Universal Combat (PC)

Except you aren't, and that's because the game has many flaws. The game is pretty bug-ridden, but it's not just that; 3000AD release patches pretty regularly that slowly address most of them. No, what's worse is that some of the ways in which various sections of the game have been implemented are disastrous.

Take ground combat for example. Try sending 10 marines down to a planet and then keep them together as an effective fighting unit. The game really doesn't make it easy to issue orders on-the-fly. Other examples include procedures that should be simple - like sending some shuttles down to a moon to deploy mining drones - but are overly tedious to actually make use of.

It's a terrific shame, because had UC been made by a larger developer (or with a larger budget maybe) it really would have achieved its ambitions. As it stands, though, it's a flawed gem. If you're willing to put up with various annoyances, some large and some small, and have a lot of patience, you really can get a rewarding game out of UC. Honestly. Most won't have that kind of patience though. Grab hold of the demo before buying this one.

In Universal Combat, you have a game that tries to be incredibly ambitious, thousands of interactive characters, planet side activity, space side activity, loads of career options, a whole damn battlecruiser to play with, shuttle's to pilot, fighters to pilot, ground units, etc...! Unfortunately the first thing you are greeted with on beginning the game - should you choose the Commander option, is a Heads Up Display of the Battlecruiser bridge, with loads of sidebar menus, and unexplained stuff. The usual trip to th manual on the first sign of confusion gives no aid, as it is packed with abbreviations, acronyms, and jargon that really doesn't solve the situation you are in.

What does help is an online tutorial linked from the 3000AD website.

http://downloads.3000ad.com/uc_tutorial.zip - written by Derek Smart himself. However, why something like this, or and in game practice version couldn't have been bundled with the program itself is beyond me. The 3000AD fan base is a very committed and close knit community, the only way this and other games using the same engine are going to reach out to the rest of us, is by providing accessiblity to the ideas. I am all for realistic control methods, believable atmosphere etc, and take my hat off to the programmers for what they have created, but thus far most of my time with the game has been admiring it, rather than making it my own.

My advice, only buy this game if you are willing to undertake the long haul of learning how to play it. If you are, it will reward you, but accept its going take a long time to get it right.

Ok, so it took me a couple of weeks to get the hang of it beeing a 3000AD newbie, but it is well worth it. There is so much to do in this game I havn't even started campaign mode yet.

As an update to the previous review, 3000AD have bundled a new and improved 80page tutorial with patches after version 2.00.09.

If you are having trouble with the game, then the community is usually very helpful. The official forum is available here (http://www.3000ad.com/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi), registration with game serial number is required. Derek Smark actively reads and posts in this forum!