A juxtaposed contrast is often satisfying, such as killer clowns or flying fish. There is a subgenre within sci-fi, that blends themes of past and future, known as "retro-futuristic." The theme offers a unique and enjoyable union between old-timey, golden-age nostalgia and laser-slinging mania. It’s comforting and mind-boggling at the same time. Players can nestle comfortably within the bosom of mid-19th-century familiarity, before being booted firmly off-kilter by a robotic foot​​​​​​.
The fusion often creates a delightful tongue-in-cheek experience. From chasing 1950s convertibles in a flying saucer to frying Nazi officers with electric Gatling guns. Perhaps listening to Billie Holiday’s "Easy Living" whilst traipsing the toxic wastes of a post-apocalyptic future. Whatever way these bygone eras and advanced technologies collide, it always makes for an imaginative and irresistibly intriguing concept.
8 The Outer Worlds
Vibrant sci-fi western RPG The Outer Worlds, from creators of the Fallout series, was inspired by the likes of True Grit, Firefly, Futurama, and of course Fallout. The result is a reliably fleshed-out game set among various planets with an American frontier feel, with of course a good degree of humor and satire.
In a universe where large corporations are colonizing and monopolizing new planets for their own gain, the player finds themselves on a mission that takes various twists and turns in the colonies and badlands of The Outer Worlds. Similarly to Fallout and Borderlands, this will entail head-shotting or otherwise maiming raiders, monsters, and other adversaries, though with The Outer Worlds’ unique spin – including a limited slow-mo mechanic that gives players a satisfying edge, without making things too easy.
7 Bioshock: The Collection
The first two Bioshock games submerge the player in the city of Rapture. A kind of neo-noir city lit up like 1960s Gotham but plunged beneath the ocean and shrouded in mystery. Occasionally the crackle of an old "Beyond the Sea" recording in the background will transport the player back in time, while the city of the future crashes down around them. Not only does the protagonist find Rapture in disrepair, but also chock-full of demented inhabitants, including Big Daddies who haunt the dank ruins in their deep-sea diving suits, protecting their creepy Little Sisters.
In Bioshock Infinite the series continues in a new setting: a floating, steampunk city in the sky in 1912. This allows for a refreshing new feel, new sights, and new gameplay. To look and play better by modern standards, all three games were updated in 2016 with Bioshock: The Collection.
6 Alien: Isolation
A unique entry into the retrofuturistic genre, but among the best, Alien: Isolation is certainly set in the future but is based on the early Alien films in its content. As such, the "futuristic" technology is the 1970s and 80s idea of futuristic. This means chunky handheld motion sensors, whirring computers with lime green fonts and loading bars, and cartridges slotted into landline phones to save the game.
It's this rather dated interstellar technology that makes going up against a xenomorph all the more terrifying. Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda, explores the unstable and desolate Sevastopol Station for information about her mother, but of course, she isn’t alone. Armed half the time with only her wits, she clambers through claustrophobic maintenance tunnels and encounters jump scares that make the player leap out of their skin. It’s a compelling, cinematic experience with characters perfectly reminiscent of the iconic Ridley Scott film.
5 Fallout (series)
The Fallout games take place across varying dates after a nuclear fallout in 2077. In the Fallout universe, surviving art styles, technology, and buildings are reminiscent of a post-war, 1950s-ish America. However, strides in technology and atomic energy have resulted in robots, laser guns, and more.
Players travel and explore the dangerous, irradiated wastes of North America. In later Fallout games, they can listen to the static of old jazz recordings on their radio as they do so. Mingled with the crackle of their Geiger counter, it creates a unique feeling lost in time. Quite a transcendent ambiance to accompany players while they slay super mutants in the toxic badlands.
4 Wolfenstein New Order & New Colossus
The Wolfenstein series comprises classic first-person shooters in which players mow down endless torrents of Nazis for various personal reasons, depending on the game. These aren’t standard, run-of-the-mill Nazis, however. In New Order and New Colossus the Third Reich gains the upper hand and ultimately wins WW2 with superior technology.
It’s not only the blood (and it will be bloody) of the opposing Nazi soldiers that William "B.J." Blazkowicz gets on his hands. It’s also that of their weird, armored monstrosities. For those partial to mad, explosive shooters with an alternate history twist, look no further. These are games that don’t take themselves too seriously but have excellent gameplay and great characters. They’re bloody, brutal, twisted, and funny.
3 Borderlands (series)
The Borderlands series is often referred to as a "shoot-n-loot" first-person shooter and RPG. It has a comic art style, some grisly violence, and lots of tongue-in-cheek humor. The games are set mostly on and around the planet Pandora. The once abandoned, hazardous planet is given new life following the discoveries of vaults containing untold wealth and technology from an ancient race. The player takes the role of various vault hunters who shoot a lot of alien monsters and raiders previously left behind on the inhospitable planet.
As a result, there’s a good deal of cooky and violent characters to have fun with. The Borderlands series comprises poppy, Wild West, and steampunk-style games with tight FPS gameplay. Not to mention addictive treasure hunting through which the player may discover more and more over-the-top instruments of death.
2 Destroy All Humans!
In Destroy All Humans! the player takes control of the alien Crypto, who seeks to rescue or ruthlessly avenge his clone brother, downed by a rocket in 1950s America. He’s also sent to harvest Furon DNA from humans, but the real essence of the game is self-explanatory. Humans won’t bow down to Crypto, so they must be destroyed.
The fun is in annihilating hopelessly outgunned suburbians with a flying saucer’s death ray and obliterating innocent civilian buildings in all hellfire. Or on the ground, terrifying people with Crypto’s mere appearance, before throwing them into the sky using psychokinesis, watching them fall back to Earth and collecting their brain stems. The humans will eventually come at Crypto with more advanced (and fictitious) 1950s technology, which saves the game from staying too distinctly one-sided, despite how fun that is early on.
1 Atomic Heart
In Atomic Heart’s alternate past, the Soviets prevailed in WW2 due to breakthroughs in science and technology. In contrast between old and new, communist-red propaganda with a sci-fi twist is the style of the day. Everyone calls each other "comrade" with a relentless post-war-time spirit, including a plethora of society-integrated robots proudly sporting the red star. The setting is incredibly immersive, brought vividly to life with superb graphics and game design.
Of course, all does not go well in this robot-loving, communist utopia. As usual, the robots turn against their masters. Agent P-3 is set to resolve the situation, facing off against all sorts of once friendly, now terrifying machines. From the creepy, expressionless ones that advance like merciless crash test dummies, to the entirely faceless and metallic robo-ballerinas. These bots are no longer P-3’s comrades, no sir. Although Atomic Heart has been criticized for some clunkier gameplay and dialogue, overall it’s an experience players won’t soon forget.