Picked up the game 2 days ago and have put a ton of time into it... so here is my initial review.
First off, the bad news:
The graphics only run in 800 X 600, with no option to change (hard coded). They don't look bad, but not as sharp as I had hoped for. The space battles graphics also seem a little on the bland side.
That being said, I still give this game a 10/10 with no reservation. It is just as addictive as MOO1 or MOO2, but it can be a lot more fun since you don't have to get dragged down into the minute details of running each colony.
Diplomacy is much more versatile and sensitive this time around. Each race has a predetermined reaction to other races so you have to take historical tendencies and cultural differences into account when negotiating. Some races respond well to threats and argument, while others will only react to reason. I personally think this is the most detailed diplomacy model of any strategy game I have played.
Colony management can be as time consuming as you want. The AI viceroy you use to manage your colonies is extremely robust. You set empire ratios for spending based on various settings such as war-readiness, oppression and planet grants. The planet grants are combined with planet production and the viceroy decides what production to carry out based on development plans you *can* set for individual planet types/regions.
You still have the freedom to go in and tweak what each planet is producing, but if you don't want to the AI will do a good job. The interesting thing is the Viceroy always has the success of the colony as his prime goal, so he will not sacrifice foodstores in order to produce more scout ships. Very interesting.
Ground battle is much improved with the ability to build armor, marines, support units and special units and assign them to divisions ranging in size from very small to armies. Once you set up an army you have to assign a trnasport fleet (complete with some fighter escorts) and move it to the enemy's system. Ground battle is carried out by deploying the required troops and choosing formation and attack tactics. The combat is then played out and you can watch the advance (or failure) of your army on the world map. Quite cool.
That's it for now... but if anyone was wondering wether to buy the game or not, I would definately recommend it to anyone who enjoyed either of the first two installments. If you're not sure about the genre in general, you may want to try it at a friends place first.
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