I’m rewatching Babylon 5 and it’s putting me in the mood for an immersive game where I get to command a spaceship and blast stuff with lasers or plasma cannons or whatever.
I fondly remember playing Tie Fighter, Elite 2 and Privateer, and I was wondering if there were good games from this side of the millennium? I’ve tried playing Tie Fighter Total Conversion, but without a joystick I found it very hard to control. I’ve played some Elite Dangerous, and enjoy a bit of trading, but the combat is a bit too hard for me.
I’m a very casual gamer, and not looking for an mmo, or anything particularly challenging. I just want to zoom around in a spaceship as epic battles rage around me, and have a bit of a power fantasy.
Any suggestions?
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Everspace is very cool - it’s a rouge like where you upgrade your ship as you progress with very unique skills and different branches.
I’m also in love with Cosmoteer - 2D game where you can build, rebuild, salvage enemy ships, eventually create a small fleet and experiment a lot with different designs.Even though it’s an old game, Tachyon The Fringe is a great space shooter, it’s available on GOG and well worth it.
X4 foundations is a space shooter sandbox, with empire building, diplomacy and all what you can expect from a space game.
A lot of different ships and loadouts.
Not sure I’d describe that spreadsheet simulator as casual lol
+1 for Rebal Galaxy
Star Wars Squadrons is pretty good fun.
This was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the Tie Fighter mention. Though OP mentioned not having a joystick and I don’t have direct experience playing on controller so YYMV.
The single player campaign is short but fun and very nostalgic for enjoyers of the X-Wing/Tie Fighter era of games!
The online (if anyone even still plays) is anything but casual so I don’t necessarily recommend that unless you are super invested in it.
That looks fun! I am a sucker for games set in classic SW.
Fun in VR, too
Everspace 2 might be what you’re looking for. It’s fighter piloting and npt battleship style combat bit it’s one of the closest feels I had to what Xwing vs Tie Fighter was back in the day. You can drift and swap end for end just like XvT.
You might also like the spaceship portions of Star Wars Outlaws. I’ve been having fun in there, too.
everspace 2 should scratch that itch
Might be old now but Freelancer?
It has a campaign but there is also free play.
I like x4. It’s kind of like Elite Dangerous but the flight mechanics are a little easier and you can command much larger ships and hire NPC pilots and build fleets.
It’s a game that, as you build up money, it becomes less about flying around and more about managing fleets and your little economic empire. Still, one of the few that actually let you pilot fighters AND huge stuff like the carriers
For a game that’s themed as space battles and isn’t an action game, check out Cobalt Core. It’s a deckbuilding adventure about a space crew trying to escape from a time loop. The characters and story moments are fun and combat is like a turn-based puzzle of trying to position the ship to line up with enemy weak spots or to dodge missile barrages.
In increasing order of casualness I recommend: Elite Dangerous->X3/X4->Everspace/Everspace 2-> No Man’s Sky.
Everspace 2 is a spiritual successor to Freelancer, so probably your best bet ( Everspace 1 is more roguelike, but holds up nicely ). Speaking of Freelancer, I hear the game is still alive and has a vibrant community around it.
If you ever want to revisit Elite shoot me a message, I may help you with starting up. They say Elite doesn’t have a learning curve but a cliff, so help is usually needed. Luckily the game has the most welcoming and helpful community I’ve seen in/around a video game.
Other than these, there’s Chorus, but I haven’t played that one and it seems more story driven than open-ended.
If you’re into Babylon 5, there’s actually a game called Babylon 5: I’ve Found Her that captures the spirit of the fighter combat pretty well IMO. Might be worth checking out!
Wow! Didn’t know about that, thanks!!
If you want something a bit closer to Starfox, rather than an all-range flight arena, try Rogue Flight. It definitely evokes the power fantasy feeling, living up the classic arcade trope of “one ship being readied on a mission to save humanity”. There’s some very big-name voice actor work in it, as well.
Another good game for the “power fantasy” trope, though it’s a bit more outside the target, is Ace Combat 7. Or, perhaps any games in the series, but this one is pretty accessible. The combat is close to what you’d get in X-Wing/Tie-Fighter, but with fighter planes. It breaks from realism a little bit where needed to make the stunts fun. And, the story very much orients around the silent player character being “scary tough” in a fight, to the point enemy fighters are retreating just from seeing your wing markings.
No mention of Starlancer? It kinda flew under the radar but had a nice setting and good controls.
Everspace 2 is a blast(er). The combat is pretty arcadey but has some decent crafting and upgrading mechanics to it
Came here to say this!
I am not into crafting or upgrading at all, but the story, quests and simple but cool-looking combat kept me on it more than I am willing to admit.
Just be sure to take the second one, as the first one is a completely different type of game.
