Best space games
We’ve kept our definition of “space game” fairly traditional here.
Instead, try Chorus (the one whose logo looks like Chorvs), or Star Wars: Squadrons.
Just, you know, without the endless grind cycle.
The Mass Effects are Captain Kirk simulators.
And being the boss largely means telling people what to do - and snogging.
After all, no Mass Effect is an island.
The middle game might be the best, but the first lays all the groundwork.
After more than 20 years, does Descent remain an essential game in the same way as Doom?
More importantly, it’s still enjoyable, more so in many ways than the game that inspired it.
Not from the comfort of a nice space hanger, though.
It’s a tough gig, but oh so fulfiling.
Played correctly, Hardspace: Shipbreaker is wonderfully mundane.
And we mean that in the best possible sense.
Contrary to popular belief, the X-Wing series wasn’t a direct assault on Wing Commander.
That they all featured a mission builder, combat recorder and historical missions only serves to underline that fact.
Thanks to Outlaw’s clever targeting system and auto-pursuit system, dogfights are brilliant fun.
And you’ll inevitably end up doing more than you planned for when opportunity knocks.
Your unarmed spy ship might make a great smuggler.
Your ship-disabling pirates might create perfect opportunities to start taking on bounty hunter jobs.
What’s not to love?
Despite all the cinematic 3D camera work, its battles play out on a resolutely 2D playing field.
Sins' smartest trick is the use of restrictive lanes to connect worlds.
It forces fleets to travel down predetermined paths, appearing in specific places.
Oh, and it’s quite a bit prettier!
You may also want to consider immersing yourself in the industrial depths of Eve Online instead.
The truth is that that it took a few attempts for the German developer to properly nail combat.
Finally, Astrox Imperium is explicitly designed to be EVE without the other players.
But if you’re not enjoying what you’re doing in EVE, you could just do something else.
Get talking to someone, for heaven’s sake.
There are opportunities everywhere if you’re willing to make the effort.
Thankfully, Gearbox’s 2015 remaster brought it bang up to date.
A lot of Homeworld’s accomplishments may seem like old-hat now.
Moving multiple units in 3D space?
A choice between total annihilation and desperate survival?
Been there, done that.
The accolade is still well deserved.
It’s a sprawling behemoth of a game set in a universe that gets along with or without you.
If that sounds daunting, it is!
The same goes for every system.
Effectively you take a break from being Emperor to become a simple spaceship captain.
From that perspective you’ve got the option to just watch the universe evolve around you.
The planets themselves are marvels of design and engineering.
You’re free to explore them at your own pace, too.
Brilliantly written and beautifully crafted, Outer Wilds is a truly stellar stuff.
Galactic Civilizations III is another great one, especially if you play it with the Crusade expansion.
A weird cousin, maybe.
In between you are scouts, pirates, people needing help and horrible space parasites.
you could’t turn back, though, because the Federation is always nipping at your heels.
But you’ll be able to do all of that to your enemies as well.
Even seemingly blessed runs can end in catastrophe, but each failure becomes another brilliant sci-fi story.
The journey of the Ham Sandwich, for instance, ended particularly tragically.
Unfortunately, an encounter with a solar flare one jump later finished the Ham Sandwich off.
It is, without doubt, one of the greatest comeback stories of the last decade.
What makes Elite Dangerous so compelling isn’t so much about the game as the experience.
Elite is a hermetically-sealed escape capsule and it’s the best there is.
Trading, missions, mining - not so much.
But it’s all right, we’re not going anywhere.
It’s a more playful but less realistic sandbox.
Sometimes it’s a game about smashing into the ground.
That might not be the Kerbal Space Program everybody recognises, though.
A highly competent fighter on its own, but a bit too conceited and thus not nearly as likeable.
Wing Commander: Prophecy is probably worth a spin in lieu of Starlancer’s lack of digital availability.
Was it Freespace 2 that almost killed the space combat genre?
The thing is, standard issue Freespace 2 remains largely unchallenged.
Of course Freespace wasn’t perfect.
The Galactica among Battlestars.
The game that has lead the genre home.
Everything else has stayed in the same position.
