The advent of sci-fi in popular culture emerged in the 1950s. Cinema continued to fall in love with outer space after the release of films like Close Encounters of the Third Kind in the 1970s. Steven Spielberg would follow that up a few years later with the huge success of E.T with Ridley Scott’s Alien in between.
Yet there was one franchise that changed everything. When Space Invaders was released as a video arcade game in 1978, its designer cited Star Wars as a huge influence. No history of science fiction titles can go without mentioning the influence of George Lucas’s epic. The daddy of all things intergalactic also birthed the idea of resistance fighters battling against evil empires.
The landscape of sci-fi titles in the gaming industry has been heavily influenced by what went before on screen and celluloid. One of the most enduring TV series came out in the same year Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. Captain Kirk made his first appearance aboard the Star Trek Enterprise in 1969. Numerous episodes, modern remakes and film franchises followed.
All the above has inspired several key gaming titles below.
Casino Sci-Fi Themed Games
Science fiction and fantasy have gripped audiences in so many entertainment formats. This means that the genre lends itself perfectly to other worlds which casinos can now bring. For instance, The Terminator 2 uses actual footage from the film, bringing the battle against Skynet to reality on the reels.
Battlestar Galactica, which was shot in Canada, appeals similarly by sourcing real narratives and visuals from the popular series on the spinning reels. There are also a number of platforms that make the experience more appealing by offering a sign-up offer for players. To find these, it is best to look at a consolidated site, like bonus.ca. There’s also a great section on their site which offers a variety of bonuses and social promos.
Mass Effect Trilogy
The Mass Effect trilogy was described by The Guardian “as cerebral as Star Trek”. It has the elements of great RPG, like conversations with crew mates mixed with the high-octane missions.
The Battlefront Series
The makers of the Battlefront series, which are based on the Star Wars franchise, actually worked closely with the Lucas film production company on game themes. This meant the gameplay centred around the emotion of the original trilogy.
Battlefront created sophisticated stories alongside the shooter sequences that contained a beginning, middle and an end. The main character had a narrative from the end of the Jedi up to the Force Awakens.
Doom Sets the Standard
Doom was a full three decades ago but it changed the expectations for what science fiction could look and play like in video game. There were groundbreaking 3D graphics to start with.
Doom’s plot opened the minds and possibilities for future games with a gripping series of set pieces. The player, a space marine, is sent to investigate an incident on the Martian moon. The hero shoots, punches and cuts through a horror-like setting that increases in hellishness. Cleverly, there were multi-player battles to the death which built a community of players.
Half-Life Series
The Half-Life’s second instalment revolutionised the gaming world with its innovative physics engine and immersive storytelling. Players were Gordon Freeman, a scientist who was battling sinister forces and defending humankind. The game introduced quirky characters, humanising them to bring them closer to home even in an uncertain world.
The game created a very strong ambience and there were some key differences between it and other shooter games in the field. It painted a scene where enemies were intelligent. The Striders that appear are directly linked to those giant Martians that bestrode War of the Worlds.
The Deus EX Series
The Deus Ex series provides an immersive experience and a choice of characters to play with. These characters have technological superpowers and the player’s creative streak, and varied inventory can be used. There’s a real cyberpunk Blade Runner-like feel to this dystopian world from the way the cities are built.
The Halo Series
The Halo series as a very retro sci-fi feel to most of humanity and alien life co-existing. It brought themes of Artificial Intelligence – very much a key area of modern discussion – into gaming. The hero has to go through a journey with the themes of duty and the nature of ethics all at the forefront. All the big film themes were there in the game itself. The shooting was more sophisticated as enemies became clever rather than a row of ducks.
Sci-fi has inspired a whole generation of gaming titles. Nowadays, some games, like Alien Isolation, are even influencing the narrative of the films themselves. It’s all come full circle.