The 10 Best Sci-Fi Games Ranked

Deadly aliens! Faraway planets! Laser guns that pew-pew! Sci-fi video games have so much to offer! SO much to offer that this list was absolutely cutthroat. In the far future, only the strongest and most sophisticated survive. Here they are, the best sci-fi games ranked.

10. Borderlands 2

Light on the science and heavy on the fiction, Borderlands 2 puts the “fun” in “fundamental physics”. More specifically, the blatant disregard for them. Conservation of mass. The laws of thermodynamics. All the sticky paradoxes that come with cloning, all of that is thrown out the window to create an unforgettable romp through the wilds of an alien planet. Pick your treasure hunting murder mercenary, upgrade your arsenal, and face down foes the way the greatest minds in history intended: with a billion guns blazing.

9. Horizon Zero Dawn

if world building alone were the only consideration, Horizon Zero Dawn may have just one the top slot. The game takes place in the distant future, but humanity has regressed to the distant past. After a classic sci-fi “grey goo” catastrophe of self-replicating robots, planet Earth was sent back into the Stone Age. Her people struggle to survive in a world that nature has retaken. And by “nature” I mean robots. Robot species that have managed to create equilibrium with the environment by taking the forms of animals. You take control of a young hunter named Alloy, who has to solve the mysteries of the lost past to save humanity’s future.

8. Dead Space 2

The sci-fi/horror series Dead Space provides a cruel answer to the Fermi Paradox. If the universe has infinite potential for life, why haven’t we found any aliens yet? Because they’re all dead. More specifically, consumed by a flesh devouring hyper intelligent space virus that wants to assimilate all organic into itself and rule over a corpse galaxy. Yikes. You play as a space engineer named Isaac, who has to use every tool in his arsenal to save yourself and your allies from a hideous alien threat.

7.Control

Haters say that Lovecraftian horror can never translate into a visual medium. Control proved them wrong. The game centers around a woman who works for government organization known at The Bureau of Control. The Bureau’s job is to neutralize paranormal threats before they can affect the general populace. And when I say “paranormal” I don’t mean spooky ghosts, I mean hyper-dimensional alien intelligences that wish to assert their control over our minds. Armed with shape changing sci-fi wet dream armament called “The Service Weapon”, it’s your duty to stop the ultra-terrestrial threat before it’s too late.

6. Bioshock: Infinite

The original Bioshock was revolutionary, blending horror, sci-fi, and American history together into one of the most seminal first person shooters of all time. Bioshock: Infinite took the franchise to new heights (literally) by setting the stage at the floating city of Columbia. You play as a former Pinkerton agent who has to capture a young woman from the city in order to “wipe away the debt” you owe a mysterious organization. The result is a high flying, time jumping, run and gun sci-fi spectacle that is as much about quantum theory as it is shotgunning people in the face. Beautiful.

5. Fallout: New Vegas

Hailed as the greatest of the franchise, Fallout: New Vegas puts you in the shoes of a courier carrying a secret package, who is beaten and robbed by raiders the post-apocalyptic wasteland formerly known as the United States of America. It’s the best sci-fi RPG on the market, with nigh-infinitely branching skills trees that only a Bethesda game can provide. And a nigh infinite amount of guns to take on the irradiated horrors of the post-nuclear armageddon world.

4. Mass Effect 2

While the gameplay of the franchise got off to a rocky start, The Mass Effect series exploded into the gaming scene due to the power of its premise. After humanity discovers a powerful new element, our technology is jumpstarted into a new space age, where Earth becomes a major player in inter-galactic alien politics. In Mass Effect 2, the guns + tech + telekinetic powers gameplay is honed to nano-blade sharpness. And the characters? Your comrades in arms against an eldritch alien menace? Don’t even get me started. Perhaps the best dirty dozen ever assembled in gaming history.

3. Halo

Halo is the sole reason that an entire generation owned an Xbox. It was a watershed moment in gaming, birthing a franchise that is hailed as the stuff of legends. You are put in control of one of gaming’s most celebrated protagonists, the seven foot tall super soldier Master Chief. His duty? Serve his planet as a member of the United Nations Security Council’s military and protect human interests from threats both terrestrial and extraterrestrial. Unsurprisingly, there’s a lot of both.

2. Portal 2

Portal 2 is the greatest platformer ever made. The idea is simple: you are a test subject navigating a series of challenges arranged by a malevolent AI. Your only tool? A portal gun, which is capable of creating an entry portal and an exit portal onto any surface. That’s it. Go. This brainteaser of a game will literally raise your IQ just by playing it, now matter how stupid that robot asshole GlaDOS makes you feel. But don’t get too upset, she’s half the reason why this game is as good as it is. A story is only as good as its villain, after all.

1. Half Life 2

Half Life 2 is not only the greatest sci-fi game ever made, but easily one of the greatest games of all-time. You play as Gordon Freeman, a former employee of the Black Mesa research facility, a top secret government black site experimenting with portals to other dimensions. Their experiments were a little too successful, and now an alien empire called The Combine has invaded the planet and subjugated its populace. You are awoken from stasis in order to help stop the threat. Hailed as “The Best PC Game Ever Made” Half Life 2 is a stunning combination of hard sci-fi, horror, and run and gun first person action. You could spend half a life playing it.