Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

100 or More Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Highly addictive"

I think Endless Space is a great 4X strategy game! Highly addictive: It's been a while since I have been sucked into such a game, playing one more turn at 3am...
You can't really compare this game with SoaSE, it's more grand strategy oriented like a Civ, a Moo, or a GalCiv, while Sins is more action oriented. The MP mode is also really cool to play, turns flying by quite quickly even for a TBS game.
The interface is very simple to understand which makes the whole experience really fantastic. Sure there might still be some small bugs and stuff that could be improved, but the dev team (and the community) is still working on the game even after release, which can only be positive for the game's lasting appeal. I recommend this for 4X newcomers and old school players. It could become a classic!