In the endless expanse of space, you can sometimes find tiny bits of civilization, glittering in the darkness. While many of us will never make it to space, we can’t deny how appealing that last frontier is. Who doesn’t want to feel like they can touch the stars? A space station, even a simulated one, is like the realization of a dream.
That said, while space stations were created as beacons of civilization, you’ll often find them as the dilapidated covers of what they once promised to be. There’s treason in that. A beautiful futuristic place, undone by forces we can hardly ignore. Or maybe they are everything they promise to be. That’s up to you to decide.
9 Omega (Mass Effect 2)
If there’s one place in Mass Effect that’s the exact opposite of the other prominent space station, the Citadel, it’s Omega. It’s dark and dim, centered on the dance club that doubles as Aria T’Loak’s haunt and place of business, Afterlife. It’s the image of 80s cyberpunk, complete with grime and vibrant neon.
It was once a mining platform. Now Omega is the seedy underbelly of the galaxy that doesn’t even bother to hide its nature from prying eyes. Everyone knows what Omega is about. And if they don’t, well, that’s not really your problem, is it?
8 High Charity (Halo)
The moving capital of Halo’s The Covenant, High Charity, is more of a planet than a station. Home to billions of Covenant, it’s as much to admire as it is to fear. There’s something eerie about its almost jellyfish appearance, as if it’s an excellent creature from the depths of space, approaching you from a grand afterlife.
As a symbol of power and hegemony, it has drained countless worlds and people. It is a metropolis and a gesture of obscene wealth and power by the theocratic core of the Covenant.
7 Talos I (prey)
Prey’s Talos I is truly a sight to behold. Prey uses mid-century modern and Art Deco-inspired aesthetics to create his vibrant science space station in an alternate history version of the near future. So often in space fiction we find two kinds of space stations: those that are dark, rugged, and built to be mostly functional, or those that are bright and simplistic, streamlined in such a way that they appear futuristic rather than futuristic.
Talos I walks the line between a vision of the future seen from the past. Despite the calamity unfolding, Talos I, aesthetically, still has a strange warmth. Painted with the veneer of innovation and the promise of progress, you can understand why people would give up so much of their time on Earth to be there.
6 Your Station (Space Station Tycoon)
Hey, above all, this one is yours. Space Station Tycoon, like many tycoon themed games, requires you to build the biggest and best possible space station you can. You’ll have to think about what you want the station to look like, potential disasters, power production, docks, and everything else that makes a space station, well, a space station.
Fortunately, unlike so many other space stations in games, which consistently portray the loneliness and horror of the vastness, Space Station Tycoon is about creation. So go out and make something big.
5 Citadel station (system shock)
TriOptimum’s Citadel Station by System Shock serves as a mecca for corporate greed. Split into multiple levels, the station itself is relatively unassuming in the lower parts. There is storage, an infirmary, technology and the like. Above are the lavishly decorated living areas of corporate employees who call the station their home. It would be a fairly pleasant place to live.
If it’s not for SHODAN’s intervention, of course. The memorability of Citadel Station lies in the fear it evokes. It has been corrupted and desecrated by an entity driven by divine ambition, a monument to its eternal need.
4 The Citadel (Mass Effect)
The Citadel is a shining beacon of promise for all the spacefaring peoples of the galaxy. Mass Effect has its fair share of space stations, but none can compare to The Citadel’s awe-inspiring architecture. All the humans of the galaxy collide in this immense station, the center of galactic government and commerce.
The Citadel is ancient in origin and has a tinge of cosmic horror. It is a perfect place, full of beauty and possibility, attracting species from far and wide to its welcoming, bright rooms. Yet no one knows how the Citadel was built, assuming the mysteriously vanished precursor race, the Protheans, created it and the Mass Relays. It contains the secrets of thousands of modern and ancient alien races, although you will learn very few of them.
3 Ceres Space Colony (Super Metroid)
Ceres Station is the first location you visit in Super Metroid for the SNES. After Samus drops off the baby Metroid that unknowingly left a mark on the space bounty hunter, Samus soon receives a distress call from the station. Unfortunately, when she returns, the population has been massacred and Samus’ old rival Ridley has chased the baby away.
Ceres is a beacon for science and exploration, or it was before you got there. The deep blue color of the station evokes an ominous feel and the twisting architecture is the perfect introduction to the kinds of obstacles you will face as Samus Aran.
2 Sevastopol Station (Alien: Isolation)
The lo-fi world of Alien always leaves an impression. Built for commerce and trade, Sevastopol Station in Alien: Isolation easily evokes the feel of 1970s sci-fi. It’s so adept at this that even those unfamiliar with the tactile, bulky nature of old electronics will can feel immersed. Like so many other video game space stations, Sevastopol is the site of bloody horror, this time in the form of a Xenomorph.
As Amanda Ripley, you must put every skill in your arsenal to the test, dodging the Xenomorph and every other threat you encounter. Just don’t get caught.
1 The sprawl (dead space)
The Sprawl revolves around the tiny remnants of Saturn’s moon, Titan, and is the latest victim of the Necromorph plague. As Isaac Clarke, you must navigate this lonely nightmare of entrails, populated by the screeching dead.
Dead Space 2 has many terrifying locations, but nothing hits as hard as the sprawl. Industrial, dark corridors effortlessly put us on edge. Yet nothing hits as hard as an abandoned, bloody classroom. The Sprawl was once a home. Now it is a graveyard.
0 Comments