Recommended "Classic" Sci-fi games

[Reliant121]

The title's a little abstract, but basically any science fiction game on any platform that maybe a little older now, you think you'd recommend. Give us a quick brief on what genre, what its about, why you like it etc.


I'm gonna kick off with...

Freelancer

Now, bit of a specialist game because it was designed by Microsoft Games Lab as a "non-joystick flight sim". Basically, the entire control scheme is based around using the mouse to navigate which naturally appealed to me because my joystick has always been....temperamental. The game is a flight sim where theres a long storyline that travels around 4 distinct regions of space (completing various missions and stages within each) and then culminating in a massive huge final battle. At the end of this, you're given free reign to do whatever the hell you like, but you can also do this throughout the game by simply ignoring the storyline missions.

The location is a large area of space called the "Sirius sector". Basically, some time ago, the solar system was taken over by huge civil war between two forces: The Coalition, and the Alliance. The former gains the upper hand...yadda yadda yadda and the Alliance decides to create 5 sleeper ships to leave the system, all of which are named for their own patron nation: The Kusari (Japan), The Rheinland (Germany), the Bretonia (UK), the Hispania (Spain) and the Liberty (USA). Each of them provide the four main houses in the game, and the fifth (Hispania) provides two of the main criminal factions. Each place has a litany of law abiding factions from police forces and corporations, as well as equal numbers of lawless factions (pirates, political radicals etc.)

I wont elaborate on the plot, but it's very long and engaging consistently throughout the game. It gets bloody difficult at the end, which for me is nice to have the challenge. But I think the graphics and music create some of the greatest moods and feelings for each of the areas, I think this has to be one of the most atmospheric games I've played, hence my recommendation.

In any case, its a 2002 game designed to run on Win98 and XP, so any computer will run it without a hitch within reason.


I'll do some more recommendations later but I'll let others go ahead.


A nice beauty shot of a Defender Liberty fighter


An online shot of a Liberty dreadnaught going boom!


Lovely image of a Bretonian Crusader fighter and a showcase of the graphics engine.

[Sionnach Glic]

Freespace, Freespace 2, and the couple of expansions packs produced were both loads of fun, and they still are today. They're flight/combat simulator games set a few hundred years into the future, beginning at a time when humanity is locked in a deadly struggle with an alien race known as the Vasudans. Great combat, great controls (even without the joystick), a lovely large variety of ships lasers and missiles all with their own pros and cons, well paced and tense missions and a damn good plot to top it all off.

The only downside is that the series ends on an ambiguous note in Freespace 2. The company that made the game was bought out by THQ, and they've no interest in making a final installment to the series since they consider the space combat genre to be dead.

However, this still hasn't prevented it from building up a damn good fanbase. There are a small mountain of mods out there due to the highly versatile and completely open engine and coding it uses (not to mention the fact that the game itself includes tools and instructions for making your own missions and campaigns), and even these days there's still an active modding community out there. There are even very professionaly made mods out there that have used the engine to create Babylon 5, Star Wars, and even nBSG campaigns, many of which even include voice acting (of admittedly varying quality). And, naturaly, there are various different "endings" to the series as envisioned by teams of eager modders.

While the games have long ago dissappeared from the shops, their creators have declared them freeware, and you can find and download them free and legaly. If you enjoy a good space combat/flight sim, then you could do a hell of a lot worse than the Freespace series. The graphics are nothing spectacular, but for games made in 1998/1999 on a pretty low budget, they're far from a downside.

Freespace 1 intro video
Freespace 2 intro video

[Reliant121]

I've tried getting hold of it, but it doesn't seem to like Windows 7 for some reason. Additionally I've added some screenshots. I'm also gonna get another recommendation up soon.

[Sionnach Glic]

I've tried getting hold of it, but it doesn't seem to like Windows 7 for some reason.

Of the Freespace games? The first one does indeed have problems being played on Vista and W7, but there are ways of fixing it apparently. I ran into the same trouble when trying to play it on my Vista computer, but I can't remember how I got around it.
2 seems to run alright though.

[Reliant121]

Perhaps, I might have set things up incorrectly. I can try putting it into compatibility mode.

[Atekimogus]

I would like to recommend Tie Fighter!

Even to date, after having played virtually every other star wars game, this one (altough probably unplayable now without much tweaking) is one of my favourites. No voice acting, horrible graphic, lame music, no multiplayer and it is STILL the most immersive star wars game for me.

Beeing a jedi holds no appeal to me, I always wanted to sit in my suicide-ball with no shields and blasting filthy rebels to space debris because nothing is more baddass than beeing the most desposable and expandable guy ever and succeeding against all odds.


Another Sci-fi all time favourite of mine would be Master of Orion II!

Altough Civ4 is still a great hit nowadays the genre of space civilisation reached its peak with MOOII. This game is as close to perfection as can be imho and if the company holding the rights to the label would simple swap the graphics with more modern ones and add a stable and reliable multiplayer port while leaving the gameplay mostly untouched it would surley be an instant smash hit. Released in 1996 it still has a relativly strong community, modding and patching simply because to date there isn't anything better or even remotley as good.

[Reliant121]

I struggle because I freely admit that I'm a graphics snob.

That and MOOII is...well it's only 1 year younger than I am


Independence War II - Edge of Chaos

Now this is a joystick game, developed around 2001 I believe. Basically, your a pirate. Your dad gets killed by a cartoonishly evil megacorperate air, Caleb Maas (Inheritor to the Maas corperation). You are taken by an AI tutor, Clay Jefferson, to a secret base of your grandmother who was...yup, your regular honest Jolly Roger. Her base is deep within a hidden nebula and its built out of the hulk of a giant "biobomber", an automated terraformer ship which somehow found its way into the nebula. The grandmother's letter to you states she guessed its AI core gave up and tried to commit suicide, which I find a nice tough

Anywho, via long storyline you build a criminal force and go after big boy Caleb. The scope, and the realistic graphics engine (constant acceleration and difficult flight controls if you overshoot your target at speed). Anywho, I recommend it implicitly.

[Tyyr]

Saying the space combat genre is dead is just idiotic. It's dead if you insist on churning out another mindless clone. If you want to do something interesting and innovative it'll sell. Genre's don't die, bad ideas and over used cliches do.

I'd love for them to make a modern TIE fighter. Not even update anything, just a version that plays on modern computers. I'd buy it in a heart beat. Still the best of the series, bar none, and probably the best space combat game ever.

Same with MOO2. In fact update it for modern operating systems and let us pay in some ridiculously huge galaxy map.

[Reliant121]

I've never played either, However I've heard of them. The only wars sim game i've played was Rogue Squadron.

[Tyyr]

Rogue Squadron, bleh. No, that's not one of the true space sim series. X-Wing, TIE Fighter, X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, X-Wing Alliance. Those are the true members of the series and they're all good, though X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter was not that hot on the single player campaign. It was always meant more for online.

[Reliant121]

I've always wanted to play them but I've never got them to work. I bought a three pack with X-Wing, TIE fighter and X-Wing Alliance once when vista first came out and it wouldn't play. None of our computers have windows XP or Vista anymore, we only use windows 7 in the house so I doubt very highly any of the games would work.

[Tyyr]

These were DOS/early Windows games. I'm not surprised. I've still got my copies of X-Wing and TIE Fighter but I haven't owned a joystick in years and don't want to fight with my computer to get them working.

[Reliant121]

One advantage of windows 7 is its driver finding system. With vista and XP, my Saitek joystick would constantly battle with the computer about everything, the software CD didn't work properly, I could never find the right drivers...it was a nightmare. Windows 7, just plug the thing in and about 3 minutes later, drivers located and installed. Done.

[Tyyr]

Agreed.

I honestly squee'd when I plugged in my MP3 player and the media player window popped up, with my exact device in it. Yeah it's a little thing but it's damn cool.

[Aaron]

Ahh, X-Wing Alliance. Nothing beats the end mission, flying the Falcon during the Battle of Endor, complete with movie dialogue.