It is different. The good kind of different. The pacing of every match is splendid, the game keeps you engaged both within the single match and the larger "campaign", and doesn't let you get complacent.
Pretty visuals, a trivial, but present story, decent handling on the ship and guns, a decent arsenal on consumables and active/passive devices... It's not perfect, but it's a very good game for when you don't want to get invested in a long RPG and simply want to kill some baddies and get a sense of progression. With a bit of practice you start reliably winning the game (won my 12-th playthrough and every game since). A single run will cost you 2-2,5h if you absolutely need to explore each sector and kill every enemy, probably 30-ish minutes if you get the equipment you need, then rush for the finish line. Also a quick tip: play scout with the cloaking device loadout, it's awesome.
It's approachable. It's hard. It's fun. It's your mistakes that kill you. Again. And again. A very fun and easy to mod Roguelike, especially for someone (me) who doesn't play roguelikes all that often. Doesn't require you to read a lot to get started, has a decent tutorial, and you don't die in the first dungeon... usually ;) Lots of classes and races to pick from, some of which you'll need to unlock first (mostly the more complicated ones, so that's good).
This is an absolute gem. I've played it on and off for many, many years, it is always a low entry-cost, relaxed strategy game with gorgeous graphics, good balance and a very pleasant overall vibe. And it runs perfectly!
