By Jim Rossignol on January 3rd, 2008 at 12:47 pm.
Looking for a remarkably complex interstellar warfare game with both space combat and planetary elements? Then you’re in luck, because Derek Smart’s Universal Combat, the fifth title in the not-for-wimps Battlecruiser series, has been released as freeware. At 445mb, or 28 Peggles, the game is a waif compared to modern titles, but it still has much to offer if you’re the kind of gamer who is chock full of grit… and patience. It’s not exactly a smooth ride and the game was looking fairly clunky when it came out in 2004, and hasn’t aged well. Not only that but it’s impenetrably complicated in places and had a 200-page downloadable manual to supplement the fairly beefy paper manual that came with the game… And I can’t find the manual download online. Still, even if it is scary: it’s also free.
03/01/2008 at 13:27 Optimaximal says:
DEREK SMART!
DEREK SMART!!
DEREK SMART!!!
03/01/2008 at 13:28 Hieremias says:
Free, eh? No deal. You’ll have to sweeten the offer to get me to play one of these things. They’re about as fun as a root canal.
03/01/2008 at 13:40 Iain says:
DEREK SMART’S DESKTOP COMMAAAAAANNNDDEEEEERRRRRR!!!
Gods, I’d love to see Yahtzee review some of Derek Smart’s games…
03/01/2008 at 13:52 Theory says:
Even the website looks like it’s stuck in a nineties time warp.
What on earth is this thing about anyway?
03/01/2008 at 14:16 Piratepete says:
looking at one of the videos is it really necessary to show the ship speed in metres per second to six decimal places?
03/01/2008 at 14:27 roryok says:
I saw a trailer this trailer for it on gamespy last year, I later had to have a double hip replacement operation because I LAUGHED MY HOLE OFF.
I have it saved in a folder somewhere called ‘the worst looking game of all time’. Seriously. What a putrid can of shite. I’d be afraid to install this in case it somehow eats my computer, or worse, encourages Derek Smart to continue making games long after he should have thrown himself in front of a bus.
03/01/2008 at 14:38 Jon says:
This game must be amazing, it was made by Derek.
Wait, is this the real Derek or simply an imposter puting the great name of Derek to shame….
03/01/2008 at 15:05 Piratepete says:
Roryok
That video truly is appalling I also wish I could run at 9.000000 mps, thats olympic speed i reckon, not bad considering he is holding a rifle.
You have to admit the engine is a cracker tho, i mean that planet really does look like a photorealistic Earth doesn’t it?
03/01/2008 at 15:51 Ging says:
Optimaximal: You’ve cursed us all! It’s only a matter of time before he appears before us now!
03/01/2008 at 16:27 roryok says:
Yep, photorealistic alright.
Set in glastonbury, but photorealistic.
03/01/2008 at 16:29 roryok says:
seriously, there are only two other titles I’d put in the same rough ballpark as being this bad, breed and boiling point. And both of those look shit hot compared to this.
03/01/2008 at 17:50 kuddles says:
I know it’s all trendy and cool to hate on Derek Smart, but I’m afraid it’s fully valid in this case. Universal Combat is proof that just because a game is complex doesn’t mean it’s deep.
03/01/2008 at 22:56 Hump says:
he still has to be given credit for releasing it as a freebee. I just wish more publishers would do this.
04/01/2008 at 04:06 Gerome says:
Knowing Derek “Smart” from his long-and-really-unbearable posts and his giant-even-more-unbearable ego, I’ll stay away from any of his games, even if he were the HL/Portal developer.
Well, not that much, but you get the point.
04/01/2008 at 09:14 Wrestlevania says:
…am I mistaken, or did the player somehow manage to hit himself in the face taking out his rifle in that Gamespy video?
Downloading now!
07/01/2008 at 17:41 Sum0 says:
For a long time I wanted to play Battlecruiser 3K or whatever it is (the predecessor to UC) because it looked so awesome: a truly freeform [i]universe[/i] with spaceships and tanks and soldiers. One day, I found a link to the freeware version, eagerly downloaded it, and then abandoned it five minutes later because it’s just… really… awful. It’s not even half a game.