Few games tickle that voyage of discovery itch quite like sci-fi titles. It feels like we're in the midst of a resurgence in the genre, what with the recently released Elite: Dangerous and surging popularity of Star Citizen.
If you want to boldly go where no man has gone before in 2015 though, then there's far more out there than just those two behemoths. One of the most adventurous games we've ever seen is set to hopefully debut on PlayStation 4 and PC next year, while Spec Ops: The Line developer Yager is also hard at work on its own stab at F2P sci-fi. It's sure to be an exciting time for space fans during the next 12 months, and this little lot is just the tip of the iceberg.
There’s a heck of a lot of confusion surrounding No Man’s Sky. I mean, no one even seems to know what you even do in the game, and I wouldn’t be surprised if developer Hello Games was still figuring out exactly what No Man’s Sky entails. That’s to take nothing away from what it is though, which is one most ambitious games of our time. Whether it succeeds or fails or still a relative unknown but, on premise alone, No Man’s Sky appeals to that little bit inside all of us that wants to explore the complete unknown.
Games Workshop brands are undergoing something of a revival at the moment, and the Warhammer 40K shooter Space Hulk: Deathwing looks to be leading the way. Why no one’s made an FPS Space Hulk yet is a mystery, but developer Cyanide has stolen a march with this one. In the Chaos they’ve got a ready-built classic enemy in the making, with Deathwing trapping you and your armoured squad in the claustrophobic tunnels of a gigantic Space Hulk ship, drifting through space.
It might have the dreaded words ‘free-to-play’ associated with it but don’t let that put you off. Dreadnought is being brought to by Yager, that fine lot who made Spec Ops: The Line and is also working on Dead Island 2. The team has pedigree in space flight sims, working on, erm, Yager, appropriately enough, back in the day, and Dreadnought is looking to build on this. Rather than waste time faffing with piddly little fighters, you’ll be taking control of some absolutely mammoth battleships, extinguishing entire star systems in the blink of an eye.
Available via Steam Early Access already, Space Engineers give you a bit of a respite from star destroyers and phasers, instead letting players pootle about space ships and stations, building them and maintaining them in the face of adversity. Namely, asteroids and that pesky force we call velocity. It’s a recipe for disaster, but what we’ve seen of Space Engineers so far looks to be incredible sandbox fun.
The big daddy. Star Citizen is ambition personified, and one of the great crowdfunding success of all time. With every successive stretch goal Star Citizen seems intent on getting more and more ridiculous. Currently hovering around $67 million in total, it’s become such a huge success that the team at Cloud Imperium Games has currently ran out of funding goals. Designed to be the first AAA game to be developed with money from fans instead of a publisher, the sky isn’t even the limit here. A massive universe is at the player’s fingertips, as well as intense dog fighting, space races, and even ship-boarding and first-person-shooter modules, all in a massive persistent universe.
That's some of our most anticipated sci-fi games coming in 2015, what's yours?
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I think Elite Dangerous should have been included: even tho it's already released, many improvements and big expansions will come in the future, like landing on planets, exploring your own spaceship, boarding action...
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WHERE IS STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT!???!!!!??
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Where is StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void ?!
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My most anticipated sci-fi game coming in 2015 is Star citizen, it has some pretty fantastic graphics and lots of features. I have been wanting a good space sim for a while and I think this one is going to take the cake. No mans Sky has an art style that I could fall in love and I adore the idea of exploring like the game entails, still waiting on that one. I have always craved fighting massive space warships in an intense battle, I think I might be able to get this out of Dreadnought so I will be keeping an eye on it over the duration this year. As for Space Engineers and Space Hulk: Deathwing I am not too interested in, I have tried Space Engineers and it just seems like too much work for what I get out of it, I am sure there are many people out there who like it but it is just not my thing.
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I'm actually happy about the fact that CIG has currently run out of new funding goals, as it allows them to implement and perfect what is actually already promised, making the whole project a lot less likely to become a total mess.
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I'm really looking forward to No Mans Sky and Star Citizen. I even pledged for Star Citizen. I would be playing it right now if the download servers didn't suck so bad.
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Star Citizen & Star Wars Battlefront 3 which should have been on this list.
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Starcraft, you mean? Maybe? Star Citizen is on the list... :)
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I know Star Citizen is on the list, but Star Wars isn't, & as you pointed out neither is Starcraft. It should be on there too.
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Sorry.. "Should have" referred only to Star Wars. My bad. I missed the "which" when I read...
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LOL! XD
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i dont think SC will be out before 2016
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......Starcraft? :D
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Hell Yeah! I forgot about Legacy of the Void.Is that coming out next year. I thought it was.
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It should be released in first Q of 2015...
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Forgot about that one. That should have been on the list also. ;)
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Isn't no man's sky a console exclusive? I was hoping it would be on pc upon release, are they going to port it or something? Maybe i should just look this up
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Hi past DButcha! Its me future DButcha! It turns out that the game is confirmed for PC but will be a PS4 timed exclusive before the PC launch. Thank you and you're welcome.
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Star citizen seems promising. I dont really like space sims though i'm still looking forward to it. I'm an elder scroll guy :) I would prefer going back instead of future BUT still i want to play it :) Seems like i will have enough time to save money for a new pc :)
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Star Citizen, but it's not coming out 'till we all die of old age :|
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Think positive. I'm already learning to fly there, so I'll assume it's coming soon enough. :)
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Space Engineers represents everything good about Early Access. The developers are nice, answer questions and release weekly updates. They even release things the comunity asks for. If they manage to find a way to optimize the game so that it can have servers with hundreds of players and bigger asteroids or even like a small moon it will be the best PC game of next year no doubt
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I really like idea behind the "Star Citizen" and "No mans sky", And I would love to play it. Check here if you don't know about game.
It's one of the biggest crowd funding game in history on kickstarter.
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It's looking good,but with that amount of donations from people,they have to make it awesome.
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it's the biggest crowdfunded project ever, period :)
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2014-2015-2016
the best years for sci-fi since a decade ago!
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I have a lot of faith in Star Citizen from what I have already seen. I just hope the game is very well optimised when it comes out.
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Star Citizen will be released in summer 2017 and probably 2018 if it is delayed.
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These are all great games,but all i want is that a mid-range gaming pc like mine can run them.
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Just save some money for a month or two, and you can buy yourself a top end pc
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Except if you are a 15yrs old with no income or an adult currently unenployed. Or if you have other priorities for your hard earned money. Respectfully... My point is, who knows to give such advise?...
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Star Citizen all the way. Bring out the big guns, clear up the skies, let's fly! Even if rig update needed, this is it.
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Hell yeah. Before the game comes out I'll definitely get No mans sky just to kick the boredom out of me.
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As nice as these games may be, I'm getting a little bored of these filler articles. Give GTA V system requirements please :).
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If the requirements are not released,they have to let rhe predicrited one
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Well we already have the predicted. Those are almost always lower than the confirmed one though.
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Got to ask… With that rig, why bother with SRs?…
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So I have a justified reason to complain if it runs horriby. Two GTX 980s mean nothing if it plays like GTA IV and Watchdogs.
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Seriously? I played Watchdogs packed all the way with HD mods with my single 7970... and still able to hit steady 40fps on 1080p. A single 980 should be able to beat that. Anyway, hopefully it will be optimized for us all. Think positive. :)
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what's the point of having two 980's if you aren't gonna use them to its fullest potential? 1080p... even one 980 would be overkill for that, two should be able to run most games on max settings 4k with a smooth FPS.
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you don't enjoy games more than what a person with one 980 would, because you both would have identical gaming experience when it comes to graphics, one 980 runs everything maxed out at 1080p, so does two 980's, and you don't even see a big difference when it comes to FPS, because the biggest difference gets noticed at multi-monitor setups or high resolution ones, not 1080p
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True. If publishers could take pc gaming to the level it deserves and optimize the damn games as they should. However, this year shown us they still cant (or dont want to)... Hopefully that will change. Nevertheless, vagabond67 rig's resolution is 1080p, thus my point.
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It's easy to say that if you don't have the 980. Currently a single 980 gets 30-40 fps at maxed settings in ground zeroes 4k dsr. It takes two GTX 980s to achieve 60 fps constantly at maxed settings in 4k dsr. Crysis 3 at X8 MSAA can achieve 60 fps with dips to 55-59 with two GTX 980s. I've lowered it to X4 MSAA...
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I was referring to 1080p, where the 980 demolishes everything, 8x MSAA is pretty much overkill at any 1080p res.
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To stay above 60 fps. I've directed this towards Captivestraw as I don't have the option to reply to him. My point is a single GTX 980 can't max everything and keep its constant 60 fps.
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As for the 1080p, I do plan to upgrade to a 4k monitor in the future. For now I'm sticking with 4k dsr if it's available.
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I'm hoping for Battlefront 3, but that might not come until 2016.
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It will be released in 2015
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I sure hope so, wouldn't be the first time that game gets delayed though.