Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Almost, but not quite"

So, this is a turn based strategy game that takes place into outer space. More precisely, a galaxy.
Preliminary notions:
planets -> they come in different sizes and of different types. You can imagine them as neighborhoods in your city.
Solar system (SS)-> This is basically your city. It can be comprise of 1 to 6 planets.
Empire -> your land that comprises of 1 to how many galaxies you can get your hand on.
Galaxy -> world map.
Fleets -> your unit on the world map. It can comprise of 1 to X number of ships that can be offensive or not.

Important traits of the game:
1. User interface: it is a very good and simple to use UI. It provides access just like civilization games does. You can micromanage your empire but you can also set things in autopilot and have a less-than-decent AI help you out with certain galaxies. So its great for the economic part. You get a report regarding what is produced and what is researched each turn something is accomplished and can use that report to easily continue production/research. The problem is however the fact that you do make a lot of fleets and there is little help in that regard.

2. Gameplay: The first thing you will notice is that there are 8 races and 9 starting factions. 2 human factions and the rest alien factions, each alien faction belonging to a race of aliens. You can also create your own faction from each race. Races are pretty generic. You have your warrior dedicated races, your scientific races, your builder races, your mixed races, etc. There are victory methods for each of this race just like in a civilization game. The fun however comes from creating your own custom faction that can be of any race in the game and win with that. The downside is that when you select the traits of your faction you get only 65points while other factions that come as default may have 74/65 or 70/65. This means that there are some factions that have a head start over your own and other standard factions. This however can be countered and is not a huge unbalance.

3. Tech tree is divided in 4 branches. You cannot dedicate yourself to just one branch if you hope to survive, let alone win a normal game. Why? 2 reasons. upper tiers cost 3-4x more research points than the tear before them and the way to get more RP comes from either conquest or development which makes you automatically invest in all other branches. The order in which you do however depends on the gameplay style of your faction and race.

4. Resources are gathered from planets that are part of a SS. you have food, industry, dust (money) and research points (RP). There are planetary upgrades that help you get more of them and also galaxy-wide upgrades. There are also a few special features in the game like anomalies on each planet and special resources, luxury of strategical.

5. Army and Warfare. The main part of the warfare is done by ships and fleets. When an enemy tries to take your SS, your SS cannot fight back. You need a fleet to destroy the enemy fleet that is invading your SS. And this is where the problem lies. You will need a lot of fleets in the game and the UI doesn't really help you all that much with it. It is non-the-less, something you can get used to.

6. Heroes. They come in various races and with various skill sets but generally are good for one of two things. Either administrating a SS or leading a fleet to war. They level up, they don't die (though they do get injured) and they are very powerful. They don't come with their own ships. Though heroes can turn they depend on the fleet they are leading to make sure they obtain victory.

7. Soundtrack: is amazing. Just wonderful.

Conclusion: this is what you should be expecting from the game. it is decently easy to learn and I guess it takes some time to master. It is a nice twist from the general turn based strategy though it could do with some improvement.