Top 16 Sci-Fi Games with the Best Stories

Branching galactic epics, claustrophobic space horrors, and brain-bending puzzles all stake their claim here, spanning genre-defining classics and cult favorites alike. Which story stuck with you? Cast your vote!

1

Mass Effect 2

BioWare's 2010 space opera RPG renowned for its branching choices and the suicide-mission finale.

1000pts

2

BioShock

The 2007 shooter set in the underwater dystopia of Rapture, famed for its 'Would you kindly' plot twist.

777pts

3

System Shock 2

The 1999 sci-fi horror that introduced the rogue AI SHODAN aboard a derelict starship.

761pts

4

Portal 2

Valve's 2011 first-person puzzle game with the sardonic AI antagonists GLaDOS and Wheatley.

717pts

5

Alien: Isolation

Creative Assembly's 2014 survival-horror stalked by a single relentless Xenomorph.

717pts

6

Outer Wilds

The 2019 exploration game built around a 22-minute time loop and an alien mystery.

666pts

7

The Talos Principle

Croteam's 2014 philosophical puzzle game probing AI consciousness and free will.

666pts

8

Horizon Zero Dawn

Guerrilla Games' 2017 open-world adventure about a hunter in a post-apocalyptic world of robotic beasts.

666pts

9

Detroit: Become Human

Quantic Dream's 2018 branching narrative about androids gaining sentience in near-future Detroit.

666pts

10

Prey

Arkane's 2017 immersive sim aboard the Talos I space station overrun by shapeshifting aliens.

605pts

11

Half-Life 2

Valve's 2004 first-person shooter set in a dystopian Earth under alien occupation.

605pts

12

SOMA

Frictional Games' 2015 underwater horror exploring consciousness and identity.

532pts

13

Nier: Automata

PlatinumGames' 2017 action RPG about androids in a proxy war, told across multiple playthroughs.

532pts

14

Titanfall 2

Respawn's 2016 shooter built around the buddy relationship between a pilot and his Titan BT-7274.

532pts

15

Deus Ex

Ion Storm's 2000 cyberpunk immersive sim about conspiracies and transhumanism.

444pts

16

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

BioWare's 2003 RPG set millennia before the films, famed for its mid-game twist.

444pts