I must admit, I am biased towards this game's graphics. I find them quite charming. Having never played MoO2 intensively, I was never turned off by the game essentially being a revamp of its mechanics. It's nice. Infuriating at times with the highly aggressive AI, but nice. You like micromanagement, there's plenty of that for you to find. You don't like micromanagement? Take your time. The game's intuitive enough to have an easy learning curve, with enough specialized mechanics that you feel like you're constantly gaining in skill. It's just a nice feeling the whole time through. Primary gripe? Loading times. Be warned. They are ridiculously long, and there does not seem to be a valid reason for them. Overall, I would recommend to any turn based strategy fan, unless they were raised on MOO2. Can't give a relevant opinion on that.
