Space exploration and trading combo
Universe 3 still manages to get you in a head space where you are thinking about it, trying to consider it from a multitude of points of view and, for the most part, get a sort of vibe of innovation from it. So, while this is a game that is thoroughly enjoyable, it is also quite broken into pieces, with bits or RPG, trading, exploration and even battling, but none is too well developed. It's definitely more than in Universe 2 but not enough to justly justify it (!) as a standalone title. Graphically it's primitive, though, to its glory, it can be interacted with using a mouse which greatly improves usability and the immediacy of controls, so that you no longer have to mash buttons just to see if anything will happen. So, yeah, play it if you like the idea of a prototypical 4X, but keep your expectations low. This is not a trendsetter, it still had a lot to learn as well, and a lot to absorb still to be feature complete and well done. Unfortunately it was the last title in the series though, so it never got past this point, but, granted for the period it was still pretty much a bold title.
