Who would Han Solo be without the Millennium Falcon? What would Strek Trek be without the Enterprise? In sci-fi, the spacecraft become as much of a character as the actors themselves, and the same goes for video games.
Whether it's a lumbering, larger-than-life destroyer or a fighter that you're able to nimbly pilot around the galaxy, one of the coolest aspects of sci-fi games has to be the spaceships. From retro classics to immersive, groundbreaking modern marvels, here are the coolest spaceships that have appeared throughout video game history.
10 The Saucer - Destroy All Humans!
What list of spaceships would be complete without a classic Roswell-style saucer? In the retro-styled Destroy All Humans! series, the saucers are capable of doing everything that classic science fiction says - abduct people, drain the battery out of vehicles, and shoot lasers. In the game, it was also where players could extract DNA from the abducted humans and perform experiments that would help create better weapons. The franchise's newest edition has just been released, to excellent reviews.
9 Venture-Class Corvette - Wing Commander
Wing Commander was released in 1990 and helped usher in a new era of outer space gameplay. It was even awarded the 1991 Game of the Year award. In the game, the players are part of the Terran Confederation in the year 2654. The Terran's Venture ships were equipped with laser cannons, heat-seeking missiles, and target-locking capabilities. Wing Commander helped change the face of gaming forever (and also created a very poorly received 1999 film).
8 Great Fox - Star Fox
The Great Fox was first introduced in Starfox 64 as the team's home base. It was also a powerful battleship and aircraft carrier headed by General Pepper, the Commander in Chief of the Corneria Defense Force.
Not only was the ship a powerful force in the Star Fox games, but it has also appeared as a stage in every Super Smash Bros. game in the franchise. Before the Great Fox, the only mention to a "mothership" was a small space station in Star Fox 2. However, the station had no defense capabilities and was never seen in motion.
7 Colonial Scout- EVERSPACE
In EVERSPACE, you traverse the wreckage of a galactic war. However, you quickly realize the war isn't fully over. In the game, you choose from multiple ship types, the most unique being the scout. While the scout has the weakest armor of any of the fighters, it's also the fastest and swiftest in the entire fleet. The scout also comes with an array of features the other ships don't, like a cloaking device and the ability to teleport. It requires some training to get used to but proves to be the most exciting ship in the game. EVERSPACE has been called one of the best sci-fi games in recent years, and its sequel is set to release in 2021.
6 Outrider - Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
Shadows of the Empire takes place between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and follows mercenary Dash Rendar as he helps Luke Skywalker rescue Leia. In the game, his ship, the Outrider, will look familiar to any Star Wars fan.
That's because is a YT light freighter, just like Solo's Millenium Falcon. One of the highlights of the game is being able to fly through space in the Outrider, shooting down Imperial fighters. In 2019, the game received a remastered re-release with improved sound and graphics.
5 SSV Normandy - Mass Effect
The SSV Normandy in Mass Effect is a gamer favorite. The ship's design looks like a futuristic Concorde, and is equipped with a wide array of features, including a powerful stealth system, lasers, kinetic shields, and a heavy-duty cannon. The ship also carries the team's M35 Mako, a highly agile tank used for ground battles. The Normandy is destroyed at the start of Mass Effect 2 by a surprise attack, and its successor, the Normandy SR-2, is used throughout the rest of the game.
4 USG Ishimura - Dead Space
The massive mining vessel, the Ishimura, was known as a "planet cracker" for its ability to mine and smelt entire asteroids, moons, and planets. On top of the mining efforts, the Ishimura had a large medical section used for treating ailments as well as experimental research.
At the start of Dead Space, the Ishimura is boarded by an infector, a parasitic alien that spreads the necromorph contagion in order to infect more bodies to keep the virus alive. The Ishimura is the setting of Dead Space and numerous chapters of Dead Space 2.
3 Protoss Carrier - StarCraft
Carriers act as giant flying aircraft carriers, and hold a fleet of fighter drones called interceptors. One of the coolest things in StarCraft is building an army of carriers that can unleash a flurry of interceptor attacks. In the original PC games, a fleet of carriers could cause so much carnage that it would actually cause the game to lag. Despite Terrans being the most popular race in the StarCraft games, the Protoss Carrier is by far fans' favorite ship in the entire series.
2 Samus Aran's Gunship - Metroid Series
Surprisingly, Samus' ship never had an official name. Even more surprising, the ship was not featured in the original Metroid game for Nintendo, but was first introduced in the Game Boy sequel Metroid II: Return of Samus. In the beginning, the ship served mostly as a prop.
But as the games continued, the ship's role grew bigger and bigger. The ship's design is very much Nintendo, choosing smooth edges and a cartoonish approach rather than aiming for gritty realism.
1 UNSC Pillar of Autumn - Halo
At the start of the first Halo game, the Pillar of Autumn exits slipspace and discovers a giant ringworld. The Covenant quickly begin battering the ship, causing the crew to evacuate onto the world. The Pillar of Autumn quickly became a favorite among fans, not only for its immense size and awesome design but also for the importance it holds in the game. In order to destroy the Halo, the crashed Pillar of Autumn needs to be detonated.
Luckily for fans, the ship returned in the prequel Halo: Reach. The ship itself carried the UNSC throughout space, housed the Pelican dropships and Warthog jeeps, and was outfitted with an impressive defensive armament.