The best sci-fi games 2023

In Mass Effect, you take up the role of Commander Shepard and embark on a struggle to save the galaxy from the wrath of the Reapers. It’s a series of epic sci-fi mastery and incredible world-building, full of tough decisions and meaningful consequences. You’ll forge close friendships, alliances and romances with crewmates, or the opposite, if you so choose. Previously the Mass Effect trilogy would’ve taken up three spots on this list -thanks to the new and polished Legendary Edition, that’s no longer the case. This new edition treats the original games to a shiny 4K remaster - great for old-timers, perfect for newcomers. It also includes 40 DLC packs from across the games, including missions and weapons.

Developer: BioWare | Publisher: EA | Released: May 2021 | Age Rating: 18

The BioShock series is, like the Mass Effect games, of monumental importance. The first two games take place in Rapture, an underwater city intended to be a haven of human intellect and progress. The third game, Infinite, takes place in the floating city of Columbia, a city of similar intent. Narratively, each game explores the dangers of unfettered scientific experimentation and questionable politics, while mechanically, they are a tour-de-force of action, FPS and RPG gameplay and convention.

Developer: Irrational Games, 2K | Publisher: 2K | Released: 2016 | Age Rating: 18

Returnal is a sci-fi third-person shooter that drags roguelike gameplay into the new generation. You play as Selene, an intergalactic scout trapped in a time loop on an alien world. Your job is to escape from the everchanging, hellish and mind-bending planet by investigating the source of the loop signal. As if fighting gigantic monsters while doing so wasn't enough of a challenge, the plot also sees you battling with reality and Selene's sanity, as the game twist-and-turns its self into a truly excellent psychological horror.

Developer: Housemarque | Publisher: SIE | Released: April 2021 | Age Rating: 16

Outer Wilds takes players on a journey like no other. Equal parts sci-fi, mystery and open-world explorer, the game is set in a solar system. Every 22 minutes, this system is destroyed by a supernova, and you - stranded - must observe the planets as they crumble and change around you, hunting for clues that will help you stop the endless cycle. And then you die. And then you start again, armed with whatever nuggets of information you uncovered in your previous life.

Developer: Mobius Digital | Publisher: Annapurna Interactive | Released: 2019 | Age Rating: 7

Remember when all of the Jedi were purged at the end of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith? Well, one sneaky little padawan managed to avoid the slaughter and is now undertaking a mission to reform the Jedi Order under the noses of the Empire. It’s a single-player narrative with ridiculously satisfying lightsabre combat and Force-powered tomfoolery, with plenty of fodder for hardcore and dedicated Star Wars fans alike.

Developer: Respawn Entertainment | Publisher: EA | Released: 2019 | Age Rating: 16

Doom Eternal is everything that we love about the unrelentingly brutal franchise. With gore galore, the Eternal is frantic and demands that you be brave, restless and merciless. You will breathlessly bound from swarm to swarm, fighting off the hoards threatening to overwhelm to an equally over-the-top heavy metal soundtrack. Occasionally you get a break with some light platforming, but otherwise, Doom Eternal is adrenaline-pumping FPS action at its finest. Even though it’s set in Hell, rather than on Mars, it’s still home to some out-there sci-fi fun in plot and location, and weaponry and enemy design.

Developer: iD Software | Publisher: Bethesda Softworks | Released: 2020 | Age Rating: 18

If immersion is your aim, then EVE Online is your game. It’s an MMORPG that has you heading out into the Milky Way to explore and gather resources. The scale of EVE is hard to get your head around - it’s home to vast player alliances and corporations and maintains its own social structures and economy. It’s a hugely in-depth and rewarding game and a triumph of sci-fi. Though EVE is one of the best sci-fi games around, we highly recommend newcomers take a look at the official beginner’s guide. Go it alone, and you’re likely to feel overwhelmed.

Developer: CCP Games | Publisher: CCP Games | Released: 2003 | Age Rating: 13

Graphically stunning and offering a new look at the Gears series, the fifth instalment carries on the franchises good work by switching the player control to Kait Diaz. As always, it's a slick game, full of Swarm-slaying gristle and supreme high-octane stylisation. There are some really clever and well-implemented gaming mechanics at play here, too.

Developer: The Coalition | Publisher: Xbox Game Studios | Released: 2019 | Age Rating: 18

Astral Chain is a quintessential sci-fi hack-and-slash Switch release, coming to us from legendary developer PlatinumGames (Bayonetta, Vanquish, NieR:Automata). You’ll fight your way through hordes of supernatural baddies in this post-apocalyptic cyberpunk world of crime and violence, set in 2078. The combat is, as you’d expect from the dev team, insane and heavily stylised, requiring you to fight as both a law enforcement officer and command a powerful familiar from the astral plane.

Developer: PlatinumGames | Publisher: Nintendo | Released: 2019 | Age Rating: 16

XCOM 2 is the turn-based strategy shooter that, for a time at least, defined PC gaming. In it you take command of an elite military XCOM squad, rebelling against the tyranny of an alien force. Your squad is a mix of classes, from standard Ranger and Sharpshooter roles to the telepathic Psi Operatives. Skirmishes take place in procedurally generated levels, so no two encounters are ever the same. Studying fallen aliens and their technology and upgrading your research facilities can yield rewards to help further your rebellious efforts. Though years have passed since its release, it’s still a marvel, with sequel tie-ins like Chimera Squad only reminding us of its success.

Developer: Firaxis Games | Publisher: 2K Games | Released: 2016 | Age Rating: 16

Morgan Yu is exploring a space station when he encounters an alien race, the Typhon, that can manipulate physical and psychic space. As Morgan, you too have some extraordinary powers to hand, which will help you as you fight and explore your way through the deadly station. Clearly, the sci-fi chops are all here. What’s more, the gameplay positively swaggers with Arkane Studios’ signature mechanical confidence, combining stealth, RPG and open-world concepts with flair and finesse.

Developer: Arkane Studios | Publisher: Bethesda | Released: 2017 | Age Rating: 18

NieR:Automata isn’t a game to shy away from the more complex and bizarre tenements of sci-fi. It follows the androids 2B, 9S and A2, as they fight on behalf of the human race to reclaim the earth from its mechanic overlords. Other than this, it’s got an open-world, RPG mechanics and hack-and-slash mechanics, not to mention mech battles. To top it all off, to fully unfold the story, it needs playing three times. Automata is weird, sure, but it earns its place as a certified cult classic.

Developer: Quantic Dream | Publisher: SIE | Released: 2018 | Age Rating: 18

Quantic Dream has made a name for itself by creating highly accomplished narrative games with spiderwebbing multiple-choice storylines. Arguably, Detroit: Become Human is the pinnacle of its efforts. The story follows several androids encountering issues with their programming - namely, they feel they sentient. Player choice has huge, irreversible effects on the plot progression, with dozens of variables cascading evermore, creating a unique and highly cinematic experience.

Developer: Quantic Dream | Publisher: SIE | Released: 2018 | Age Rating: 18

No Man’s Sky has one concept to offer players, and that's freedom. This isn’t just freedom to explore an open world or skip side quests. It's the freedom to explore countless solar systems across countless galaxies. That’s because Hello Games has used processual generation to create over 18 quintillion planets for you to discover, solo or with friends. Alongside intergalactic travel, the game is based around survival mechanics, meaning that resources, such as oxygen and jetpack fuel, need to be managed. Resources can be gathered and homes built, pets bred and winged-aliens captured and flown. For the story-driven gamer, there’s an optional central plot that sees you hunting down a mysterious being known only as Atlas.

Developer: Hello Games | Publisher: Hello Games | Released: 2016 | Age Rating: 7

The Outer Worlds is a quirky space-galivanting FPS RPG from the creators of Fallout: New Vegas and its gameplay mechanics share much of the same DNA. However, the plot is pure sci-fi. Taking place in the Halcyon system, you must work your way through various worlds and colonies to uncover a nefarious conspiracy at the heart of the system. The universe has a nice retro-futuristic edge (yup, like Fallout), which is a joy to explore and behold and makes for some interesting tech to use and discover.

Developer: Obsidian Entertainment | Publisher: Private Division | Released: 2019 | Age Rating: 18

Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus is a strategic combat game, much in the vein of XCOM, with plenty of frantic and furious battling to be had, albeit a little lighter on the mechanics. What Mechanicus is heavy on, however, is the weird and wonderful world of Warhammer sci-fi lore. You control a team of technology cultists, the Adeptus Mechanicus, as they scour for knowledge and tech in the tombs of the Necrons, a race of ancient and mysterious alien robots.

Developer: Bulwark Studios | Publisher: Kasedo Games | Released: 2018 | Age Rating: 12

In Alien: Isolation, you control Amanda Ripley, daughter of Ellen Ripley, who is part of a team sent to retrieve the Nostromo's flight recorder 15-years after the happenings of 1979’s Alien. In true space-horror fashion, things go sideways and you find yourself alone, stranded with hostile humans, androids and an Alien. Because you can't kill the acid-blooded blighter, you’re forced to adopt a strategy of evasion armed with only the sparse resources at hand.

Developer: Creative Assembly | Publisher: SEGA | Released: 2014 | Age Rating: 18

While Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid series falls more squarely into speculative fiction, there is no doubt that Death Stranding is a fully-fledged sci-fi outing. Set in a barren open-world, players painstakingly navigate the post-apocalyptic landscape to fulfil Sam Bridges delivery missions. It’s a slow burn, but a lot is bubbling under the surface. There’s also an interesting asynchronous online feature that sees players leave behind equipment to help other players master the landscape. It’s unique, indulgent and idiosyncratic in ways that only a Kojima title can be.

Developer: Kojima Productions | Publisher: SIE/505 Games | Released: 2019 | Age Rating: 18

Before we go any further: to play Half-Life: Alyx, you're going to need a PC-powered VR headset (ideally, the Valve Index). If you're set up with this, then plug it in and get playing Alyx. Chronologically, Alyx has the player return to dystopian City 17 a few years before the events of Half-Life 2. Valve has taken its time with it, ensuring that the game isn’t just some on-rails shooter cashing in on the Half-Life name, but a finely crafted and fully formed VR experience that will likely define the VR space for years to come.

Developer: Valve | Publisher: Valve | Released: 2020 | Age Rating: 16