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GamingSingle PlayerRPGPC GamesSpace OperaSpace simulationStory RichSpace Games

What are the best single-player space opera RPGs on PC with a world and story so rich that you get lost in it?

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Dec 9, 2023

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10 Games Considered

Best single-player space opera RPGs on PC with a world and story so rich that you get lost in it	Price	Steam Rating	Genre
-- Knights of the Old Republic	-	Very Positive	Sandbox
-- Mass Effect	$19.99	-	Action Role-Playing, Third-Person Shooter
-- Mass Effect 2	$19.99	Mixed	Action Role-Playing, Third-Person Shooter
-- Oxygen Not Included	$22.99	Overwhelmingly Positive	Survival
-- Mass Effect Trilogy	$39.99	-	Action Role-Playing, Third-Person Shooter

Knights of the Old Republic

Top Pro

Handles Star Wars license well

Seeing things like Jedi vs Sith and politics in the game that are now staples of the newer movies helps to feel as though the game fits into the cannon quite well. With so many movie license games in the past being quick cash-ins it is great to see the Star Wars license used in a manner that fits with the cannon and of high quality development. See More

Top Con

Somewhat buggy

Crashes can happen while playing, while not a huge deal they can be annoying. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Controller Support:HID (IOS), Yes (PC)

Top Pro

Longevity through multiple playthroughs

The games story is pretty deep and the text that can be found withing that tells it will take multiple playthroughs to see it all, making for not only a good reason to play many times but creates the feel of a very deep universe. See More

Mass Effect

Top Pro

Calm and thoughtful atmosphere

There's something calming about Mass Effect's atmosphere that really gives you the space to think and reflect. Exploring places like the indoor trade port Noveria feels special because of the cool blue color scheme, the blizzard blowing outside the full pane windows, and the ambient, yet quietly emotional synth music looping in the background. Even the title screen has a thoughtful song playing over the beautiful sight of Earth from orbit. The atmosphere is wonderful in a way that's almost nostalgic, making you feel right at home each time you start up the game. See More

Top Con

Tedious inventory management

The game overloads your inventory with weapon upgrades, modifiers, equipment, and all sorts of duplicates of those items. Clearing out your inventory can take several minutes at a time since there's no quick way to select the things you don't want and get rid of them. If you're diligent enough to trek to a store to sell things off every single time you're low on inventory space, you can make quite a bit of money, but it's not always convenient to do this, like when you're out in the middle of a remote planet. It takes a lot of patience to not get annoyed with managing all of your items and components. See More

Specs

Genre:Action Role-Playing, Third-Person Shooter

Top Pro

Good romance subplots

The romance subplots in Mass Effect are great. Playing as male Shepard, you can romance either Liara or Ashley, while female Shepard can romance Liara or Kaidan, your human male squadmate. There are certain consequences for being unfaithful where your partner will confront you or the person you're cheating with in a heated showdown. Sticking with one person for the whole game rewards you with a romantic scene near the end of the story. A lot of care and attention went into these subplots, giving you the chance to see each of the characters in a new light. See More

Top Con

Clunky third-person shooting combat

The third-person shooting part of Mass Effect isn't that fun because of how janky it is. Your character gets glued to cover whenever you're close to a wall instead of letting you press a button to enter cover whenever you want. The actual shooting mechanics are slow and heavy, and with guns that overheat if you keep firing them for too long. Suicidal squadmates run around getting killed unless you remember to keep directing them to hide behind cover everywhere you go. The combat is just unsatisfying, clearly taking a backseat to the game's story and characters. See More

Top Pro

You can customize your protagonist Commander Shepard

There are lots of ways to make Commander Shepard feel like your own character. The character creator at the start of a new game lets you change all sorts of options, from your hair, to your skin color, the shape of your nose, mouth, and ears, and so much more. Or, if you prefer, you can simply stick with the default male or female Shepard. You also get to pick which class you want to be for combat: soldier, infiltrator, vanguard, adept, or sentinel, each with their own unique abilities, like the adept's helpful "magic spells" and the infiltrator's specialty with sniper rifles. You can role-play as Shepard however you want, with plenty of options to customize your looks and your combat specialties for whichever role suits you the most. See More

Top Con

Vehicle controls with the Mako are absolutely terrible

Driving around on planets to get from place to place in the Mako is awful. Controls aren't as responsive as they should be and the vehicle's physics are all over the place. Just trying to make basic turns is bad enough; roving up a rocky mountain, for example, makes the Mako bounce and spin around like it's in zero gravity. These driving parts are mandatory and unskippable, so there's no way around them. It's so bad that the developers got rid of the Mako in Mass Effect 2 and 3, but you unfortunately still have to deal with it here. See More

Top Pro

Your choices have true consequences on the story

Your choices have direct consequences on how the story plays out, not only in this game but also across the rest of the Mass Effect trilogy. You get to choose between options like sparing or killing off an entire race of potentially dangerous enemies, saving or sacrificing one of your own squad members to finish an operation, and dealing with an enraged teammate who feels betrayed by your actions. How you handle certain side objectives during story missions can also have an impact on how the galaxy at large reacts to you. Each of your decisions, big and small, carry over through your save files to Mass Effect 2 and 3, opening things up for many different playthroughs to see how things turn out with other choices. See More

Top Pro

Memorable cast of authentic characters

Mass Effect has an amazing cast of both human and alien characters who feel like real people. While just about any NPC you meet is fantastic, your squad members are the ones that stand out the most. They all have backstories and traits that are believable and natural. Ashley is a human soldier who joins your team early on. As you chat with her in between missions, you get to learn about her history with her family and religious faith back on Earth. But then as you explore the Citadel, the game's main hub area, she makes snide comments about all the aliens around, keying you in on her true feelings about non-humans. By contrast, your scientist team member Liara is an asari: Mass Effect's species of blue female-only aliens. Despite being reserved and shy, Liara often jumps at the chance to gush about her research. Talking to her gives you the chance to learn more about the asari and why exactly she's so devoted to her academic studies. Getting to know everyone through dialogue and squad banter is a lot of fun, making it easy to grow attached to your favorite characters. See More

Mass Effect 2

Top Pro

Good romance subplots

The romance subplots in Mass Effect 2 are great. Playing as male Shepard, you can romance most of your female squadmates, while female Shepard can romance most of the male squadmates. If you romanced someone in the first Mass Effect, then that story continues here in Mass Effect 2. There are certain consequences for being unfaithful where your partner will confront you or the person you're cheating with in a heated showdown. Sticking with one person for the whole game rewards you with a romantic scene near the end of the story. A lot of care and attention went into these subplots, giving you the chance to see each of the characters in a new light. See More

Top Con

The main enemies, the Collectors, feel misplaced in the trilogy

The Mass Effect trilogy's story is about stopping the Reapers -- ancient, unknowable beings who destroy all life -- but this gets interrupted in Mass Effect 2 by the Collectors who are more like minions of the Reapers. The Collectors are dangerous because they harvest humans, though this is not as important as the Reapers who seek to end all life in the galaxy in Mass Effect 3. It would have made sense for Mass Effect 2 to focus on the Reapers instead of the Collectors, since they're more of a secondary problem. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mixed

Genre:Action Role-Playing, Third-Person Shooter

Top Pro

You can customize your protagonist Commander Shepard

There are lots of ways to make Commander Shepard feel like your own character. The character creator at the start of a new game lets you change all sorts of options, from your hair, to your skin color, the shape of your nose, mouth, and ears, and so much more. Or, if you prefer, you can simply stick with the default male or female Shepard. You also get to pick which class you want to be for combat: soldier, infiltrator, vanguard, adept, or sentinel, each with their own unique abilities, like the adept's helpful "magic spells" and the infiltrator's specialty with sniper rifles. You can role-play as Shepard however you want, with plenty of options to customize your looks and your combat specialties for whichever role suits you the most. See More

Top Con

Levels are very linear

Mass Effect 2's levels are more like winding corridors with the occasional wide open space here and there. You always have a clear sense of where to go next, but there isn't much room for exploration. It's also obvious when enemies are about to show up, since you'll come to a place with a bunch of chest-high walls conveniently spread around the area for you to take cover behind. It's unimaginative, making missions feel like you're only going from point A to B. See More

Top Pro

Improved third-person shooting combat from the first game

The combat in Mass Effect 2 is much better than its predecessor in every way possible. You can enter cover and vault over it whenever you want this time around instead of your body magnetically sticking to whichever surface you stand next to. Guns use expendable thermal clips, which are like bullet clips, meaning you're no longer held back by your weapons overheating if you fire them too much. They also feel more satisfying to shoot with a real kick to them, especially the meatier shotguns and sniper rifles. Your squadmates are smarter this time around, like how you can order them to use their own abilities to chain them with yours for cool bonuses like melting armor with fire powers. The combat is actually fun in Mass Effect 2 and stands on its own next to the great story and characters. See More

Top Pro

Your choices have true consequences on the story

Your choices have direct consequences on how the story plays out, not only in this game but also across the rest of the Mass Effect trilogy. In Mass Effect 2, you get to choose between options like keeping or destroying inhumane scientific research that could help an entire galactic race, or exposing the dark truth about a squadmates' family for the greater good or keeping it hidden. Who you bring along for the final mission and how you lead your team has a huge impact on the ending. Each of your decisions, big and small, carry over into Mass Effect 3, opening things up for many different playthroughs to see how things turn out with other choices. See More

Top Pro

Memorable cast of authentic characters

Mass Effect 2 has an amazing cast of both human and alien characters who feel like real people. While just about any NPC you meet is fantastic, your squad members are the ones that stand out the most. You have about ten squadmates to choose from, not including DLC characters. They all have backstories and traits that are believable and natural. Their personalities shine through the most during their optional loyalty missions where you help them complete certain personal tasks separate from the main story. One of your human squadmates, Miranda, is cold and intimidating at first, since she distrusts you for her own reasons. Her loyalty mission is unexpectedly emotional, showing Miranda as more flawed and caring than she lets on. There's also Garrus, one of your returning squadmates from the first Mass Effect. He's a turian that looks somewhat bird-like in design, but his easygoing personality is very cool, making him feel relatable and reliable. His loyalty mission shows his darker side as you help him tie up loose ends from his past. Getting to know everyone through dialogue and squad banter is a lot of fun, making it easy to grow attached to your favorite characters. See More

Oxygen Not Included

Top Pro

Requires advanced planning

This game provides a real challenge when it comes to planning your base's inner layout. You need to take into account gas and fluid dynamics to ensure that your Duplicants have breathable air and aren't intoxicated by contaminated water. See More

RickZeeland's Experience

Now on offer on Steam for only 7,81€ See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Overwhelmingly Positive

Co-Op:Single Player

Top Pro

Loveable, cute characters

Every Duplicant has a name and unique appearance, as well as personal traits. They are very cute and funny, which makes you fully invested in their well-being. See More

Top Pro

Realistic game mechanics

For a light-hearted game, Oxygen Not Included takes laws of physics and biology very seriously. Characters, or Duplicants, require regular meals and fresh water. They can hold their breath, but only for a limited time. Extremely cold and hot temperatures hurt them. Given high enough stress level, they can even experience nervous breakdown that causes them to vomit excessively or start binge-eating colonie's food supplies. See More

Mass Effect Trilogy

Top Pro

Evolving gameplay mechanics

Gameplay mechanics get better with each new part release of the game. Each new release iterates on top of the mechanics found in the last. See More

Top Con

Poor ending that undercuts all players decisions made before it

It is widely known that the ending to Mass Effect was not great. Sadly it disrespects the players investment into the game, all of their choices leading up to the conclusion. By not allowing the player to have any meaningful feedback after the last choice in the game is made it does not allow for a sense of closure and makes everything done beforehand seem futile as if it was a waste of time. See More

Specs

Genre:Action Role-Playing, Third-Person Shooter

Top Pro

The player can meaningfully impact the world

Moral choices in the game can impact the story in meaningful way. There are instances where the player is given the choice of saving one team mate over another, depending on who they choose will affect how the rest of the story unfolds. See More

Top Pro

Great voice acting

By purposefully adding in fantastic voice acting it causes the player to feel more engaged and elicit emotional responses out of them. This is a tool used on purpose in order to make the player feel more immersed in the world of the game. See More

Top Pro

Understanding of the world is required to make informed decisions

The games introduce a large number of races, very distinctive in both appearance, traits and history. Throughout the trilogy the politics and relationships between these races are explored and must be navigated by Commander Shepard. In Mass Effect the worlds and races are not merely background information, they must be understood and indeed shaped by the player. See More

Bioshock

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Co-Op:Single Player

Lost Planet 3

Top Pro

An intruiguing world

Lost Planet 3 puts players on a frozen ice planet, a world rich with huge monsters and a cast of cool and quirky characters. There's a mystery that players need to unravel throughout the course of the game. See More

Top Con

Fans of the previous games might not enjoy it

Lost Planet 3 is a great third-person shooter in its own right, but it may disappoint fans of the previous two entries because it breaks a lot of the game's established rules in terms of story and structure. See More

RickZeeland's Experience

Now on offer on Humble Bundle for only €4.99 https://www.humblebundle.com/store/lost-planet-3 See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mixed

Top Pro

Incredible storytelling

Games aren't really known for having great writing or performances, but Jim Peyton's story is awesome. He's a guy who's left his family on a work contract for years, hoping to make a better life for them. The game's great dialogue and eclectic cast of characters is wonderful. Even a generic NPC can spout some clever and funny lines from time to time. See More

Dying Light: The Following - Enhanced Edition

Top Con

Not a "space opera" game

Top Pro

Rewarding side-missions

There's a wide variety of side-quests and a large chunk of them are multi-part adventures with great storytelling. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Overwhelmingly Positive

Genre:Open-World / Survival / FPS

Co-Op:4 Player Online / 4 Player LAN

Controller Support:Full

Top Con

Poor plot and characters

The story is nothing new with many elements that are just too familiar at this point. A reluctant hero and a cold government agent mixed with a rather basic plot points to a lack of imagination and an obvious attempt to create a game for the masses. See More

Top Pro

Expansive weapon-crafting system

There are blueprints found throughout the gameworld that can be used to modify existing weapons in a wide variety of ways by adding various elements to them and creating weapons such as enemy-seeking grenades, exploding throwing stars, and makeshift bats with nails through them. See More

Top Con

Poor multi-threading

Sadly, Dying Light does not do multi-threading very well which results in low frame-rates. For a modern game that is to be played on consoles or PCs with multiple cores, it is mind boggling that proper multi-threading has not been taken full advantage of. This simply comes down to laziness, something that is not new to Techland and their poorly optimized ports. See More

Top Pro

Satisfying combat

The combat is impactful, visceral, and offers a great deal of variety in terms of available weapons and different enemy types. It presents a reasonable amount of challenge that is rewarding to overcome and offers multiple ways of emerging victorious in each encounter. See More

Top Pro

Fluid parkour movement

The main protagonist is capable of scaling buildings, jumping over obstacles, and vaulting over zombies with ease, making traversing the open world city a lot more enjoyable. See More

Top Pro

Four player LAN or online co-op

Dying light features up to four player LAN and online co-op. See More

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