Best Games With Aliens As The Good Guys

Summary

• Some video games feature alien races as allies, promoting peaceful interactions through trade and diplomacy.
• Games like Starbound and Destiny 2 showcase friendly alien species assisting humans in battles.
• Unique games like Journey To The Savage Planet and Kerbal Space Program highlight humorous and cooperative relationships with aliens.

Aliens often get the short straw in video games, ending up as the target that players must take down. They are either the sole, deadly adversary or general enemies that the player encounters while playing the game; however, some games promote peaceful relationships with alien races, and these races often act as allies.

Certain projects feature a single, powerful alien race that, for some reason, is intent on assisting the player. Others feature multiple alien races that the player can befriend and cooperate with toward common goals. Often, these games stress trade and diplomacy as the optimal way to deal with alien races, instead of down the barrel of a blaster.

8

Journey To The Savage Planet

Humorous Exploration Game

In Journey To The Savage Planet, the player works with a friendly corporate AI and a number of allied alien species, to explore a colorful alien world. The goal of this exploration is to discover and catalog the flora and fauna.

Journey To The Savage Planet is a very light-hearted and often humorous game. The way the player interacts with the friendly alien species is a great example of how interspecies interactions could potentially have positive outcomes. Overall, this is a quirky little game that is fun to play.

7

Kerbal Space Program

Help The Kerbals Get Into Space

In Kerbal Space Program, the player is allied with a species of small green aliens, the Kerbals. The player works alongside the Kerbals, who act as the game’s main protagonist in the journey of humankind’s quest for the stars.

Based on an incredibly complex physics simulation, this charming and often funny game revolves around overcoming engineering challenges to safely launch the Kerbals into space. Furthermore, with realistic orbital physics, the game requires the player to calculate fuel loads, thrusts, and vectors to help the Kerbals come back down safely.

DLC For The Original XCOM 2 Game

• Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, macOS
• Released: August 29, 2017
• Developer: Firaxis Games
• Genre: Strategy, turn-based combat

XCOM 2: War Of The Chosen is the transformative DLC for the original XCOM 2 game. Much more than just a continuation of the story, it adds some huge new gameplay features. Considered one of the best turn-based combat games, despite the often harsh RNG outcomes, WoTC brings friendly aliens to the game.

Two playable races, allied with the XCOM team, are added in the WoTC DLC. These are hybrid races that have evolved traits from the Eldars. These are the Skirmishes, the rebel Advent troopers, and the Templars, a semi-mystic warrior monk race.

5

Destiny 2

Popular Live Service Shooter

Destiny 2 is a live service game where players can either play solo or team up to meet challenges in a shared world. Playing as Guardians, players are tasked with protecting humanity from alien aggression.

The game features alien species that are friendly to humans, and often operate as allies in the battle to keep humans safe. These include the Eliksni and the Awoken. Both species have common enemies with humankind and assist in pushing the alien threat back. The rich lore and story, and clever optional co-op modes make Destinty 2 a natural choice for this list.

4

Starbound

Sandbox Space Adventure

The gameplay in Starbound takes place in a procedurally generated sandbox universe. Taking on the role of an intrepid space explorer, the player will meet a whole host of friendly alien species and cultures.

Indeed, the game requires the player to befriend the alien species that they encounter, to help them to build a new life out in the black. Collaboration and cooperation between species is a pivotal aspect of the gameplay in Starbound. Few games promote peace and coexistence over combat, and Starbound takes an entirely different view of relationships with alien races than most games.

3

The Outer Worlds

Action Role-Playing Game

As sci-fi games go, especially those that fall under the action role-playing genre, The Outer Wilds approaches relationships with alien species in a fairly unique way. The player is set adrift in a galaxy that is aggressively controlled by large corporations. To do well in the game, the player needs to form friendships and alliances with the alien races they meet.

The game is often funny, especially in the way the player communicates with the alien races they meet. The fact the game promotes meaningful cooperative relationships between species over direct conflict makes it something a little different.

2

Star Trek Online

MMORPG Based On The Classic Franchise

Star Trek is the longest-running sci-fi franchise, and arguably the one that has had the longest-lasting impact on the human psyche. In the Western hemisphere, at least. In Star Trek Online, the player joins a dedicated fan base in exploring the final frontier.

Forming alliances and relationships with alien species is a core part of the gameplay in Star Trek Online. Diplomacy underscores the gameplay in many ways. Yes, there are also alien conflicts, but it is cooperation and codependency that form the backdrop of the galaxy in this MMORPG.

1

No Man’s Sky

Space Survival And Exploration

Since its rocky launch, No Man’s Sky has matured into what many people consider the seminal space survival and exploration game of recent years. There are several friendly alien species that the player must interact with in No Man’s Sky, this includes the Gek, Korvax, Vy’keen, and the enigmatic, mysterious Travellers.

These alien races provide the player with clues about their languages, and they also act as traders and mission-givers in the game. Each start system is claimed by one of the three main races, and the player can raise their standing with each race, to improve relations.