Video games have a long history with future settings and bringing sci-fi to the fingertips of players. While there is no end to the futuristic landscapes that gaming can explore, there are some decades and regions of time and space that feature more games than others.
Though the decade is beginning to seem less like sci-fi and more like the near future, that doesn’t stop many of the video games set in the 2050s from seeming unrealistic in their depictions of Earth and humankind. The best offer vivid and varied depictions of the future, though not all of them are positive.
7 Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Call of Duty began by exploring the storied past of human warfare. From World War II to Vietnam and the Cold War, the games handled a lot of conflicts and battles. After the Modern Warfare games introduced original, post-modern conflicts into the series, however, the franchise decided it was time for a look into the future of conflict and warfare.
Set in 2054, the plot revolves around the Atlas Corporation, which has a private military and is engaged with a terrorist organization called the KVA. While the campaign stretches throughout the 2050s into the 2060s, the style of realistic future technology and representation of private militaries becoming more of a danger to the world than the militaries of any country.
6 Xenoblade Chronicles X
While it is unconnected to the otherXenoblade Chronicles games, this related game takes place a few years after the destruction of Earth on Mira, a new world where the remnants of humanity have taken refuge. A different take on the 2050s, the game is primarily set within the city of New Los Angeles and focuses on an Avatar in a robot body trying to save the human population of the White Whale, one of the ships that escaped Earth.
The game offers a unique take on the fate of humanity, and it is surprising that the game was created in 2015 and had such a radical take on the fate of mankind in just under forty years. However, Xenoblade Chronicles X was an incredibly fun game that played with these far-out ideas in hugely pleasing ways.
5 Shadowrun
A complicated series of games based on the cyberpunk table top-RPG of the same name, Shadowrun initially followed Jake Armitage, who is saved from assassination by a strange magical creature and finds himself involved in a plot to bring down an evil AI being protected by a dragon, who ordered his assassination.
After being saved and utilizing the help of shadowrunners, Jake succeeds. Not only was this dark, cyberpunk take on the 2050s a unique and fun one, but it also spawned a series of sequels that have had modest success, mostly taking on more of a tactical RPG style than the initial game.
4 Wipeout
Kick-starting a completely different sort of franchise, Wipeout is a futuristic racing game that was released in 1995 but is set in the year 2052. Featuring the F3600 antigravity racing league, this game stretches the expectations that players may have for the future, but not necessarily to unbelievable levels.
Initially criticized for the ludicrous physics of the game but beloved for its style and flair, as well as the impressive techno soundtrack, Wipeout spawned a series of sequels that have gone on to further success. It's been a while since the last Wipeout game, but who knows what the future holds for the series.
3 Moon
It was a rare thing to see an FPS released in 2009 that didn’t feature a multiplayer mode. Moon was criticized for being lacking in this area but has been praised since for the graphics, which hold up over ten years later, and for the impressive frame rate that it boasted at the time. As well as this, it had a fun and unique story which was well-told.
Moon is set in 2058 and is based on the Moon, where the United States has set up a series of bases in an attempt to get ready to travel to Mars. The player character is Major Kane, a man sent to uncover secrets buried at one of the US dig sites on the Moon. The discoveries lead him to a dangerous alien civilization that he must bring down by force. Moon plays like a fun action movie, pitting one man against an entire army of aliens.
2 The Persistence
A survival horror game for the Playstation VR is already something many people consider futuristic to play, but The Persistence is also set in the year 2057 on a stranded spaceship. The player has to fight off mutant clones and reactivate the engines onboard the ship to save everyone else aboard.
Though The Persistence did not receive a massive release, it is one of the best examples of survival horror in VR so far and is definitely worth playing. It also features many rogue-like elements which help give it a high replay factor.
1 Deus Ex
Another infamous cyberpunk take on the future, Deus Ex and the ensuing sequels have become legendary in the gaming world. However, the initial entry into the franchise was released in 2000 and set in 2052. In a world ravaged by inequality and a deadly plague, which sounds right on the money, an agent of UNATCO is given powers, so he can face down terrorist organizations in a series of deadly missions.
Deus Ex is a brilliant game. Some have even called it one of the best games of all time and with good reason. The gameplay has RPG elements and allows players to make choices that affect how the story turns out, including the level of violence that players use throughout.