Master of Orion would've been a great game given time and patching. Unfortunately the devs abandoned it due to poor sales, which were probably due to the negative user reviews. It is true this game lacks layers of strategic depth compared to other 4x titles and if it were simplified anymore we'd be talking phone game territory. Having said that, the game has enough depth to still be great fun to play and definately worth a purchase. I have a great many hours in it. Pick it up on a sale and grab the "unofficial code patch" and "ultimate balance mod lite" from nexus mods. These two mods elimate the bugs and most of the balance issues, and pretty much make the game what I would've been if the devs still patched it.
