a very interesting and fun 4X a,e. each faction has unique characteristics, enough to really develope different playstyles. the customization of player made races hearkens back to MoO 2, and is greatly enjoyable. the only thing that i would say detracts from the game is the same thing that detracts from all games of the fenre. eventually you get to the point of mastering how to outplay the AI consistently, and each game tends to end up either being a wait-fest if you're going for a non-military victory, or a stomp fest where your superior fleets slowly roll over your opponents.

overall i'd reccomend the game to any 4X lover, because it is a leader of its kind. and while the battles can be simple, they can be beautiful to watch, especially from the perspectives of fighters, without slowing down even moderately powerful computers.

highly recommend that you do not buy this game. it is inherintly unstable, and crashes frequently. i only have about 1.4 hours of gameplay because i can;t get the game to funciton for more than about 5 minutes at a time.
Also, the advertisements look beautiful, and are beautiful lies. the reality of the game is tiny icon, sone ok graphics is you zoom in so far that you can;t see anything relevant, and lots and lots of text boxs. it's basically like playing a boardgame with texts instead of taking to people.