It's a good, fun, enjoyable game, but it's very shallow. I can accept only three different gameplay choices in the cell and tribal stages (it makes sense on an evolutionary level), but the Civilisation and Space stages are terribly broken.
Kamon is right about the game being horrific to play if you have enemies. Even in Civilisation stage, playing a warlike race makes basically everyone hostile to you, even if they're peaceful races. Overpowering the enemy on any level above Tribal does not work because money streams in too quickly, and it's simple to replace the losses. I must have levelled this one planet thrice, and every time I visit there is a new enemy colony and seven or eight tough ships defending it. And sometimes the game asks too much of you in Space stage, expecting you to destroy an enemy colony, save an ally from an eco-disaster, defend an ally from pirates, and deal with your homeworld being attacked by your enemy, all at the same time.
Maybe the only truly great thing about it is the ability to build your own stuff. Well if you like the Space stage, and like designing your own spaceships, go buy Galactic Civilizations 2 and its expansions. The best space strategy game out there, and you can design every ship in your fleet.
09/09/2008
I'm in your profile, deleting your spams for Great Justice.