WARDOGS
WARDOGS
Game
Game2024
Underspace
Developer Pastaspace Interactive
The spiritual successor to Freelancer with a Lovecraftian, sandbox RPG twist. Explore a vast handmade universe with mod support and PvP/co-op multiplayer. You're going to need a bigger ship. From the Steam store page
250 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Nov 3, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
82
LovedLoved
161 positive · 36 negative
95% range 76–86%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 161 | 36 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 6 | 2 | 38 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
335 of 400 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
82% recommend · 161 yes, 36 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 197 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (380 of 466 positive).
Many players see Underspace as a worthy successor to Freelancer, praising its arcade-style space sandbox gameplay. [1][2][3] Some reviewers note the game is still rough in early access, with performance issues and unfinished features. [4][5][6]
Liked
Representative posts
- [4]
New Review: I reworte this Review because this Games deserves a more thorough description, than my Old review provided. This game has lots of Potential, but u gotta know what ur getting into here. If you played Freelancer, yeah this game is basically exaclty that. It has more stuff to do - Sure- but it sticks to the Freelancer formula to a sometimes comical degree. There are lots of things where i think to myself: …
- [7]
Thank. You. Dev. Underspace is everything I’ve ever wanted in an epic space game. A more polished, more "Science-Fantasy" take on the "open space sandbox RPG" style. The space sandbox genre is littered with titles that overpromise and underdeliver, to the point where new announcements make me feel more depressed and pessimistic than excited. I’ve played all the big-boys and even a few of the indie games in this …
- [2]
TL;DR: If you liked freelancer back in the day, you will LOVE this. This game is effectively freelancer with a sprinkle of eldritch horror flavour. Gameplay wise it it 1:1 freelancer in all regards. Trading, dog fighting, missions, ship customisations. But it also adds on top of the freelancer formular, by giving you A LOT of interesting quests, interesting places to explore (i litterally spend hours in every single …
- [11]
Ok, odd review, as a 750hr Elite player (not much by some standards!) Underspace is not as good in graphics, sound etc and plays like the years old game freelancer-that was great in it's day. So why have I given up on Elite and now play this ? Thought a lot about it and it's down to enjoyment. Elite is a nerds game, just the keybindings are like a book and I was fighting the game , from pilot input to …
- [1]
Underspace doesn't really hide its roots. Every Freelancer player will instantly recognize similar things between both games. Whole game feels like Freelancer spin-off and it's not a bad thing. I'm glad that this game finally managed to scratch that itch for a space voyager game that has arcade-like flying, but also big expansive universe with myriad of questlines and secrets. I've beaten the game in the first weeks …
Summarised from 34 of the 252 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Underspace talk about captures the feel of Freelancer with improvements; those who didn't talk about performance is poor for the graphical quality. Which matters more to you?
Reactions
60 of 250 · most liked firstThank. You. Dev. Underspace is everything I’ve ever wanted in an epic space game. A more polished, more "Science-Fantasy" take on the "open space sandbox RPG" style. The space sandbox genre is littered with titles that overpromise and underdeliver, to the point where new announcements make me feel more depressed and pessimistic than excited. I’ve played all the big-boys and even a few of the indie games in this "genre", and while each game has its strengths, they all have dealbreaking…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fixed up some missile bits for the game. They were due for a fix. #underspace #screenshotsaturday #gamedev #indiegame #gamedevelopment
neutral · AI labelView post →New Review: I reworte this Review because this Games deserves a more thorough description, than my Old review provided. This game has lots of Potential, but u gotta know what ur getting into here. If you played Freelancer, yeah this game is basically exaclty that. It has more stuff to do - Sure- but it sticks to the Freelancer formula to a sometimes comical degree. There are lots of things where i think to myself: Sure u wanna be a Freelancer successor, but did you really have to make your…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's funny watching people expect translations into other languages for Underspace when like The game has four million words in terms of readable text. The money it'd take to translate that into even one other language would be around fifteen times the game's current budget.
neutral · AI labelView post →In a nutshell: At the time of Beta 1.31.1, this *may* be for you if you have played Freelancer front to back and still want more. If you haven't played Freelancer, go and play that instead. First the good: It improves over Freelancer in that you can own several ships and that you can repaint them to a degree. There are also some minor Quality of Life changes for the better, like how the game keeps track of trade good prices for you. The graphics are... Well, they are not very good. The…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After finishing the tutorial mission and given the option to go to navy base or smuggler base (I commend you developer for giving players two choices here!). I saw an unstable wormhole. I jumped in. And with an iron man mode mindset, i was not going to reload a save even if i ended up somewhere that would one shot me. I ended up on the complete opposite end of the galaxy map in a blue colored nebula area (I really enjoy how the HUD color changes based on the color of the nebula/space you're…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I came looking for a high-octane space combat game rife with exploration and secrets To be fair, the intention was felt, but the experience left me with regret over buying the game. It's like hoping for an ice cream cone, but instead you are given a Mr.freeze in the shape of an ice cream cone with a Unity sticker slapped on it; and its melting in your hands. There are too many pain points present in the game. I finished the campaign and no, I haven't played Freelancer. The UI feels very…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Multiplayer has officially reached a feature complete state! NPCs and the rest of the world are now synchronized, and with this last bit we are 100% feature complete for the game! Still needs testing but my task list, which is almost a decade old, is now empty! #gamedev #indiegame #underspace
neutral · AI labelView post →Underspace doesn't really hide its roots. Every Freelancer player will instantly recognize similar things between both games. Whole game feels like Freelancer spin-off and it's not a bad thing. I'm glad that this game finally managed to scratch that itch for a space voyager game that has arcade-like flying, but also big expansive universe with myriad of questlines and secrets. I've beaten the game in the first weeks of Early Access and while it was very rough in some places, it's gradually…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Did you play Freelancer? Get this game. You won't regret it. Otherwise, this game is to Freelancer as Project Wingman is to Ace Combat. It's a dedicated love letter to arguably the best space game of all time, and the love is obvious.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Allegedly someone is making a Freelancer-esque like open world space game. Its called "Underspace", and it looks decent. Release sometime in the first half of this year, I think.
neutral · AI labelView post →One more planet detailed. And with that, every space station and planet in the game is now able to be explored in full. #underspace #screenshotsaturday #gamedev #indiegame #gamedevelopment
neutral · AI labelView post →store.steampowered.com/news/app/111... I've pushed a HUGE new patch for Underspace, which adds tons of multiplayer improvements but, also, has granted full mod support for just about everything in game. Want to mod in a catgirl? Go ahead, mod in that catgirl. #gamedev #indiegame #indie #spacegame
neutral · AI labelView post →Added a 1% chance for the saving icon to be replaced with a picture of my cat when saving the game. This is the most important thing I could be doing with game development right now. #underspace #screenshotsaturday #gamedev #indiegame #gamedevelopment
neutral · AI labelView post →I labor under the sad belief that, given options, players will use those options. To that end I've improved the mod tagging system, allowed for better import/export of controller layouts, editing radio stations in-game, and deleting MP characters. #underspace #indiedev #gamedev #indiegame
neutral · AI labelView post →TL;DR: If you liked freelancer back in the day, you will LOVE this. This game is effectively freelancer with a sprinkle of eldritch horror flavour. Gameplay wise it it 1:1 freelancer in all regards. Trading, dog fighting, missions, ship customisations. But it also adds on top of the freelancer formular, by giving you A LOT of interesting quests, interesting places to explore (i litterally spend hours in every single system just to explore). Oh and a lot of boss fights and interesting…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I would not recommend playing the game in its current state, attempted to play the singleplayer campaign and had to stop 45 minutes into playing the game. The character creation & multiplayer aspects advertised on the store page are not yet in the game (you can only play a singleplayer campaign as Kardoz). The game somehow has pretty poor performance despite the graphics being fairly rudimentary. Browsed through the ship store, and the different classes of fighters all shared the same model.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →"It truly is an improvement and successor of Microsoft Freelancer, BUT..." Pros (comparing to "Microsoft Freelancer"): - "follow mouse" steering feels almost exactly like Microsoft Freelancer, fights in both games feel also alike - huge galaxy map, lots of jumpholes, some unpredictable - minor ship customization (3 colors, decals, lightning) - great "feel" and immersion - lots of side missions, puzzles, challenges and events (time jumps, storm chasing, some monsters) - approx 15 types of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In shorts: good game, feels like freelancer 2, but not better nor worse. In longs: Cons: — Storms. Ill start from worst part of this game. Storm is a core mechanic in the game. They're spawns here and there, lightnings rages, tentacles raises and that's all. Storm, to be honest, doing nothing. You can completely ignore them. The only one and one reason to deal with them - stormeyes, a currency to buy high-tier ships and weapons/modules. How to deal with storm? Just fly to its core, ignoring…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love this style of game but the game is still in very early access in many ways. Most of all, the performance is terrible for how ancient this game looks. At most it's a 2010 game in terms of graphics but with 2024 system demands. I do like the retro look but I'm expecting retro performance then too. An average 50fps on an i7 13700k with a RTX 4070 is NOT impressive! On top of this there's a lot of stuff still unfinished and the devs have clearly not paid too much attention to detail. The…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →soo, as many of you checking this game I had an itch to play Freelancer again and while searching for guides to re-install it for the Nillionth time I ran into a mention for this game. downloaded the demo, went a bit around and purchased the full version and what followed was my first night of late playing in so many years hehe. there's so much stuff to do and I'm having so much fun. do you like exploring and finding secret things that need even secreter things to unlock? ancient stuff so…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It’s important in a game with a constructed world to feel like the people in that world not only exist, but that they also suck. To that end I’ve added over 150 new advertisements for billboards into the game. #underspace #gamedev #gamedevelopment #indiegame #indiegamedev #indiegame
neutral · AI labelView post →Way back when I first started Underspace my vision was always consistent: A game where you fly out into space with your buddies and get into supernatural cosmic adventures. Now that's finally a reality: We fought a storm then got trapped in magic space prison and had to escape. I could almost cry.
neutral · AI labelView post →As someone who grew up playing Freelancer, and spending thousands of hours in different mods and their communities, this game fills a hole in my heart that I cannot fully explain. I've played dozens of various space flight simulation/exploration/combat games and while many are fantastic in their own right this game captures the pure nostalgia and charm of Freelancer, while adding in a captivating story line and fascinating eldritch horror element. I would like to deeply extend my gratitude to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The latest beta branch update of Underspace now includes its full modding SDK, including documentation! I'm also working on Steam workshop support, and I'm pretty sure some dude is already porting Freelancer's ship's into the game now. #underspace #gamedev #indiedev
neutral · AI labelView post →I'm a pretty decent reader but the NPC text in this game flies by so fast I can't even get halfway through a sentence before it's gone. There is no apparent way to stop this from happening that I can find. No way to pause it. No way to click when finished reading. Nothing. Just rapid fire full auto machine gun text to the face and good luck figuring out what the hell is going on.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Currently I can't recommend Underspace, but with the emphasis on 'currently' as it has potential to become a great game. The game really feels like Freelancer, both in a positive and negative sense - and this is coming from someone who played hundreds of hours of Freelancer back in the day. The UI takes a little too much from the original Freelancer UI. I mean, I get you want to make it look like Freelancer but now that we have gotten used to less invasive UIs, this UI is absolutely…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very much like freelancer in the best way. There is already a lot to see and do in the game, and the core gameplay is a lot of fun. There is still a lot to be done to finish the game but updates are frequent and I am looking for to each one.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →More things coming to Underspace with our next update. deadzone settings (which is off by default because a deadzone in this kind of game is awful), an overhead map view, and new planets to explore! #underspace #screenshotsaturday #gamedev #indiegame #gamedevelopment
neutral · AI labelView post →Want Freelancer 2? this is Freelancer 2. As you can see on my review, only 77 minutes, but as soon as i started to dip my toes in this i realized two things. 1. Its the Freelancer sequel ive been waiting for. 2. its not finished. So, what I am gonna do, is i'm gonna wait until its finished, so that i dont get tired of the game before its full release. Will come back to this review at a later date.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Got told off by the head priest of a religion for talking *about* their gods instead of talking *to* their gods, because talking about people in their absence is rude. So I went and talked to them. They're rather chill, which is kinda ironic, considering what they look like. Silly stories aside, this really is a fun spiritual successor to Freelancer.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is still a bit rough on the edges, but it has the juice and each patch brings it closer to being the best sandbox simulation with an arcade feel since Freelancer. Easily worth the price of admission during early access just to recapture the feeling of hopelessness as you escape from a radioactive shipwreck with some new weapons and less than 3% hull and pirates come upon you just as you hail the nearest space station for docking permissions. Add in the cosmic horror twist of storms…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It definitely feels like a newer version of Freelancer, which I really liked.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ok, odd review, as a 750hr Elite player (not much by some standards!) Underspace is not as good in graphics, sound etc and plays like the years old game freelancer-that was great in it's day. So why have I given up on Elite and now play this ? Thought a lot about it and it's down to enjoyment. Elite is a nerds game, just the keybindings are like a book and I was fighting the game , from pilot input to information,Underspace is PLAYABLE and easy to get to grips with, you don't spend a day…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've had this game on my wish list for a while now, it looks amazing in the videos here on Steam and the reviews have been mostly positive... But... It's so disappointing, for a game that pitches itself as a successor to Freelancer I didn't even manage to get to space before giving up after frame rate dropped to 5 fps and the game continually crashed :/ Like some of the other reviews are noting, the performance of something that looks this dated is incredible, and not in a good way. I…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I never got the opportunity to play Freelancer growing up but I did play Privateer 2 quite a bit as a kid and this brings back a lot of fond memories of it. The core gameplay is similar. When you're not playing through the main quest line, you're traveling from system to system taking on odd jobs that cover a wide arrange of objectives including stopping runaway space trains, smuggling, and taking on enemy ships and stations. You can also engage in trades of various goods, buying cargo low and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Who's ready for some custom content? You can now take custom images and put them in your game as paintings for your house and decals for your ships. No limits, all the responsibility. #underspace #screenshotsaturday #gamedev #indiegame #gamedevelopment
neutral · AI labelView post →I really want to like this game. The setting is interesting and I want to explore it. I love Freelancer style games. The Solo dev clearly has passion for this project though it clearly falls short of his ambition. Perhaps with more time to cook it will become something worth spending more time in. There are a lot of cool things you can do in theory, but in practice much of it is disappointing or doesn't work well. Quests (main story line) seem to function well, but the missions are…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Underspace is an ambitious space sandbox and action RPG developed by Pastaspace Interactive and published by Camlann Games that aims to revive the feel of classic space sims while layering in modern RPG systems and a distinctly strange, cosmic-horror-inflected tone. From the outset, it presents itself as a game about freedom—freedom to chart your own path through a dangerous galaxy, to define your career through choice rather than script, and to stumble into mysteries that feel intentionally…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Been redoing graphics for certain places (like giant ruined space cathedrals) and you can now purchase every house in game. #underspace #screenshotsaturday #gamedev #indiegame #gamedevelopment
neutral · AI labelView post →Needs a lot of work. Going to install freelancer now thanks lmfao. Everything just feels so squishy and the weapons dont give you the feeling of connecting. I recommend it only to suport the dev team and wait till its finished.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I would hold off if you dont like bugs. within the first couple hours i had to reload saves multiple times cause quests/missions didnt work correctly, or wouldnt progress correctly.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I think the weirdest criticism I ever got for Underspace was that the game didn't have enough content. Like, no voice acting, not the best graphics, performance issues, limited HOTAS? Fine. But I have no idea what that player considered to be "a lot of content". Maybe they thought Skyrim was small.
neutral · AI labelView post →Did you play Freelancer? This is Freelancer 2.0+ It has obvious Freelancer elements with highly improved graphics. A larger map and multiple ships and factions. The best thing about it is you can have multiple ships as there are 'garages' where you can park ships. There's a demo.... which is the first area and some missions Nominated for 'Labor of Love' ; this guy makes regular updates and even notifies people if there isn't going to be an update because of vacation/moving/RL. One guy…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's good old Freelancer, but bigger, better, and with tons of potential there. Extremely recommended for any Freelancer fans. Can't wait for co-op; this will surely bring my friends in as well. P.S. It's still an early access, but frequent updates and huge love of the dev are moving this game forward step by step. Underspace will be an absolutely awesome game one day if this approach is not going to be changed in the future.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →20 minutes into the game, I'm fighting a giant bone serpent flying thru space while in-comprehensively massive tentacles are seen writhing in the darkness of space between lightning strikes. THIS IS AWESOME!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Short version: Classic rail shooter that looks like it was made in 2000. A perfect love letter to a specific rail shooter made in 2000. Expect an arcade experience, not Elite Dangerous Newtonian physics simulator. Love letter to Freelancer? More like Legally Distinct Freelancer. I mean this in the nicest, least insulting way possible. Between the planetary docking rings and trade lanes, it felt I had gone back to Freelancer and someone snorted a bad batch of something and spewed out an…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It really replicates the freelancer vibe and playstyle. It scratches just the right place if you itch for a game like it but not the same thing you played over and over in the past. It is, however, unfinished and it shows. The UI, transitions and most of the non-play still need some work and it shows. Nothing major, just an overall feel of unfinishedness. The campaign seems finished though and the game has a lot to offer if that doesn't bother you or you work through that. Overall I trust…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sadly its not compatible with controllers as advertised. I have a gaming tablet with controllers only, so this game is not playable.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wow! I though, I'll never see Freelancer 2. Many tried and failed (mainly bause they tried be better and made to much own inventions), So far this game is closest to reach this hard goal. Old veterans of MsFL will know what Im saying. Few games was close in climate to FL, but still not the same feelings. After 80 hours ingame, I really feel Freelancer vibes. Maybe graphics, models etc. don't meet many younger players expectations and 2025 standards (LOL), but.... that's really doesn't matter.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Terrible optimization, annoying (engine sounds, one music track, etc) sound design, extremely slow space travel. It's way rougher than I expected. The game itself is very confusing, I've completed one main mission and got an achievement for it that only 22% of players have. That should indicate everything you want to know about accessibility of the game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very Solid early access release, but with the caveat that it is definitely early access. It captures the Freelancer vibe really well and although I preferred Freelancer's Noir in Space aesthetic to Cthulhu in Space it has plenty of charm and the gameplay feels solid even at this stage. Right now there are a lot of placeholders. The voice acting is missing and a lot of stations aren't complete. That's not unexpected for this phase of EA and the developer is active in the community and is very…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Terrible game manual, missing most information. Many things not explained and you are just left to stumble through it all Frustrating UI Its a niche game for old gamers Many annoying and frustrating designs that could be improved to save time and confusion example : Place POI ( like taxi on quest planet ) in view of the player when they land, you cant see the marker until you run a far distance down the space port, which is just frustrating, the quest says to go have a drink so... put the NPC…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You'll go play the demo, you'll fall in love and you'll end up here; credit card in hand :D Despite the work in progress title and some elements missing (voice acting being the 'biggest' for me personally) the game is an ABSOLUTE MUST of a pickup. I came into this with fond memories of Freelancer and not so much love for the Lovecraftian theme but boy oh boy did I change my mind QUICK. It is a low-demanding (can play on potato), fast-paced (you won't snooze) space dogfight with awesome…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun, interesting quests, cool visual style, space mixed with magic and eldritch horrors. Only two issues: - No search for sold items / station database - Slow cruise speed, fixable with mods.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I never write reviews...this is literally my first one ever...but i had to. I remember playing Freelancer when it first came out and to this day it is my favorite space sim. This game is the most faithful successor I've ever played. It has the lanelines, the docking rings and the combat is almost identical. It brings some new things to the table that I personally adore (fighting giant space snakes in the middle of a stormy nebula? sign me up), but more importantly it still feels like the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Feels like a mod for Freelancer. I say that with as much love as I can.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Never played the original Freelancer but this game really scratches the itch from other great games like Crimson Skies. Well worth the price to support the dev. Game feels good on the features. Lots of quests and places to see. 50hrs in and I've only went halfway through the main quest and been sidetracked off on an adventure around the stars trying my hand at piracy instead. Still needs that final posish the dev has mentioned, voice acting etc. But the heart of the game is there and its…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Reminder : at the time of this review, the game is still in beta. Some features are missing, like multiplayer, voice acting for the story (there are still radios in space like in FL) the story is not finished, some weapons or tools are not totally balanced. So this review is for the actual state of the game, and of course is totally subjective. Where to begin ? The short version : if you liked Freelancer and still looking for what could replace it, buy it. It's as simple as that. The goods…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you like freelancer, this is a place you'll go. That being said its too early in development to "fully" recommend. The vibe is there, but the music is not. Think about how it sounded in the new york system when you first space and all its bars. needs that same electro feel. I would recommend outsourcing voice acting to volunteers for the chatter and mission dialogue. I, for instance, would lend my voice and am competent. I like how most of the controls are 1 to 1 with freelancer. That…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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