make the list.

I own a large chunk of this list, and many similar games that aren’t on here. Ignoring my distaste for the ME series, Freelancer never made any of my lists. Maybe my expectations were too high or something, but I was bitterly disappointed playing the base game. Felt so stale and linear when it came to gameplay — fly to point a, shoot the guys there. If you ever play again, you’ll do the exact same thing. I guess I wanted more RPG.

I’ve bought X-X3, and I think I still have the CD for X3. It’s been a series I really want to play and enjoy, but after climbing that learning curve for a couple hours, I always fall off and quit.

I’m honestly shocked No Man’s Sky isn’t on this list.

Not because I think it should be, but because this website had several of its writers defending and praising it.

I tend to think it should be on the list, it’s certainly better than some of the games.

I’m about 20 hours in and generally loving it. It’s one of the very few games to seem genuinely alien and threatening (at least at first, after a bit of resource gathering things are easier). The language learning is excellent, and it’s useful to see trading and missions.

Of course it also has an abysmal flight model that seems to make combat impossible, the fact small trading pods in the middle of nowhere allow large items magically to be converted to money seems horribly unrealistic, and the star map/tracking of missions is sub-standard..

Hello RPS, Descent is back on GOG as of recently! Update that link so the good readers of RPS can enjoy a game whose novelty still impresses more than 20 years later.

Also: the first two games can work with more or less every control scheme and peripherals you can throw at them thanks to sourceports, with widescreen resolutions too which is always nice.

This list doesn’t contain Endless Space 2 and is therefore objectively wrong.

This article was written almost two years ago and just copied, pasted and presented as new today.

And yet still wrong.

Yes, i found it weird because the game seemed much more well received around these parts than Stellaris.

But Master or Orion 2 is also missing, so i don’t know…

I can accept not having MOO2 in the list. If you’re a Moo2 fan, you should have tried more recent games of the genre by now and have found them better than Moo2. Sure Moo2 defined the genre which qualifies it for a “of all time” Lista.

OOlite should probably be on the list, it’s remarkably accomplished. Original Elite has not aged well, unfortunately, although I fancy trying ArcElite at some point.

One of the worst space games is DOS Elite, if I remember correctly the second fancy one rather than the first. The second one has no sound effects unless you own a CM32-L, and at least one of them makes it almost impossible to find the space station when jumping into a system.

I’m presuming Freelancer and Freespace are not worth playing unmodded. I have both, not played yet..

Still intend to play Tie Fighter more, it’s so smooth with wonderful sound. I made the effort to get it working on a retro gaming box, it truly is a pain in the arse to configure.

Mods in Freespace are mostly there for compatibility/resolution, added content and some shiny things, the gameplay stays the same (and it’s top notch, it’s basically a further improvement on Tie Fighter, if small). The original games had somewhat limited resolution choices, the first one in particular was very limited in fact one of the oldest (and best polished) mods for Freespace 2 is the port of the original Freespace campaign to the new engine (both retail an open) for exactly this reason.

I hope you have a keyboard with Tie Fighter, with that game you need either a keyboard or a carefully programmed HOTAS, you could probably configure a gamepad but you are gonna need to reach for the keyboard.

Shiny is usually good, if it’s sympathetic to the game (i. e. not like Morrowind mods which look nice but ruin the intended atmosphere).

For Tie Fighter I’m running it on a proper retro PC, pentium II 300MHz, with both a Soundblaster AWE64 and a Roland Sound Canvas attached via a MIDI card. Joystick is an analogue affair connected to the Soundblaster, but not quite as advanced as some of the proper flights sticks of the day.

Privateer sounds and plays well too, although the mission difficulty and necessary grinding can be a little annoying.

In my time I had a Pentium II with a soundblaster 16, but After the first couple of years I had it I always used USB joysticks, I was able to finish Tie Fighter only after buying the windows version imported (because it wasn’t available in Italy due to the collapse of the local distributor for Lucasarts games) because the dos prompt after a while refused to run my old CD (which made my old 486 crash on Installation), thankfully there’s dosbox today.

If it helps, Tie Fighter is an absolute git to get working. There’s a bug whereby if you use a SoundBlaster to play MIDI, sound, and run a joystick there are occasional pauses in action (every 10s or so). To fix it a second sound card is required..

Ha, no, the problem was a “stack overflow” error when trying to run the thing, it was random at the start but after a while it happened every time I tried to run it.

In any case, I don’t have the space for a dedicated retrogame machine (I still have my old PC cabinet with everything still in it somewhere in a box but everything else has been either re-used for the PC I had after it or broke down ages ago) and I don’t feel the need for one, basically all the old games I need and then some work with my Windows 7 PC.

Stack overflow normally means either ‘this PC is faster than the designers anticipated’, a memory issue, or not sticking STACKS=9,256 (or better) in CONFIG. SYS (i. e. an actual stack overflow).

You’re right, practically all Windows games run fine on more recent versions, DOSBox is on the whole very good, and there’s a whole load of modern engine implementations (eDuke32, Exult, nuvie…) offering advantages in play over the original.

Elite : Tedious is #3?! Mesmo? Its an insult to space sims of yore, including the previous games of Elite / Frontier series.

Ummm…no it doesn’t insult Elite / Frontier series. It pays “homage” to it…ummm…in the name. For Elite Dangerous to be ranked third doesn’t insult Elite classic. But for Elite Dangerous to have “Elite” in its name, you may argue, insults Elite classic. Veja a diferença? : P.

And I suggest you record yourself playing an Elite classic session and release it on YouTube. Then let’s compare its tediousness with Elite Dangerous’ tediousness. I guarantee that you will find both tedious but in different ways.

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