As a 30 year old Gamer who can still make arguments why Alpha Centauri was better than Civ 4, and who's Favorite game of all time is still Star Control 2 (God Bless Paul Reiche III), I am a tough gamer to please. It doesnt help that I have written enough scripts and mods to know that there is no excuse for poor game design.

All my expectations have been met with your game! With or without my admiration for Stardock, the game stands on its own as the new premiere turn based strat title. It works like a dream on my old Athalon and GeForce 5700 somthin and good old Windows 2000.

For all those who are still on the fence, ignore the naysayers. THe AI is just right (as long as you dont ignore the importance of influence), the tutorials are great, and the interface wonderful (although I do wish I could re-define key functions. I'll have to figure out how to do that). Needless to say, I havent read the manual, just watched the tutorials, and in no way has this game been overwhelming other than the very first game. I played through 2 medium sized galaxies till the wee hours of last night, and now I can design ships, make fleets, use waypoints, and manage influence with ease. And the FUN of this game heartens back to the golden age of PC gaming (Syndicate anyone?).

I am amazed at the beauty of the game design, and how easy it is to manage a large empire. I LOVE the 3-brances of offensive and defensive technologies! Civ 4 just doesnt feel challenging anymore when you can run around with uber-grenadiers or the old samurai marine assault from galleons with impunity.

And the ship constructor? WOW! Turn based strategy will never be the same again.

Thank you stardock! I'd write more, but I am too impatient to go play your game again

MG