Best space fight games

It spawned its own series of critically acclaimed space flight games as well. For any game player and Star Wars fan, Rogue Squadron is a classic title that earns its spot near the top. Freelancer was originally the brainchild of Chris Roberts , creator of the Wing Commander series.

However, production problems led the game to be delayed and eventually picked up by a new team. This didn't harm the game's reputation entirely, as it still met critical acclaim from the top gaming websites.

The concept for the game was to create a true virtual galaxy, and that dream is still reflected in the systems of trading and combat within the world. It's ambition may have harmed it in the long-run but it still remains a classic.

At the very least, the game can say it released, unlike Roberts's latest project and cash cow Star Citizen. In terms of the multiplayer space, few space simulator games could compete with Allegiance, released for PC in The game mixed two popular PC genres: first-person shooter and real-time strategy.

Players work in teams to capture the opponent's bases or forcing them to surrender. In many ways the game was incredibly ambitious in terms of gameplay, and it managed to create an incredible multiplayer experience. However, it suffered from low sales despite a dedicated playerbase. Players are still maintaining the community to this day, which is certainly impressive. It can definitely be said Allegiance deserves the praise it has received. Space skirmishes have been around in video games for decades now, but there are few titles that have managed to incorporate all out war.

The sheer size of some of the battles that players will preside over in Sins of a Solar Empire can be a little overwhelming at times, but it can also be quite exhilarating to watch one's master plan unfold on a legion of unsuspecting AI enemies.

Trying to mix together elements from multiple genres doesn't always pay off and some purists will likely be a little disappointed with some of the compromises made to accommodate this merger. For the most part, however, the game does a fantastic job of combining these contrasting ideas and mechanics and is able to provide players with a one of a kind experience as a result.

At least not when it comes to the sheer scale of the game's universe, that is. There are endless planets to explore and a plenty of activities in which to partake. It might not be the most accessible game out there especially for those who are new to the world of MMO gaming but it shouldn't take too long to get into the swing of things.

While interacting with other players can be a fun way to spend time, some of the best moments in the game can be found flying around through empty space exploring. One never knows who or what they might encounter. There are also huge record-breaking space battles from time to time which can be a real sight to behold ; not to mention a reminder to always remain alert!

Star Wars: Squadrons. Nexus: The Jupiter Incident. Wing Commander Arena. Developer: Gaia Industries Platform: Xbox Jumpgate: The Reconstruction Initiative. Star Wars Arcade. Star Trek: Shattered Universe. Star Wolves. X-COM: Interceptor. Jumpgate Evolution.

Star Fox. Shadow Squadron. Developer: Sega Platform: Sega 32X. Frontier: First Encounters. Titan Wars. Journey to the Planets. Developer: Jack Verson Platform: Atari 8-bit family.

Star Wars Battle Pod. Dark Horizon. Star Trek. Infinite Space. Gunship Elite. Total Eclipse. Star Luster. Astron Belt. Star Wars Trilogy Arcade. Project Sylpheed. Star Trek: Encounters. Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter. Star Fighter. Evochron Mercenary. Your ship and crew define you more than in any space RPG, as you can refit and reorganise them as you see fit.

Almost everything you do in Frontiers can affect the economy, status, and political relations of local characters, planets, and factions, whether you want to dig into its multi-threaded story jobs or not. 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. Or you might just stumble across some exotic goods, and find yourself waylaid in a chain of unexpected events on your way to find a black market to sell them at. Plus, you can hire a sniper who wears pink thigh high boots in space. What's not to love? If you're happy to trade off realism for sheer spectacle when it comes to space battles, then Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 the definitive Warhammer 40, navy 'em up is going to be your happy place.

Despite all the cinematic 3D camera work, its battles play out on a resolutely 2D playing field. It's essentially a sea battle game with bombastic, giga-scale space stylings, and it pushes a lot of the same buttons as Total War games in terms of play feel - you build up fleets on a campaign layer, then position them on a tactical map and shove them into the enemy to start knocking lumps out of each other. Conflict in BFGA2 feels huge: hundreds of individual turrets batter away at each other, while fighters zip around like clouds of dust, and massive ships explode gloriously with a groaning sound like a whale reading its credit card bill.

You can play as 12 of the major 40k factions in BFGA2's skirmish mode, while four get their own campaigns. The strategic game sometimes feels a little light, but not so much that it feels stripped down, and there's an impressive level of storytelling and lore involved, when it didn't necessarily have to be.

The big draw, however you choose to play, and whatever you choose to play as, is that you're guaranteed one hell of a light show. Ironclad Games' RTS pinches the scale of a 4X game and pits massive armadas against each other in orbital laser light shows. All the diplomatic, trade and research systems borrowed from 4Xs prop up the constant war, funding and upgrading increasingly diverse fleets.

At first you'll just be throwing light attack ships at planets you want to gobble up, but eventually you'll be surrounding worlds and enemy fleets with capital ships the size of small moons and a whole host of support vessels, carriers, tiny fighters and bombers.

Sins' smartest trick is the use of restrictive lanes to connect worlds. It forces fleets to travel down predetermined paths, appearing in specific places. Even in space, then, there's terrain, with the lanes' entrances and exits acting as choke points around which weapons platforms can be constructed and fleets positioned.

The Rebellion standalone adds the additional wrinkle of new playable rebel factions and their accompanying victory conditions, but also powerful Titan-class ships and overhauled vanilla factions. Oh, and it's quite a bit prettier! Although it started out as a rather humourless and unhurried take on Elite, the X series has carved out an impressive niche for itself over the course of 15 years or so, becoming the go-to game for space captains who'd rather explore a capitalist frontier than venture beyond anything physical.

Egosoft would no doubt argue that there's been more to its games than first-person Industry Giant in space, pointing to the series' motto and the prominence of fighting ahead of thinking.

The truth is that that it took a few attempts for the German developer to properly nail combat. The X3 games seemed to nail it though; each release offering a more evolved OS-styled control setup that managed to avoid falling into the FPS mouse trap while complimenting the complexities of the trading simulation underpinning the game. Some might protest that the Albion Prelude expansion went a step too far, with too much slow-burning intricacy and not enough explanation, but by setting the X universe at war with itself ahead of the slate-cleaning Rebirth, it offered players the best opportunity in the long-running series to make good profit at the expense of others.

For all its infamous high stakes drama and ruthless corporate betrayals, there's room for a lot more in EVE than most people think. The enormously complex player economy is ultimately about loads of random players all doing their own thing, after all. More so than perhaps any other game, EVE is about interacting with others, but that too can be done as you see fit. The jostling alliances of hundreds-strong players make the headlines, but exist alongside countless small groups of friends, pairs, even the occasional solo player making their space life by trade, manufacture, murder, or just quietly shooting endless disposable NPC ships for an hour or two after work to unwind.

It's a demanding game for sure, but getting to know even a small corner of it feels satisfying. Seeing familiar names and knowing what they're up to, who they're friends with, and what things you can achieve together is one of the promises that few MMOs deliver on. It takes some patience and a lot of initiative, and the ability to sigh and shrug some things off. But if you're not enjoying what you're doing in EVE, you can just do something else. Get talking to someone, for heaven's sake.

There are opportunities everywhere if you're willing to make the effort. The original Homeworld is one of the all-time great space RTS games, but trying to get it running on a modern PC is a bit of a nightmare - if only because it hasn't been available to buy for the better part of a decade.

Thankfully, Gearbox's remaster brought it bang up to date. Bundling remastered editions of both Homeworld and Homeworld 2 and a special Steam multiplayer mode, this is the definitive way to play one of the best space games of all time.

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. And yet, the thrill of Homeworld's epic space battles remains just as strong as it did back in the olden days of Add in modern dynamic lighting, hi-res textures and a remastered score, and it really is quite the homecoming.

The accolade is still well deserved. Wing Commander. Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter. Tachyon: The Fringe. Star Trek: Bridge Commander. Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos. X3: Terran Conflict. DarkStar One. Wing Commander: Prophecy.

Star Trek: Klingon Academy.