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Universal Combat CE
The ultimate space capital ship combat compendium is the evolution of hard core space combat sims. The only game of its kind currently in existence.
View on Steam ↗ $9.99 (US · as of 2026-09-27)What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-09-27 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-13.
What reviewers agree on
44 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“All right, let's get the obvious out of the way. Derek Smart is an unsufferable (insert your favorite expletive here). That being said, UC is a piece of work of the depth that has only been attempted to be matched in X.…”
“I can totally understand the negative reviews - this is a hard game to like...in fact its a hard game period! I had some crashing issues on first release on Steam but they seem to have been resolved now. The game…”
“I had this game years ago and when it went free on Steam, I had to add it to my library. Universal Combat lets you do so many things such as ship to ship battles, landing on planets, etc. It has missions you can do, of…”
12 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“In a nutshell, this is a sandbox, free-roam, STARSHIP simulator. You can do scenarios/missions, if that is your cup of tea. But you can go off and do whatever you want and that freedom the game offers can feel…”
“This game is amazing, so immersive and fun! You are given a ship and a mission to handle how you please, whether you like flying a stealth approach to kill your target or go in guns blazing. Patience and planning is…”
“I've played all of the battlecrusier games for many years. After the learning curve, the game is very engaging. It is now mid 2016 and I have YET to find a game with this much depth and freedom. This is a game where you…”
7 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“I came from playing Battlecruiser Millenium Gold, and I found that most of the changes to Universal Combat seem to be cosmetic with improved graphics and a slightly modified interface, although there may be more…”
“I bought the DLC with the added fixes and campaigns, but this applies to the free version as well since they are fairly similar (well for the moment). I used to play Battlecruiser Millennium a few years ago yet I still…”
“This game brings back memories. Yes, it had a troubled release back in 1996 but blame Gametek for that one. There's not another game in existence that creates this kind of immersive world in a fully modeled futuristic…”
6 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“It is with a heavy heart that i must report that i do not reccomend this game. I have been playing for over 10 years, and i can now say, i just don't recomend it. Another game, another 2 hours of my life wasted, another…”
“This is the only game i have ever seen that allows you to command a starship. Not just fly a starship, and shoot its guns. but Command a Vessel, it's Crew and its assets. Giving you full command of every aspect of your…”
“It takes a certain kind of person to really love this game, and I seem to be one of them. It is a difficult game to play. The tutorial document is longer than the manual. EVERYTHING is an abbreviation. But dang, this…”
5 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“Well for the cost of nothing I was able to select a shuttle craft and go on a virtual tour of our very own solar system and then finish with a jump to Alpha Centauri. Space tourism at its best. I think people need to…”
“glad this game was free. Back in the day it was okay but frustrating then and I had more patients for complicated games then. At least it crashed a lot during boot-up and resolution was 800x600. Fantastic you figured…”
“I have never played any of the games in this series so I came into Universal Combat: CE fresh. Quite enjoyable so far! Has a brick wall learning curve, but I love the fact that there are so many interesting game…”
43 of the 104 reviews raise this · 23 of them still recommend the game.
“"Don't Alt+Tab" - Derek Smart, developer of Universal Combat CE. You know there is a serious problem with the game when even the developer tells you not to alt+tab, even in the collector's edition. I alt+tabbed anyway…”
“So.....this game. Putting aside any personal isssues with Derek Smart (and let's be honest, a lot of people have issues with him), let's try to be as objective as possible in this review... What exactly is UC and does…”
“All right, let's get the obvious out of the way. Derek Smart is an unsufferable (insert your favorite expletive here). That being said, UC is a piece of work of the depth that has only been attempted to be matched in X.…”
36 of the 104 reviews raise this · 1 of them still recommend the game.
“Calling this game a "collector's edition" is like calling a used red solo cup a "goblet fit for only a king's mouth". Imagine a big disgusting bag of trash, and then dumping that into a septic tank and taking a long…”
“Ohhhhhhh nostalgia..... how I hate you. You Make me play a game I thought was epic as a young gamer, and then you go and beat me over the head with it years later..... When I saw UC was free on steam I downloaded it…”
“So.....this game. Putting aside any personal isssues with Derek Smart (and let's be honest, a lot of people have issues with him), let's try to be as objective as possible in this review... What exactly is UC and does…”
34 of the 104 reviews raise this · 1 of them still recommend the game.
“Calling this game a "collector's edition" is like calling a used red solo cup a "goblet fit for only a king's mouth". Imagine a big disgusting bag of trash, and then dumping that into a septic tank and taking a long…”
“"Don't Alt+Tab" - Derek Smart, developer of Universal Combat CE. You know there is a serious problem with the game when even the developer tells you not to alt+tab, even in the collector's edition. I alt+tabbed anyway…”
“Ohhhhhhh nostalgia..... how I hate you. You Make me play a game I thought was epic as a young gamer, and then you go and beat me over the head with it years later..... When I saw UC was free on steam I downloaded it…”
20 of the 104 reviews raise this · 5 of them still recommend the game.
“All right, let's get the obvious out of the way. Derek Smart is an unsufferable (insert your favorite expletive here). That being said, UC is a piece of work of the depth that has only been attempted to be matched in X.…”
“I own a hard copy of the original CD release. I bought it because the description and pictures on the box appealed to me. Little did I know the headache I was in for. Unnecessarily complicated and poorly-mapped…”
“He's charging money for this now? It was painful to play for free. The graphic look like a windows 2000 game. The controls are horrible. You need to read a novel sized manual in order to figure out how to quit. Or do…”
19 of the 104 reviews raise this · 6 of them still recommend the game.
“Calling this game a "collector's edition" is like calling a used red solo cup a "goblet fit for only a king's mouth". Imagine a big disgusting bag of trash, and then dumping that into a septic tank and taking a long…”
“This game is as broken as the first day it was released. It has a premise with potential, but it is ruined by the consistent freeze that happens on the first FPS mission. The resolution is hideous and the graphics are…”
“He's charging money for this now? It was painful to play for free. The graphic look like a windows 2000 game. The controls are horrible. You need to read a novel sized manual in order to figure out how to quit. Or do…”
Counted across 104 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 41.7% positive rating · as of 2026-05-13
“IMPORTANT TIP If you jump into this game without reading the manual (you roguish maniac you!) and you’re stuck press either Ctrl+H, Alt+H or Shift+H which will both pause the game and call up the manual or control bindings. Press Ctrl+H to exit the documents. Well…I usually…”
— a player, Steam review · 46 hrs played“"This scenario is completely free form and is designed to be role played using your imagination." Sounds good! Lets see....what am i going to play....? I think i will be a terran paramedic! That sounds fun, doesnt it? Ok, what to do? There are no orders. There is no fleet. There…”
— a player, Steam review · 0 hrs played“Ah, Universal Combat. Somehow I hoped we had seen the last of Derek Smart. Don't get me wrong, I don't despise the man, but his snarky, combative attitude in the face of the overwhelming evidence regarding his shortcomings as a developer have left me hoping for the day when he…”
— a player, Steam review · 0 hrs playedPrice tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-08-12. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-09-25). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
Dev Update 2024
My fellow commanders! From the dev changelog , it has been five years since the last version release of 3.00.20.04 back on 01-02-2019. Yes - time flies. A lot has happened in those five years, both pe
Something Awesome This Way Comes!
Hello Fans! Some people have been asking for multiplayer in the Universal Combat suite of games released here on Steam. Here's an explainer. As I mentioned in the forums, multiplayer was implemented i
Battlecruiser Millennium Gold
So there's a restoration project for BCM Gold underway. More details are in this forum thread
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-13.
| Genres | Action, Indie, Simulation, Strategy |
| Player tags | Space · Sci-fi · Simulation · Strategy · Action · Indie · Space Sim · Sandbox · Building · Open World · Exploration · Flight (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Partial Controller Support · Family Sharing |
| Languages | English * * |
| Official site | http://www.3000ad.com/games/universal-combat-collectors-edition2-2015/ |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: OS *: Windows XP SP2 Processor: Dual Core Memory: 2 GB RAM Graphics: DirectX SM3.0 compliant with 512MB memory DirectX: Version 9.0c Storage: 2 GB available space Sound Card: DirectX compliant