One of the most fun things about any kind of fiction, video games included, is the potential to take us to new and different worlds.
We often take our concept of normal life for granted here on Earth, thanks to things like atmospheric conditions. On a different planet, though, the climate, topography, and even laws of physics can be completely alien from what we know and understand.
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Games with a sci-fi or fantasy tilt can take us to all kinds of different planets, from fantastical worlds rich with mysterious magic to hyper-advanced, wholly artificial constructs.
There have been more named worlds than you can count in games over the years, but there are definitely a few that stick in our minds.
Kirby (Series)
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
Planet Popstar is the main setting of theKirbyseries, and the home of Kirby, King Dedede, Meta Knight, and all those other cute little critters.
Despite looking like a giant yellow star from space, its surface is perfectly habitable, with a variety of different biomes like grasslands, deserts, and so on.
Besides its giant star shape, Popstar is a pretty unassuming planet in the grand scheme of things, which is why it’s kind of weird how often it seems to attractextraterrestrial and extradimensional threatslike Nightmare, Haltmann Works, Jambastion, and Dark Matter.
Of course, Kirby himself is a bit of an extraterrestrial super-organism. You know what they say: beings of overwhelming power tend to attract one another, and nobody who’s picked a fight with Kirbs and his friends has stuck around to talk about it.
Borderlands
Pandora is the main setting of the originalBorderlands, and a recurring planet throughout all subsequent games in the series.
The games’ characters often refer to Pandora as the planetary equivalent of a slum on the wrong side of the tracks, and with fair reason.
Pandora is not kind to sapient life in the slightest, crawling with dangerous, predatory creatures and regularly subjected to bizarre natural (and supernatural) phenomena.
Literally, no one would bother setting foot on Pandora if it weren’t for the legend of the Vault, which goes a long way toward driving local economic interests like a tourist trap.
Incidentally, there’s no relation between this Pandora and the ones inthe Avatar films, though that is something of an old joke.
In fact, in Telltale’s Poker Night 2, everyone at the table busts Claptrap’s chops about the comparison, with Ash Williams jokingly asking, “What’s James Cameronreallylike?”
Oddworld (Series)
Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee
Oddworldis, obviously, the main setting of the Oddworld series, a planet covered in a variety of mildly extreme climates like deserts, rainforests, and ice floes.
Every Oddworld game to date has been set on a single one of Oddworld’s continents, Mudos, which is home to various civilized species and a whole lot of gross and unpleasant critters. What exists beyond Mudos’ confines, we can’t say.
Interestingly, a large portion of Oddworld and its various populations are subtly steeped in mystic ways. Nearly every sapient race has or had some degree ofbelief or spirituality all its own, with prime examples being the Mudokens and Gabbits.
Even the grubby Glukkons used to be a spiritual race themselves, though they eventually traded that out for heavy industrialization, which has led to large swaths of the planet becoming mechanized and covered in smog.
The planet Zebes is (or at leastwas) a major recurring world in theMetroidseries, being the setting of the very first game.
It was on Zebes that Samus Aran was raised from childhoodby the Chozofollowing her colony’s destruction, as well as where the genetic blueprints for the first Metroids were finalized by the living computer, Mother Brain.
The planet itself is nothing to write home about, made up mostly of cave networks and the occasional underground forest.
The Space Pirates certainly didn’t invade for the scenery; they were after Chozo technology on Mother Brain’s command, particularly the Metroids.
It was on Zebes that Samus, as an adult bounty hunter, would defeat Mother Brain and the Space Pirate forces on two occasions.
Unfortunately, due to a load-bearing time bomb that was activated following Mother Brain’s defeat in Super Metroid, the entire planet was destroyed.
Corneria is the fourth planet of the Lylat system in theStar Foxseries, and the unofficial capital planet of the whole system.
It’s a pleasantly lush planet, covered in both large metropolitan cities and comfy rural farming communities.
The majority of sapient, mammalian lifeforms who live in the Lylat system originally came from Corneria. The only reason any other planet has intelligent life is because of efforts to explore and colonize by the Cornerian government and military.
The only other planet in the Lylat system of comparable size and relative habitability is Venom, the residents of which are mostly reptiles and, for some reason, monkeys.
Even Venom’s de facto leader Andross, though, was originally from Corneria before his exile.
5Timber Hearth
Outer Wilds
Timber Hearth is your birthplace and home in theOuter Wilds, and pretty much the only properly habitable planet in the entire solar system.
Compared to the constant storms of Giant’s Deep and the fractured landscape of Brittle Hollow, Timber Hearth is downright cozy with its lush forest and flowing waters.
It’s thanks to these ideal conditions that the Hearthians have thrived and advanced far enough to strike out into the deep dark on their own.
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2019’s two similarly-named space exploration games, The Outer Worlds and Outer Wilds, get a name swap with this crafty logo flip.
Of course, considering the Dark Bramble seed that impacted the other side of the planet at the game’s start, it probably wouldn’t have lasted much longer, even if the whole supernova thing wasn’t a factor.
Interestingly, according to some Nomai notes, they had been watching the planet and the Hearthians in their prototypical state, and were impressed at how hardy they were.
Gears Of War
Gears of War
Sera is the main setting of theGears of Wargames, a planet similar to, yet distinct from, Earth. Much like Earth, it’s home to humanity and has the various natural resources necessary to sustain it.
However, Sera is also home to a massive population of underground burrowing critters. These critters have been digging through the planet’s crust for so long that there’s a massive honeycomb network of tunnels and hollows just under the surface.
It was here that humanity discovered its primary fuel source, Imulsion, though it was the mining of that fuel that would ultimately lead to the genetic experiments resulting inthe creation of the Locust. Whoopsies.
Following the emergence of the Locust Horde and their war with humanity, Sera became a substantially less nice place to live, thanks in no small part to numerous Hammer of Dawn attacks from orbit.
3Installation 04
Halo: Combat Evolved
Whether or not you’d call the manyHaloinstallations of the Halo franchise “planets” is somewhat debatable, as they are entirely artificial.
Even so, they are planet-sized, are relatively habitable, and even have distinctive topography. Who says a planet has to be wholly natural, anyway?
Of all the Halo installations, the most iconic is, of course, Installation 04, the setting of the original Halo: Combat Evolved game.
The interior surface of Installation 04 is roughly analogous to an Earth-like world, covered largely by oceans and forested islands. Strangely, the climate is all over the place, with some parts of the ring experiencing tropical storm conditions and others under constant snowfall.
Installation 04 was originally discovered by the Covenant, who took command of it and revered it as the “First Holy Ring” of the Forerunners.
Following that, it was discovered by UNSC forces fleeing Reach, and that’s when the whole conflict with Master Chief went down.
Ratchet And Clank
Ratchet & Clank
The planet Veldin is Ratchet’s adopted home world in the originalRatchet and Clank, which he frequently returns to between big adventures.
Veldin is a desert world, kind of like Tatooine in Star Wars. It’s dry, it’s hot, it’s rocky, and there’s not a whole lot to do. Even so, it’s mostly peaceful, with Ratchet working as a mechanic in his home and garage while dreaming of the stars.
It was only thanks to Clank’s chance landing on Veldin that Ratchet finally got a chance to explore the wider galaxy, but the two still used Ratchet’s garage as their primary residence after their first adventure.
After the events of Going Commando, the duo moved to Endako for a while, but returned to Veldin to repel the tyhrranoid invasion headed by Dr. Nefarious in Up Your Arsenal.
1Super Earth
Helldivers
Super Earth and its associated Federation are the home of the titular Helldivers Corps of theHelldiversgames.
Now, you might be thinking, “isn’t Super Earth just Earth with an adjective in front of it?” To which we say, no, sir! For could any Earth that doesn’t know the wonders of Managed Democracy truly be called Earth at all?
Jokes aside, Super Earth is a hypothetical future version of our own Earth in which a singular government controls the whole thing following the end of a massive war. It’s kind of like how, in Futurama, Earth has a singular President and flag.
While you don’t actually get to spend much time on Super Earth in the Helldivers games, you’re constantly being reminded of its existence.
It’s the capital of a 260-planet-strong federation, and it’s for the glory of Super Earth that every Helldiver soldier willhappily march to their deathon mysterious worlds.
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