Review by: Jim Richmond
Published: March 12, 2004

One of these days, we’ll be able to take tours of the cosmos like we do of landmarks in large cities. “On your right you’ll see Omacron 7. It’s the birthplace of Kgrag the Malevolent, who devastated 14 worlds before being vaporized by the Galactic Star Police. Sir, keep your hands inside the astrobus until we come to a complete stop.” Until that glorious day, however, we’ll have to rely on games like 3000 A.D.’s Universal Combat to give us open-ended galaxies in which to roam around so we can see the sights up close and personal.

Universal Combat is the fifth iteration of the Battlecruiser series. Initially slated to be called Battlecruiser Generations, the game gives the player the latitude to do or be almost anything they wish in an open-ended universe. It’s similar in scope to EVE Online, but Universal Combat is primarily a single-player outing. Fifteen Instant Action scenarios, 25 campaign missions and a free-form Roam mode give you the method of transportation; all you have to do is bring your imagination.

In Universal Combat, there are three main careers – Marine, Pilot and Commander, each with sub-careers. The marine is the most limited of the three, and you’ll most likely never leave the planet or space station to which you’re assigned, but the trade off is that you have highly destructive weapons at your disposal. The Pilot career assigns you your own spacecraft so you have more mobility, but you’re responsible to be within a certain section of space that you patrol. The Commander career is more advanced and requires the most of the player, but also returns the highest degree of flexibility as far as where you’re allowed to go. As a Commander, you’re responsible for all aspects of your craft: loadout, crew and daily operations of navigation, engineering and combat.

Some of your ability to range far and free can be decided by your race and caste. There are 12 races in Universal Combat, and they don’t all like one another equally. Traveling through a zone of space that’s peopled with those with whom your race is at war is a shortcut to vaporization. Additionally, your choice of caste will affect who’ll call you friend. For example, a paramedic will largely be allowed to go about their business by all sides of a conflict, but a raider or assassin will find fewer safe ports.

There are over 100 operational vehicles available in Universal Combat that go over land and sea as well as into the air and up into space. These craft come in a variety of sizes, and there are cruisers, carriers, transports, fighter craft and subs. Some ships, like the carriers, house fighters that can be launched against an enemy at your command. You can even leave your command craft and pilot a fighter into battle or take a shuttle down to a planet’s surface. You can also enter or exit your vehicle at any time in first-person mode, even in space; you just have to be within a short distance in order to get back in. A jetpack will guide you in the vacuum of space or will allow you to make large hops on a planet’s surface.

Universal Combat is primarily a simulation, so the intention is to put you in the thick of a universe where anything can happen. Some aspects of space travel about which a Commander has to worry are: being boarded by raiders, holding and transporting prisoners, reactor core breaches, personnel levels, living quarters and support craft. AI helpers are on the ship to carry out your orders and in some cases to make decisions for you. For example, the Chief Engineer will be the one to make the decision as to whether to jettison a breached reactor core or not.