When you never played this game before you will probably feel quite confused and lost, and you might give up before the beauty of this game unfolds in front of you. I think that's why this game isn't a classic.
This game is a very fresh approach to the RTS genre. There are so many new ideas, from energy management (which allows you to take over large chunks of the enemy defence) to terraforming (digging trenches to stop the enemy advance) to underground combat, force fields and unit transformation. Oh, and you can (and have to) move your headquarter over the map, while you should make sure that your energy network is still working with the energy source moving.
The problem is, that there is no tutorial or tooltips. You have something like 30 unit types, but you have no idea what's the difference between them. For example the "Unseen" unit can't attack, but it's also not invisible. I always use the same 3 units, and the underground ones are uber anyway when it comes to demolishing the enemy base. Often you see the AI doing something like digging a trench in your island, and then you figure out, that you can do that too.
The missions are nice and address different aspects of the game mechanics. However the AI is stupid. I mean, I don't need the AI to throw units at me left right and center. But in this game the AI is just not using mobile units at all, or just in some very, very limited way.
So in the end this game is not so much an RTS but more a base-building puzzle game. It could be a fantastic, hardcore RTS with a strong AI or in Multiplayer, however.
By the way, spoiler alert, in that early mission where you have to protect the Mechanical Spirit until he is built: instead of rage quitting simply do nothing and wait for your builders to built him. The more you do, the less energy will be used to built him and the more you get bbq'ed by the super strong enemies.
