Derelict Fleet

Derelict Fleet is a sci-fi space combat game where players defend a refugee fleet traveling through the stars in search of a new home colony. This fast-paced vehicular combat experience features intense battles against diverse enemies, from small stunt fighters to massive capital ships, all set within a futuristic setting through a behind-view perspective.

Derelict Fleet: Review

Introduction

Derelict Fleet is a game that defies easy categorization—part relic of a bygone era, part misfire of modern indie development. Released in 2017 by HCB Studios, this space combat title promised fast-paced action and strategic depth, but its execution fell far short of expectations. Drawing from the provided source material, this review will dissect Derelict Fleet across multiple dimensions, from its development history to its lasting (or lack thereof) legacy. My thesis is clear: Derelict Fleet is a cautionary tale of what happens when ambition outstrips execution, a game that serves as a stark reminder of the importance of polish and innovation in an increasingly crowded market.

Development History & Context

Derelict Fleet was developed by HCB Studios and published by Bionic Pony, a studio with a limited portfolio. The game’s release coincided with a resurgence of interest in retro-style space combat games, a genre that had seen renewed popularity thanks to titles like Rebel Galaxy and Everspace. However, unlike these polished contemporaries, Derelict Fleet felt out of step with modern expectations.

The game was built using the Unity engine, a popular choice for indie developers due to its accessibility and versatility. However, the final product betrayed its technical limitations, with visuals and gameplay mechanics that harkened back to the early 2000s. The gaming landscape in 2017 was dominated by high-fidelity experiences like Star Wars Battlefront II and Destiny 2, making Derelict Fleet‘s low-budget aesthetic and clunky controls feel even more jarring.

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

The narrative of Derelict Fleet is as barebones as its gameplay. Players assume the role of a lone starfighter pilot tasked with defending a refugee fleet fleeing an unnamed homeworld. The story is delivered through text-heavy cutscenes narrated by a robotic, text-to-speech voice, a choice that critics universally panned as jarring and unprofessional.

Thematically, the game touches on themes of survival and displacement, but these are underdeveloped due to the thin narrative. The refugee fleet’s journey is meant to evoke a sense of urgency and purpose, but the repetitive gameplay undermines any emotional resonance. The enemy factions—the Alliance, the Thaalian Empire, and Space Pirates—are poorly defined, lacking the depth or lore that could have made them memorable.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

Derelict Fleet‘s core gameplay loop is simple: defend the fleet from waves of enemies. Each mission tasks the player with protecting the fleet ships from destruction while fending off various enemy types. The game offers a handful of ships to choose from, each with slight variations in speed, firepower, and shields. However, these differences are negligible in practice, as the gameplay remains largely unchanged regardless of the ship selected.

Combat is hampered by clunky controls and imprecise aiming. The game features two reticules for targeting, but neither feels satisfying to use. Lock-on missiles are effective but slow to reload, while the primary laser cannons suffer from poor hit detection, making close-range engagements frustrating. The AI is equally uninspired, with enemies and allies alike behaving in predictable, scripted patterns.

Progression is tied to earning medals for completing missions with specific goals, such as maintaining high accuracy or minimizing fleet losses. These medals unlock new ships and upgrades, but the lack of meaningful variety makes the grind feel hollow. The game’s 15 missions offer little in the way of variety, with each level feeling like a carbon copy of the last.

World-Building, Art & Sound

Visually, Derelict Fleet is a step backward. The game’s low-resolution textures, 4:3 aspect ratio, and dated lighting give it the appearance of a Windows XP-era title. The space backgrounds, while occasionally impressive, are undermined by the overall lack of detail and polish. The art direction is inconsistent, with some elements appearing overly simplistic while others seem out of place.

Sound design is equally lacking. Weapon effects, explosions, and ambient sounds are repetitive and uninspired. The text-to-speech narration, while functional, feels out of place in a modern game. The absence of a proper soundtrack further contributes to the game’s sterile atmosphere.

Reception & Legacy

Derelict Fleet was met with overwhelmingly negative reviews upon release. Critics across multiple platforms panned the game for its outdated visuals, clunky controls, and lack of depth. The Way Too Many Games review famously gave it a 0% score, calling it “absolutely abysmal” and questioning how it made it past Sony’s curation process for the PlayStation 4. The New Game Network review was equally scathing, comparing the game to a “joke project” that felt like it was developed decades ago.

Commercially, the game was a flop. It remains one of the lowest-rated titles on Metacritic, with no user reviews and a single critic score of 28/100. Its legacy is one of infamy, often cited as an example of a game that should have never been released in its current state.

Conclusion

Derelict Fleet is a game that fails on nearly every level. Its outdated visuals, clunky controls, and lack of innovation make it a relic of a bygone era, one that modern players have little reason to revisit. While it may have had noble intentions, its execution was so poor that it serves as a cautionary tale for indie developers. In the grand tapestry of video game history, Derelict Fleet is a footnote—a reminder of the importance of polish, innovation, and quality control in game development. It is, in the words of one critic, “a game from a different era, and it honestly wouldn’t surprise me to learn that it was developed 20+ years ago but for some reason only made it to release now due to some strange complications.”