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What are the best space combat simulation games for PC?

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9 Games Considered

9 Options ConsideredPriceSteam RatingGenre
Elite: Dangerous
MixedSpace Sim / Open World / MMO
Eve: Valkyrie
–
––
STAR WARS: Rogue Squadron 3D
Mostly Positive–
Starpoint Gemini Warlords
Mostly Positive–
FreeSpace 2
–Space-sim
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Elite: Dangerous

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Tim Etler
Stuart Kearney
Top Pro

Very realistic representation of space & star systems

•••
Elite Dangerous uses publicly available real world star maps that we have of the Milky Way consisting of 150,000 star systems. Although in the current beta, full access to the entire galaxy is limited, in the final game, you will be able to visit any of the 400 billion stars in our galaxy on a 1:1...
thermoplastics
Tim Etler
Top Pro

Built with future expansion in mind

•••
When Elite Dangerous come out, development won't stop. To build a game with the huge scope of Elite Dangerous, not all of it can be done at once, so the developers have adopted an approach of incremental improvement. Various game play elements are being designed as a foundation for later featur...
Tim Etler
Top Pro

Exploration at every level of detail

•••
Full exploration of the galaxy is planned, allowing you to be able to jump from star system to star system, and fly around within a solar system from planet to planet, eventually going all the way down to a planet's surface at a 1:1 scale in a later update. Planetary landings will require a lot...
thermoplastics
Tim Etler
Stuart Kearney
Top Pro

Great Oculus Rift integration

•••
Elite Dangerous has very good integration with the Oculus Rift thanks to its cockpit view only gameplay philosophy. All ship UIs are part of displays that appear on each side of you that appear when you turn your head, so accessing the navigation or ship menus happens seamlessly just by looking in...
thermoplastics
Top Con

Really complicated to learn

•••
Looking up faqs and trade routes from first hand users will be the norm for figuring out many aspects of Elite: Dangerous. On top of this notes will have to be taken, which is made more difficult by the fact the game does not support in game not taking. So a pad and paper is recommended to remember...
thermoplastics
Top Con

"Mile Wide and an Inch Deep"

•••
The game has a serious problem with depth and requires the user to repeat the same few fun actions over and over again. The world is massive and beautiful but feels empty. The game gets stale quickly despite being visually stunning.
Specs
Steam Rating:Mixed
Genre:Space Sim / Open World / MMO
Controller Support:Full
Co-Op:Multiplayer
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Eve: Valkyrie

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Paolo
Top Pro

Very addictive

•••
Even though there is some little lens flare, it's a very enjoyable game.
Paolo
Top Pro

Immersive

•••
It's like riding a wild roller coaster. Once you get the headset on, you have complete freedom in 3D space
Know any negative aspects of this option?
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STAR WARS: Rogue Squadron 3D

thermoplastics
Top Pro

GIve a great sense of taking part in the StarWars universe

•••
From the fantastic voice acting, the cinematic sequences to the licensed music and sound effects, this game gives off a great feeling of taking part in the universe of Star Wars. While there has been many games that have held the license, this has been regarded as one of the better titles for some...
thermoplastics
Top Pro

Medal system allows for plenty of replayability

•••
Each missions has a bronze, silver or gold medal that can be earned by completing the stage and certain tasks contained withing under a certain time limit. With gold being the toughest to earn, there is plenty of reason to revisit stages in order to earn the gold medal. This means hours of extra ti...
thermoplastics
Top Pro

Expansive content

•••
Even though this is an older game originally released for the Nintendo 64 back in 98, the amount of content is quite good as there is a plethora of missions available. Escort/rescue missions, dogfights and bombing runs make up some of this content, all of which take place on many different worlds...
thermoplastics
Top Pro

Easy to learn and play

•••
Rogue Squadron has very accessible controls that allows for the game to have a bunch of differing missions due to how easy it is to fly the ships. More akin to Starfox over Star Wars flight sim titles such as X-Wing, allows for arcadey controls that is no where near as punishing as other sims. This...
thermoplastics
Top Con

No graphical options

•••
The game is basically a straight port of the N64 title, meaning there is zero graphical settings to be found other than resolution (which is broken). So for those looking for a more polished title that would allow them to take advantage of PC centric graphical settings, this may not be the game for...
thermoplastics
Top Con

Mouse and keyboard controls are very poor

•••
This game was originally designed for a controller, which shows when trying to play with a keyboard and mouse. While this port does offer keyboard controls, they work so poorly that it makes the game almost unplayable when using this control scheme.
thermoplastics
Top Con

In game resolution settings may crash the game

•••
While there is a setting in the game to adjust the resolution the game is played in, changing this setting may make the game crash when a mission is launched. While this setting can be changed in an ini file which will not make the game crash, having a broken option in the game shows a lack of poli...
thermoplastics
Top Con

Controller settings need to be tweaked

•••
In order to get a controller working properly with the game, one will need to go into the settings of the game in order to change some options. Basically out of the box controller support is pretty poor, though once tweaked the controller will work fine.
Specs
Steam Rating:Mostly Positive
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Starpoint Gemini Warlords

FreeSpace 2

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X Rebirth

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Star Citizen

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thermoplastics
Top Pro

Includes a singleplayer mode, called "Squadron 42"

•••
Squadron 42 is a single player campaign that takes place in the in game universe that allows players to play offline.
Tim Etler
thermoplastics
Top Pro

Over $73 million in funding

•••
A game with the huge scope of Star Citizen will cost a lot of money to develop, and through multiple campaigns, Star Citizen has raised a huge amount of money to make that happen. More money means more developers, and designers which can lead to a ton of features.
thermoplastics
Top Pro

Vast, detailed sci-fi world

•••
A long term goal is to have over 400 different star systems in game, most of which will have many planets within them.
thermoplastics
Top Pro

Ability to command persistent ships and stations

•••
Players will be able to command multi-person ships with other users who will be able to command their own stations on said ships.
thermoplastics
Top Pro

Dynamic economy system

•••
The economy of the game and the actions to keep it moving are constantly going on in the background but allows for players to step in and out of it at their leisure in order to take part.
thermoplastics
Top Pro

A true PC game

•••
It's been stated that the game will take full advantage of PC's capabilities and will not be held back by a need to accommodate a console port.
Jordan Poirier
Top Con

Long waiting

•••
The game Will be release in 4 or 5 years.
Laura Kyle
Jordan Poirier
Top Con

Requires a powerful computer

•••
To be able to run the game you need an expensive pc with high end materials.
Jordan Poirier
Top Con

Maybe too big to be real

•••
The game want to be the biggest Space game ever. I want everything and maybe Will not be able to deliever.
thermoplastics
Top Con

Commercial launch is still a year away (2016)

•••
The commercial launch of the persistent universe game will be sometime in 2016.
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Galaxy on Fire HD

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WhiteLilac
Top Pro

Great controls

•••
WhiteLilac
Top Pro

Many different ships to fly

•••
WhiteLilac
Top Pro

Big part of the game is completely free

•••
Much of the games content is free through play, the only content locked behind paywalls are new missions, weapons, and ships. So while there may be somethings users would like to pay for, the majority of the game can be enjoyed without spending any cash.
Know any negative aspects of this option?
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No Man's Sky

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thermoplastics
Top Pro

Freedom to choose how you want to play

•••
Ally with factions, trade or just be a pirate. When trading with NPC aliens, you build up a positive reputation with the faction they belong to. Alternatively you can also be hostile and attack trade ships, or even be attacked by NPC pirate spaceships. Both can be ways to get what you need, so do w...
thermoplastics
Top Pro

Endless procedural generation

•••
This game procedurally generates almost everything. Your spaceships are procedurally generated, so are the planets, moons, every animal on these planets, the resource nodes, trade routes, languages, etc. When discovering new species or planets, players get to rename these and leave their mark on t...
thermoplastics
Top Pro

Good graphics

•••
The art style of this game is very colorful and saturated and uses hues in a way that it gives you an otherworldly feel. Graphics like these tend to remain good for a much longer time than classic 3D graphics.
thermoplastics
Top Pro

Massive galaxy to explore

•••
Thanks to the fact that the entire galaxy of No Man's Sky is procedurally generated, the amount of planets to explore is almost endless. The number of planets would be 18,446,744,073,709,551,616. However, the fact that 2 players managed to find each other in game on the first day, seems to make...
Tim Etler
Top Pro

Seamless space to planetary flight

•••
thermoplastics
Top Con

No clearly defined missions

•••
The objective of the game is to ultimately reach the center of the galaxy. However, the player is completely free and unguided from the beginning. You figure it out for yourself as you start mining, crafting and upgrading your ship and gear. This game doesn't have a big story to tell.
thermoplastics
Top Con

Expensive

•••
No Man's Sky is a pretty big production for an indie game as the team of devs and artists consisted of 14 people in the later stages of development. The game stands out above most indie games in size, features, technology and graphics. Along with the amount of enthusiasm from the gaming communi...
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11 Community Recommendations

Jordan Poirier
Ryan
Tim Etler
Stuart Kearney
Paolo
Geley
GraciousBobbiBobbi
TolerantShezmu
IndependentDalia
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