10 Underrated Sci-Fi Games That Deserve More Attention
Science fiction and video games go hand in hand. Whenever a major gaming showcase rolls around, you can almost guarantee a handful of trailers featuring futuristic landscapes, alien creatures, and cybernetic enhancements. Franchises like Mass Effect, Cyberpunk 2077, Portal 2, and Dead Space get much of the spotlight for good reason. They’ve become staples of the genre and household names for gamers.
But what about the titles that don’t get nearly as much love? The ones that offer compelling science fiction worlds, clever gameplay mechanics, and memorable stories, yet somehow slip through the cracks? Today, we’re diving into 10 underrated sci-fi games that deserve way more recognition than they’ve received.
Each of these titles offers something unique, whether it’s deep narrative design, innovative mechanics, or unforgettable atmospheres. If you’re hungry for sci-fi experiences that break the mold, this list is for you.
1. Abiotic Factor (Deep Field Games, 2025)
Released in July 2025, Abiotic Factor arrived with little fanfare despite being a refreshing blend of Half-Life–style storytelling and survival crafting mechanics.
You play as a new employee at Garrick Advanced Technology Enterprises (GATE), a mysterious research facility hidden in the Australian Outback. On your very first day, things go disastrously wrong when interdimensional creatures invade. What begins as a standard day job quickly transforms into a fight for survival.
Players scavenge for resources, craft weapons and armor, and explore deeper into the facility while encountering strange characters, secret factions, and alternate dimensions. The humor is sharp, and the writing is surprisingly engaging. Few games make you look forward to reading in-game emails, but Abiotic Factor does just that.
The game shines brightest in co-op, where the chaos of base-building and interdimensional monsters becomes equal parts thrilling and hilarious. Sadly, its low-poly presentation may have kept it off mainstream radars, but those who dive in will find one of the smartest sci-fi co-op experiences in recent memory.
2. Hardspace: Shipbreaker (Blackbird Interactive, 2022)
Corporate dystopias are a cornerstone of science fiction, and Hardspace: Shipbreaker nails the concept. You begin the game with an unpayable debt of over a billion credits, owned to the Lynx Corporation. Your only option? Salvage derelict spaceships in orbit until you claw your way out of debt—or die trying.
Armed with a laser cutter and a zero-G suit, players dismantle massive spacecraft piece by piece, all while avoiding hazards like explosive decompression, fuel leaks, and electrical fires. The physics are meticulously crafted, turning each ship into a dangerous puzzle waiting to be solved.
On harder difficulties, time limits and clone-based life systems crank up the pressure. On easier settings, however, the game transforms into a strangely meditative experience. Slowly deconstructing a ship, managing oxygen, and sorting parts into orbital incinerators is oddly relaxing.
It’s rare to see a game turn tedious work into something engaging, but Hardspace: Shipbreaker manages it, all while telling a biting story about corporate exploitation.
3. Transistor (Supergiant Games, 2014)
Before Hades propelled Supergiant Games to mainstream fame, the studio released Transistor—a gorgeous cyberpunk action RPG that still feels overlooked.
You play as Red, a singer who loses her voice and wields a mysterious talking sword known as the Transistor. Combat blends real-time action with tactical planning. At any moment, you can pause time, map out your next sequence of moves, and unleash devastating combos.
The beauty lies in experimentation. Each ability, called a Function, can act alone or combine with others to create new effects. Tinkering with builds becomes just as fun as progressing through the hauntingly beautiful city and uncovering its secrets.
Though Transistor didn’t get the same spotlight as Bastion or Hades, its narrative, art style, and music remain some of Supergiant’s finest work. It’s a must-play for fans of stylish, story-driven sci-fi.
4. Returnal (Housemarque, 2021)
When Returnal launched as a PlayStation 5 exclusive, it quickly established itself as one of the console’s most impressive showcases. Today, it’s also available on PC, and it still stands tall as one of the best roguelike shooters ever made.
You step into the shoes of Selene, an astronaut who crash-lands on the hostile planet Atropos. Every time she dies, she wakes up again at the crash site, trapped in a time loop. The planet’s biomes rearrange themselves with each cycle, ensuring no two runs are the same.
The gunplay is tight, fluid, and enhanced by alien parasites that grant both buffs and debuffs. Meanwhile, enemy projectiles fill the screen in mesmerizing bullet-hell patterns. Beneath the action lies a layered story about memory, trauma, and the mysteries of Atropos.
It’s also one of the best demonstrations of the PS5’s DualSense controller, with adaptive triggers and haptic feedback immersing players deeper into Selene’s journey.
5. Rollerdrome (Roll7, 2022)
Imagine Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater fused with a dystopian blood sport, and you’ll have a good idea of what Rollerdrome offers.
Set in a crumbling future society, players control Kara Hassan, a competitor in a brutal sport where survival depends on your ability to perform tricks while shooting enemies. Every flip, grab, or grind reloads your weapons, making style and skill equally important.
Though the story takes a backseat to the arcade action, there’s enough dystopian flavor to satisfy sci-fi fans. The sport itself is used as a tool of distraction by a corrupt government, drawing attention away from societal collapse.
Fast, stylish, and unforgiving, Rollerdrome is pure adrenaline. It’s a shame Roll7 was shut down in 2024, because this game showed how creative the studio could be.
6. Mad Max (Avalanche Studios, 2015)
Movie tie-in games usually get a bad rap, but Mad Max from Avalanche Studios proved they can succeed with the right vision. Released in 2015 alongside Fury Road, this open-world action title deserved far more recognition than it got.
Players take on the role of Max Rockatansky, battling through a desolate wasteland while upgrading his iconic vehicle, the Magnum Opus. Vehicular combat is where the game shines, offering brutal encounters across sand dunes and scrapyard fortresses.
Yes, melee combat borrowed heavily from the Batman: Arkham style and didn’t always hit the mark, but exploration and scavenging more than made up for it. The dusty world feels alive with danger, from marauding warboys to crumbling ruins begging to be looted.
Despite positive reception from fans, the game never got a sequel, partly because creator George Miller dismissed it. Still, if you’re a fan of the Mad Max universe, this adaptation is more than worth your time.
7. Prey (Arkane Studios, 2017)
Don’t confuse it with the 2006 title of the same name or the Predator franchise film from 2022. Arkane’s Prey is its own beast—a masterful immersive sim set aboard the space station Talos I.
You play as Morgan Yu, caught in the aftermath of an alien outbreak. The Typhon, a terrifying species capable of morphing into everyday objects, has overrun the station. One moment you’re scanning a room for supplies, the next your coffee mug might turn into a monster and attack.
Arkane weaves in psychic abilities that allow you to mimic objects, control enemies, or manipulate the environment. Combined with Talos I’s open design, every encounter feels like a sandbox of possibilities.
Though critically praised, sales were modest, and no sequel followed. Today, it stands as one of the best examples of how to combine horror, freedom, and storytelling in a sci-fi setting.
8. Metro Exodus (4A Games, 2019)
The Metro series has always thrived on claustrophobic, post-apocalyptic tension. But Metro Exodus broke new ground by expanding beyond the Moscow tunnels into wider open zones across Russia and Kazakhstan.
Artyom and his companions travel by train, searching for signs of surviving human civilization. Each stop offers semi-open worlds filled with mutants, hostile factions, and crumbling landmarks.
What makes Exodus shine is its blend of survival horror and exploration. You’ll scavenge for ammo, craft upgrades, and customize weapons to suit your playstyle, all while navigating stunningly atmospheric landscapes.
The result is a game that balances tension and wonder, proving that the series could thrive outside the confines of the underground.
9. Meet Your Maker (Behaviour Interactive, 2023)
Meet Your Maker is a strange experiment that never found its audience, but those who tried it discovered something truly unique.
The game is built around two pillars: creating deadly outposts and raiding the creations of others. As a builder, your goal is to craft brutal mazes filled with traps and enemies designed to kill intruders. As a raider, you attempt to infiltrate other players’ outposts, dodge traps, and steal resources before escaping.
It’s a game of constant tension and creativity. No two outposts are the same, and co-op raiding can be laugh-out-loud chaotic as you and a friend repeatedly trigger traps in increasingly absurd ways.
Sadly, the game was discontinued without long-term support, but it’s still playable and worth checking out for anyone craving innovative multiplayer sci-fi.
10. STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl (GSC Game World, 2024)
It might feel strange calling STALKER 2 underrated, given its hype, but after a rocky launch filled with bugs and scaled-back features, it quickly slipped out of mainstream conversation. That’s a shame, because it’s one of the most fascinating sci-fi survival games of recent years.
Set in the Zone around Chornobyl, the game thrusts players into a world warped by a second fictional disaster. Mutants roam the land, factions clash for control, and anomalies twist reality itself.
Despite technical flaws at release, updates have stabilized the experience, allowing its philosophical storytelling and haunting atmosphere to shine. Few games capture the beauty and terror of an irradiated wasteland quite like STALKER 2.
For those willing to embrace its strangeness, it’s an unforgettable journey into a world where science fiction meets existential dread.
Final Thoughts
Science fiction is one of gaming’s richest genres, but not every great title gets the recognition it deserves. From the survival chaos of Abiotic Factor to the philosophical strangeness of STALKER 2, these ten games prove that some of the most imaginative experiences are also the most overlooked.
If you’ve only stuck to the big names, now’s the perfect time to branch out. Give these underrated gems a try—you might just find a new favorite among them.
No comments:
Post a Comment