Upcoming Sci-Fi Games That Will Blow You Away
Philip K. Dick, one of the giants of science fiction, once said, "If you think this Universe is bad, you should see some of the others." Dick died in 1982, but just imagine if he had lived to see some of the video game universes brought to life in your favorite sci-fi games. Staring down the Flood or the Reapers, matching wits with GLaDOS or Shodan ... and that's just what's already out there. There are a huge number of amazing-looking science-fiction games (and surely, as many horrible Universes) just over the horizon, and we're highlighting a few of them today.
Whether you're searching for a galaxy far, far away or a futuristic adventure a bit closer to home, there are some science-fiction games headed our way that look fantastic. Today, we're highlighting some of the sci-fi titles we're most excited about. This is by no means an exhaustive preview, but it should be more than enough to keep you busy for quite some time.
Cyberpunk 2077 is a futuristic adventure from the creators of the Witcher
This is one of the big'uns: Cyberpunk 2077 is the first major release for Polish developer CD Projekt RED outside of the wildly successful Witcher series. It looks like it has a lot in common with Geralt of Rivia's adventure: morally ambiguous characters giving you plenty of options to roleplay, an extensive backstory to draw from (the world is based on the popular tabletop RPG Cyberpunk 2020), a gigantic world to explore, and a definite sense of style that looks to transport you to a completely new world.
How Cyberpunk 2077 differs from the Witcher goes beyond trading the European fantasy setting for a futuristic city. Cyberpunk 2077 will feature some serious gunplay, and an ability to customize your character much more than the Witcher series allowed. CD Projekt RED has not yet announced a release date for the game, although it seems likely that we can expect it in 2019. PC Gamer has a video and full breakdown of a gameplay demo that the studio released for Cyberpunk 2077. Take a look and prepare yourself for another big adventure.
Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is XCOM with bipedal animals
Like Cyberpunk 2077, Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is also based on a tabletop RPG. Polygon writes that the video game is based on the RPG Mutant, which never gained the notoriety in the United States of something like Dungeons & Dragons, but was apparently a massive property in Sweden, where Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden's creator grew up.
The source material features a post-apocalyptic world where human-animal hybrids are a normal part of the world, or what's left of it. Mutant Year Zero has featured two of these characters heavily: a pistol-toting pig and a duck carrying a rifle. Mutant Year Zero doesn't appear to be just style over substance, either. Developer The Bearded Ladies is made up of several veterans of the Hitman team. It promises XCOM-style turn-based combat alongside a character-driven campaign that follows the story of five survivors in the post-apocalyptic world. It is scheduled to release for PC, PS4, and Xbox One on December 4, 2018.
Beyond Good and Evil 2 is a long-awaited prequel
A massively hyped game that could still be years away from release, Beyond Good and Evil 2 is the sequel to 2003's cult classic action-RPG. From what we've seen from Ubisoft so far, it looks like a huge, technically amazing leap forward. It brings back many of the characters from the original, and promises a gigantic universe to explore, built on the back of a custom game engine that can support a near limitless level of detail.
Variety reports on what we can expect from Beyond Good and Evil 2, which is a prequel to the original game. It takes place in the 24th century, when the only people that can gain any freedom from an oppressive government are space pirates. You will control the head of a faction of these pirates, building a crew and traveling through the galaxy. If the game can maintain how much it has impressed through its early footage, it looks to be a surefire hit.
There is even a way for fans to contribute to the game. Joseph Gordon Levitt's artist collective HitRECord is working with Ubisoft to crowdsource music and art in the game. As of right now, your guess is as good as ours when this one is coming out.
Anthem is BioWare's next epic
BioWare is one of the big names in massive, open-world games. Dragon Age is right up there with The Witcher in terms of massive fantasy epics, and the Mass Effect series is widely considered one of the best science-fiction video game series of all time. Anthem is their first new IP since 2009, and it hopes to merge Destiny-style exploration with BioWare's experience in creating worlds.
Anthem is a squad-based shooter, where small teams of futuristic warriors called freelancers will take part in small missions in an otherwise large, open world. An AMA with the creators answered a lot of questions on how the game will play: there are four types of exosuits, called Javelins, that these freelancers can inhabit. The Javelins will define your class on each mission. In addition, Javelins will be customizable, with a wide variety of cosmetic options that can be earned or purchased (but will not affect your stats), meaning you'll be able to get your collection of Javelins looking just the way you want. It sounds like a spin on the formula that has made Warframe such a success, and you can look for Anthem on PC, PS4, and Xbox One on February 22, 2019.
Fallout 76 will move the series beyond its single-player traditions
A common refrain of the Fallout series is that "war never changes," but try telling that to Fallout 76. A massive departure from the traditional, single-player RPGs that we're used to seeing from the franchise, Fallout 76 is an online, multiplayer action title set in the kitschy, post-apocalyptic Fallout world we know and love. It serves as a prequel to the other games of the series.
Players in Fallout 76 will take control of a former resident of Vault 76, a shelter in West Virginia that was designed to safeguard the best citizens in the United States from the nuclear war that destroys humanity. Players will need to team up to build settlements, battle Deathclaws, and headshot Super Mutants.
Even though it is a multiplayer survival title, Fallout 76 will feature many familiar gameplay elements. Base building will return from Fallout 4, VATS targeting is modified and back in the game (it won't slow down time, but can still target specific body parts), and the game's odd sense of humor and terrifying enemies will all return. Fallout 76 will release on PC, PS4, and Xbox One on November 14, 2018. PC gamers, take note: Fallout 76 is releasing on Bethesda's game launcher, and won't be coming to Steam.
Jedi: Fallen Order promises a dark, gritty, and original Star Wars tale
We know very little about the next big Star Wars game, but Jedi: Fallen Order sounds like it has a good head on its shoulders. It is a single-player third-person action game that takes place slightly after Star Wars: Episode 3 — Revenge of the Sith. The Verge writes that the player will take control of a Padawan who survives the massacre of the Jedi. Their character will go through a dark and gritty adventure during a period of the Star Wars mythos when the Jedi are being hunted down and murdered.
We also know that Jedi: Fallen Order is in the hands of some extremely talented developers: Respawn Entertainment, who brought us the fantastic Titanfall and its even better sequel. We also know there will be some lightsaber battles between the player character and some red lightsaber-wielding foes. Unfortunately, the only other detail we know about Jedi: Fallen Order is that is scheduled to release during the 2019 holiday season. We can expect to learn more as the game's release approaches.
BioMutant puts you in control of a futuristic raccoon ... who is also a killing machine
BioMutant is just the game for fans of the Marvel Comics character Rocket Raccoon. It is an open-world science-fiction action-RPG that puts players in control of a mutant creature, allowing for a massive amount of character customization to complement a variety of playstyles. It will feature melee and ranged combat alike, and will let you rebuild your character's DNA as the story progresses to alter the way you approach objectives.
Polygon writes that, even early in the game's development, BioMutant handles beautifully. Melee combat is a point they especially highlight as handling smoothly, and they also discuss that the level of customization creates many different ways for the player to approach the challenges that the game presents. We know very little so far about the story behind BioMutant, but we will hopefully learn more as the game's release approaches. It is currently scheduled to release for PC, PS4, and Xbox One on June 10, 2019.
System Shock 3 brings back one of gaming's most legendary villains
We're still holding out hope that System Shock 3 will right the ship and deliver the sequel that fans of the first two games are still hoping for. System Shock 2 is a masterfully made first-person adventure, with a suffocating atmosphere and one of gaming's most memorable villains: the malfunctioning, psychopathic AI named SHODAN. Eurogamer writes that development of the game had gone through some serious problems near the beginning of 2018, but things have since gotten back on track.
Developer Nightdive released a proof of concept to their Kickstarter backers that allowed them to explore the space station where the game is set and get a sense of the atmosphere they are shooting for. The story is expected to delve a bit into SHODAN's motivation to exterminate the human race, and it is currently looking at a release in 2020. It is coming to PC, and there are rumors floating about that it may hit consoles as well.
Left Alive is a shooter headed by an all-star development team
The first thing that strikes you when you see some of the concept art for Left Alive is, "Wow, this looks like a Metal Gear Solid game." That aesthetic isn't misleading: Yoji Shinkawa, who designed the characters for the MGS series, has teamed up with Toshifuma Nabashima of Armored Core fame to develop the survival action shooter. It is a part of the Front Mission series, and IGN writes that it is an extremely ambitious title that brings back serious nostalgia of the PS2 tactical series.
IGN also writes that it is a cover-based shooter that tells an epic science-fiction story, and will force players to make tough choices with limited resources. It is also expected to have some serious mech combat, given the pedigree of the developers: Metal Gear Solid, Front Mission, Ghost in the Shell, and Mobile Suit Gundam are all on their resumes. It has a Japanese release date of February 28, 2019, and an unknown 2019 release date for the rest of the world. Left Alive will be releasing for PC and PS4.
Star Citizen is a hugely ambitious space odyssey ... that may never come out
Star Citizen is one of those holy grail games that promises a seemingly infinite universe to explore, battle, and trade in. Like No Man's Sky, there is an insane amount of hype and a lot of promises being made, and its "budget by crowdfunding" has raised some red flags from fans, with one going so far as to take developer Cloud Imperium Games to court. He wanted his money back over fears that the game would never come out, but a judge threw out the case due to the game's terms of service. Nevertheless, Star Citizen's development continues to chug along, six years after its crowdfunding campaign wrapped up.
An alpha version of the game is available (it'll set you back $45) and a single-player campaign featuring the talents of a cadre of AAA actors is being developed alongside the massive multiplayer that was originally promised. Gary Oldman, Mark Hamill, Gillian Anderson, Mark Strong, Liam Cunningham, and Andy Serkis are all featured voices in Squadron 42, a single-player spiritual successor to Wing Commander that is set in the Star Citizen universe. It was supposed to release in 2017 but, like its multiplayer big brother Star Citizen, there is still no true release date in sight.
It's really too bad, because Star Citizen does look absolutely amazing. Here's hoping it can deliver on its massive potential.
Doom Eternal is improving on everything from 2016's reboot
2016's soft reboot of the Doom franchise actually turned out to be a pretty impressive entry. It moved fast and packed a punch, and it definitely helped bring the series forward after sitting dormant for over a decade. Doom Eternal is a direct sequel to the reboot, and looks to capitalize on several of the strengths of its predecessor while improving on some of its deficiencies.
The developer of Doom Eternal, id Software, knows that the feel of the weapons was the biggest strength of the reboot, and Venture Beat has links to several videos that debuted at 2018's QuakeCon to hype what the game has to offer. It will apparently feature dash movement and an extendable blade so you can slash open demons up close and personal. Speaking of up close and personal, one of the coolest-looking additions to Doom Eternal is a shotgun with a grappling hook attachment, so you can lock onto enemies and pull yourself in close to deal a massive amount of damage. Talk about a BFG.