I almost passed on this title due to the other reviews. I'm so glad I decided to get it though, I can't stop playing it now. I bought every MoO game 2x in the past, even the admittedly bad MoO 3, and I feel this one is the best. It is not a pretty version of MoO 2, if that's what you like. There are those dang star lanes between planets, and your ship can travel across the entire map without a single engine upgrade. The star lanes don't bother me too much, they do add to the strategy in the game, but I generally do not like them. This version of MoO has the definite feel of a Master of Orion game, with modern graphics and a wonderful new interface. The new UI is really one of this games strong points, and you can manage a huge empire very easily with just one button basically. There are not as many races, but they are very well done, with great voice acting and animated sequences. It does get repetitive though, to be expected. The diplomacy in this game is as good as the older titles, and you will be put in difficult positions trying to keep your trading partners happy enough to do business with you. They will constantly expect you to wage war on your other allies, so you will have to choose which "friends" to please at the moment. The one thing I do not like about this game are the victory conditions. After a couple of disappointing games where I either won or lost very unexpectedly, out of the blue, I had to disable several victory conditions in the game options. This always happens just when it is getting interesting. You can choose to play on if you wish, but the game is really over at that point, so it is not as much fun. This is a fine strategy game with many factors to consider. You will have to balance planet upgrades, ship building, research, espionage, (and counter espionage) and your relations with the other races. The games UI makes it easy to manage but it is still up to you to decide how to run your empire.