Summary
Initially promising, but falls quite short of the "enjoyable" mark
The Good
Initially, the complexity of this game and the graphics drew my attention. From the very first mission, it's possible to upgrade your buildings and vehicles to a very high level. There are numerous resources to keep track of (five different types of minerals), and an in-depth technology tree, which was a nice change from other RTS games.
The graphics are somewhat simplistic, but lighting effects and explosions are done very well. The optional mission objectives were also a nice touch.
The Bad
The game-breaker for me was when I tried to save my game during a mission - I couldn't. The missions can be quite long, and I simply don't have that many hours to spare.
In addition, the ingame instructions are a bit misleading; studying the manual and tech tree is highly recommended before getting started.
One more problem was the enemy AI - it appeared to be nonexistant. Enemy ships will fly past your base on occasion, shooting at various buildings. But once they do their first fly-by, they stop, arrange themselves into a nice group, and no longer defend themselves.
Finally, while it initially seemed like an intriguing concept, I quickly grew tired of having to manipulate the camera angle. Luckily, it's possible to play from the tricorder tactical view (which really, is much more efficient anyway).
The Bottom Line
If you have a ton of time on your hands, and have the patience to sit through the lengthy missions, it might be a good distraction. Otherwise, the necessity to play a mission from start-to-finish in one sitting, and the need to constantly manipulate the camera angle to see what's happening, can be too frustrating.
