8 Space Games to Take You to the Stars

ffronw

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Oct 24, 2013
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8 Space Games to Take You to the Stars

These eight awesome space games will let you blast off to the stars, and blast your enemies as well.

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Blood Brain Barrier

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I could never quite get into Homeworld, despite wanting to so much. I didn't like the way the camera was stuck to the ships, and each mission was really slow going. Bridge Commander is still my favorite space combat sim, maybe because I'm a massive trekkie (or maybe because it was really good).
 

Redlin5_v1legacy

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Aug 5, 2009
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It makes me so happy to see Freelancer make it on lists like these. Pretty much everytime when I talk to people outside of the Escapist about my favorite game, I have to tell them all about it because they've never heard of it.

I was just playing it the other day! :)
 

ffronw

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Oct 24, 2013
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Blood Brain Barrier said:
I could never quite get into Homeworld, despite wanting to so much. I didn't like the way the camera was stuck to the ships, and each mission was really slow going. Bridge Commander is still my favorite space combat sim, maybe because I'm a massive trekkie (or maybe because it was really good).
Bridge Commander was a good one. It just didn't make my top eight today.

Redlin5 said:
It makes me so happy to see Freelancer make it on lists like these. Pretty much everytime when I talk to people outside of the Escapist about my favorite game, I have to tell them all about it because they've never heard of it.

I was just playing it the other day! :)
I feel like Freelancer got ignored by a lot of purists because of the decision to use a mouse as the primary input. It's a shame, because it was a really good game.
 

Redlin5_v1legacy

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ffronw said:
I feel like Freelancer got ignored by a lot of purists because of the decision to use a mouse as the primary input. It's a shame, because it was a really good game.
I think its still beautiful although the character models are horrifying in comparison to modern games now. I got a Freelancer tattoo [http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AQ7epcNISZk/VNPvW8sYPrI/AAAAAAAAAUk/36CIAyBzhEE/s1600/1795953_10153011079608571_1039210605782007444_o.jpg] because I like the game so much. Man, I'm excited for Star Citizen! <.<
 

Ocelano

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Apr 14, 2009
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Where is escape velocity? Those games where great fun and would kick your ass over and over again.
 

Link_to_Future

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Nov 19, 2009
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I might have thrown Sins of a Solar Empire on here somewhere but that might just be the 200 hours I sunk into it talking. ^_^
 

Seracen

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What, no Wing Commander?! That, X-Wing, Tie Fighter, and Rebel Alliance were AWESOME! Probably the only reasons even got into the space genre, as I never really enjoyed tacticals. Wing Commander remains my favorite b/c of a robust story, and Privateer 2 had an alarmingly rich cast of acting talent!
 

TheArcaneThinker

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What ?! Making a Space games list without Sins of a solar empire ! Thats nonsense ! Out of all games that you must have pondered upon while making this list.... out of all of them.... did it not occur to you that sins of a solar empire should at least be listed..... nevermind.... I digress.... The list was good and gave me some good recommendations and for that I am grateful.
 

GabeZhul

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The Freespace entry could have used a mention of the Source Code Project and the standalone mods for the game. The former makes the game gorgeous even by today's standards and the latter are at least an additional 30 hours worth of entertainment for free.
 

Scars Unseen

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May 7, 2009
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I really would like to see more games like ATREMIS [http://www.artemis.eochu.com/] made. Space sims are great, but multiplayer bridge sims would be a nice change. ARTEMIS has the Star Trek experience covered, but I'd also like to see some that were more like Battlestar Galactica and other more combat-focused franchises.
 

Sigmund Av Volsung

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Dec 11, 2009
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Goddamn do I want to play Elite Dangerous *_*

Few other games enable me to become a space pirate, which is frankly, an overlooked feature in most games >_<
 

Remus

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Nov 24, 2012
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Sigmund Av Volsung said:
Goddamn do I want to play Elite Dangerous *_*

Few other games enable me to become a space pirate, which is frankly, an overlooked feature in most games >_<
Online play has become especially robust as of late. For every space pirate, there's a player out looking to make bank on bounty. I love the challenge of an interstellar dogfight.
 

Sigmund Av Volsung

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Remus said:
Sigmund Av Volsung said:
Goddamn do I want to play Elite Dangerous *_*

Few other games enable me to become a space pirate, which is frankly, an overlooked feature in most games >_<
Online play has become especially robust as of late. For every space pirate, there's a player out looking to make bank on bounty. I love the challenge of an interstellar dogfight.
I don't even care about the actual piracy aspect of such a profession, I just want to have an in-universe justification to fly a hot pink starship across space whilst blaring 80's power ballads across the stars, pretending that I am in a low budget Star Wars as directed by John Carpenter *_*
 

Darth Sea Bass

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Mar 3, 2009
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Good list! Shame the X series got no love but I won't hold that against you. Also I want to play Elite Dangerous in the worst way. Just a shame i need a new computer before i can.
 

Vendor-Lazarus

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Yay, Freelancer. Such an amazing game, even if it did talk big and didn't quite deliver on all promises it deserves praise.
After playing Freelancer I've never been able to get back to playing in cockpit view only as it feels way too limited, constricted and confined.
I managed to finish Tachyon - The Fringe 3 times before being spoiled by Freelancer.
The recent Starpoint Gemini 2 also included chase-cam but sadly bungled it with the aiming.

I'm quite the fan of space games and have tried many many different ones.
The one's that have stuck with me are the aforementioned Freelancer, Master of Orion III, Sword of the Stars, Space Empire IV, Imperium Galactica II (another overlooked game), Distant Worlds (with expansions), Transcendence, Starflight, Escape Velocity Nova and Conquest Frontier Wars.

4X and Space Trading and Combat Simulation are amongst my most favorite genres.
 

Alcom1

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GabeZhul said:
The Freespace entry could have used a mention of the Source Code Project and the standalone mods for the game. The former makes the game gorgeous even by today's standards and the latter are at least and additional 30 hours worth of entertainment for free.
Hilariously, the gallery screenshot is of Just Another Day, a Source Code Project campaign.