While the space opera style of science fiction has been around for the better part of the past century, the genre has always been more closely tied to big-budget live-action franchises like <em>Star Wars</em>, or most recently with the blockbuster success of the Dune trilogy. You’ll find plenty of movies, comics, or TV shows like Star Trek to fill the same niche, but the sheer scale of the space opera genre has been much harder to unearth in the world of video games.
Even if some of the most iconic space opera stories are found in film, there are still several games that not only provide the epic scale of a universal adventure with a focus on melodrama, but create an even more immersive experience by letting you experience it firsthand for yourself, or even influence the outcome of its various factions, characters, or even the main narrative itself.
10
The Outer Worlds Mixes Cyberpunk And Steampunk Surprisingly Well
While it might not have been as universally well received as Obsidian’s previous sci-fi RPGs like Fallout: New Vegas, The Outer Worlds far more closely resembles what you would expect from a grand space opera. Offering a satirical take on a galaxy consumed by planet-colonizing corporations, each location scattered across The Outer Worlds has plenty of unique factions, characters, and their own conflicts to help resolve.
Alongside several memorable companions to journey with as you progress through the story of The Outer Worlds, the locations themselves do a great job of recreating a lived-in frontier world that has gone completely sideways in its morality, with no shortage of drama and morally grey decision-making to get involved with.
9
Elite Dangerous Lets You Create Your Own Spacefaring Epic
The multiplayer-focused Elite Dangerous doesn’t have a traditional scripted narrative for players to get immersed in, which veers quite far from the hero’s journey formula of Star Wars. Even so, the sheer scale of its 1:1 recreation of the Milky Way and the open-ended gameplay loop allow you to chart your own path into whatever story you want to experience in its evolving player-driven narrative.
Rather than quest lines or NPCs, the bulk of Elite Dangerous‘s spacefaring drama and galactic battles come from interactions with other players or from the world reacting to the community’s collective contributions. With groups organizing their own fleets and working together to participate in real-time events, Elite Dangerous takes full advantage of its ambitious flight mechanics and seamless exploration to let you fulfill practically any role in its massive world, whether sticking to yourself as a lone bounty hunter, trader, pirate, or sharing your story with other players.
8
Destiny 2 Has A Surprisingly Good Story For An FPS MMO
While the Destiny franchise might seem like a generic sci-fi shooter from the outside, the 12-year-long spacefaring storyline spanning two games and dozens of DLC is absolutely jam-packed with all the melodrama and galactic action that you would expect from a classic entry in the space opera genre, all experienced through a rare first-person perspective. Even though the story of Destiny is coming to a close with its final update, the ride is still well worth the price of admission for sci-fi fans.
Pushing past the raid bosses and loot frenzy the series is known for, the story of Destiny 2 especially has a massive amount of lore surrounding its sci-fi universe and numerous factions, each with their own goals and motivations that tend to clash in spectacular and tragic ways. With a constantly evolving story filled with incredibly memorable characters and shifting perspectives, the story of Destiny 2 is easily one of its most underrated elements.
7
The Homeworld Remastered Collection Is A Genre-Defining Sci-Fi Franchise
