The Battle Isle universe is extended to new realms with this release, as the strategy and combat move to outer space for a massively-multiplayer experience. Unlike many online-only games of this sort, DarkSpace does not feature a persistent world, but instead offers a sort of open arena into which players may join and exit in their own time

Gameplay focuses on ship-to-ship combat between players. The game also features role-playing elements, as the player's character abilities are determined by the ship she flies and the experience gained through successful missions can lead to the acquisition of bigger, better vehicles.

Combat itself involves a good deal of tactics and strategy, playing out on a 2D representation of the battle space. Although the combat interface relies on this abstract representation of the tactical context, the detailed ships are rendered in 3D and even show visible damage on their hulls when they're hit. The game is geared completely towards the multiplayer experience and, like most massively-multiplayer releases, DarkSpace does not support discrete, single player games. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide