Summary
Open-world games are all the rage now, and while they might not always work perfectly, it is easy to see why. When Roberta Williams started working onKing’s Quest, she probably couldn’t have imagined a procedurally generated open world likeNo Man’s Skyor being able to explore Ancient Greece inAssassin’s Creed Odyssey. Technology has come a long way, to the point where it is now possible to build extremely detailed worlds full of interesting characters and stories the player can freely explore at their own pace. Some companies, like Ubisoft, have even become known for their love of open worlds and for making extensive use of the format. So it’s hardly surprising that some popular franchises have also been involved.
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Video games licensing popular franchises is nothing new. Making games out of iconic movies, books, TV shows, comics, and cartoons has happened as long as video games have existed. Some of them were disasters, like the infamousE.T.: The Video Game, but sometimes a popular franchise can be the basis for a really amazing game. This is especially true with the growing popularity of open worlds, a style that comes with a very attractive selling point: the player can immerse themselves in an iconic world.
There have been several superhero games that have had success with open worlds.Marvel’s Spider-Manwas a huge hit, and now there’s anupcoming Wonder Woman game. Ubisoft currently has aStar WarsandAvataropen world in the making. But these are hardly the only sci-fi franchises that could make great open worlds. There are still some that remain largely untouched.
5Alien
Ridley Scott’s 1979 “haunted house movie in Space” and James Cameron’s 1986 action-packed sequel continue to be huge influences on science fiction today. While fans may be divided on subsequent films, the first two have been the basis for a few games. The majority of them have taken the approach ofAliens, focusing on action-filled adventures as colonial marines face off against xenomorphs.Alien Isolationwas a notable exception, taking an approach closer to the originalAlienwith a civilian protagonist trying to survive while not being able to suitably fight back. Either approach could theoretically work for an open-world game; there might even be a way to combine them.
The logical setup for anAlienopen-world game is simple: a heroine stranded in an isolated environment that’s been overrun by xenomorphs. A ship or a station might work, or they could throw the player into a space colony. A pretty solid open world could probably be made of LV-426 (the moon where the aliens were first discovered), with an emphasis on survival not just against the xenomorphs but also a hostile environment. Such a game could allow the player to explore new and familiar locations (maybe even freely exploring the famous derelict ship), but it could also allow some fun exploration of the lore as the heroine inevitably stumbles across information on previous visitors and Weyland-Yutani’s role in the current mess.
4Dune
Frank Herbert’s iconic series of novels practically set the template for space opera, and there have been a few games based on the books or movies, but a proper open-world game could have some fun opportunities to explore its universe on a level Herbert could never have imagined. Most of the adaptations that have been made have been centered around the first book. There’s been the story of Paul Atreides in both the 1984 and 2021 films, so it might be refreshing to take advantage of the open world to bring out something new. They could draw on one of the later books or create an original story focused on the universe. There’s also some curious lore that could be delved into about how AI technology is illegal because of a forgotten catastrophe.
The simplest way to organize an open-worldDunegame would be to focus on Arrakis, the desert planet which is the source of the spice at the center of the galactic economy. This is the most easily recognizable setting and could offer some interesting gameplay mechanics. Desert survival could be emphasized, with the playerhaving to manage their hydration levels, and of course,there are the iconic sandwormsthey’d have to learn to ride. However, a more ambitious game could try to go further by allowing the player to freely explore the galaxy ofDune, which includes a variety of different planets and factions that could certainly have their own characters and stories.
3The Expanse
The popular book and TV series just made its first foray into video games withThe Expanse: The Telltale Series, but there could be some interesting opportunities for an open-world adventure.Compared to some ambitious upcoming sci-fi games, likeStarfieldandStar Wars Outlaws,The Expansedoes have the advantage of being scaled back. Most of the series takes place in our Solar System, so an open world would not require the developers to render hundreds of unique planets and can instead focus on developing the key settings. Traveling between Jupiter and Earth might be difficult to manage with the show’s more realistic science, but it wouldn’t even have to go that far. That said, if the developerswantedto go big,they could take advantage of the ring gate.
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The best option for an open-worldExpansegame would probably be to focus either on the asteroid belt or one of the outer planets, perhaps Jupiter or Saturn. Now anyone with a basic knowledge of astronomy can attest that landing on either would be impossible, but they do both have a ridiculously large number of moons (95 for Jupiter, 146 for Saturn), many of which could provide unique locations to explore. This approach would also allow the game to take advantage of the series' most distinct group, the Belters, which in itself would be more than enough to open the door for the player to get caught up in intrigue and mystery.
2The Matrix
The Wachowskis' 1997 sci-fi was a philosophical odyssey into the lines between reality and simulation that became famous for its crazy stuntwork and heavy use of bullet time. There were a handful ofMatrixgames, but only 2005’sThe Matrix Onlineand the tech demoThe Matrix Awakenscame close to being open world. This is unfortunate since the films have some stuff that could make fun mechanics. A lot of the bizarre martial arts-inspired stuntwork and slow motion was motivated by the idea that, once one was aware they were in a simulation, they no longer had to conform to the rules of reality. This could offer some cool opportunities for players to find creative solutions to problems.
An open-world game might have one daunting task – it would have to allow both the Matrix and the real world to be freely explored, but the unique properties of the Matrix could allow some very different and contrasting gameplay between them, with the real world presumably being more grounded and requiring less extravagant methods. The game wouldn’t even need to feature Neo. They could introduce an entirely new hero.The Matrix Resurrectionsattempted to explorehow things were changed by Neo’s sacrifice, and even if it wasn’t the most successful at doing so, it did propose an interesting setting idea. Putting the game in the aftermath ofRevolutionscould allow the player to explore a familiar but still unique world where they can also get to know the machines, maybe even make one a playable character.
1Star Trek
Surprisingly, for a series so iconic,Star Trekdoes not have a huge repertoire of video games.There have been a few, but most of them are either space flight simulators or management games, both with the selling point of being the captain of a starship. The only real RPG isStar Trek Online, but a single-player story-focused game could add a lot.Star Trekhas a pretty extensive canon that includes a ton of unique worlds, any one of which could be the basis of a solid open world. Another option might be to introduce a new setting entirely. An open-world game where the player is a Starfleet officer exploring an unfamiliar planet and uncovering its secrets could make a pretty cool experience.
That said, there are several upcoming games likeStarfieldandStar Wars Outlawsthat have the more ambitious promise of allowing free exploration of a galaxy. While it would be impossible to incorporate every planet featured in theStar Trekfranchise, an open-world game that allowed players to freely explore iconic worlds, ships, and stations would certainly get fans excited. The game wouldn’t even need to follow a Starfleet protagonist; focusing on a pirate or an independent traveler might be a refreshing change or even shifting perspective to one of the other major factions.
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