Recs.
Updated
SpecsUpdate
Pros
Pro Deep strategy
On top of building placements and star base placement and order of updates made to starbases, there is a lot of depth to this title. Everything from whom you butter up to keep from destroying you to whom you ally with. The types of ships you build and what technologies your research is invested into and the order it is invested in.
Pre-planning for war by checking how many ships the enemy has and what technologies are being used on their ships so you can counter this with your own ship designs. In the early game this is even more important to use the ship designed to maximize an early advantage in exploration, colonization and star base building.
This is definitely one of the deeper titles out there in which you slowly uncover layer after layer of strategic depth as you become more familiar with the game.
Pro Constant updates and DLC's
The game was quite bland on release and subsequent DLC's and expansion have really breathed life into this game and brought on new features that have made the game in general more enjoyable. The free updates have also been well crafted and come regularly as does communication from the developers.
Pro Fully customizable ships
The game's ship designer is one of the most comprehensive and powerful ship designers in a 4X to date. Other than customizing the look of the ships you own, you can also customize the way they work.
Functional customization allows players to customize their ships to suit their play style. Either strap 20 engines to a ship to make it faster, or 20 sensors to make it useful in detecting enemy spies. The only limit is the player's imagination.
Pro Interesting building-placement minigame
Buildings can provide certain bonuses to other adjacent buildings. For example, putting two factories together nets a +70% bonus, instead of a +60% bonus that they would grant if they were far from each other.
This forces the players to think about how best to position their buildings.
Cons
Con Poor planetary invasion system
The planetary invasion system is poor. And it is wildly inconsistent. You may win an invasion battle at 5-to-1 favorable odds, but then lose your entire invasion force attacking at something approaching 20-to-1 odds. This is the type of surprise result that can disrupt your entire campaign at a time that you are building momentum toward a game victory. It's an awkward system that mars an otherwise fine strategy game.
Con No control over space combat
You have absolutely no control over space combat, which right from the get-go makes any advantages this game has null and void; this is a hold-over from the previous two iterations of the game. Interestingly, the CEO of Stardock, Brad Wardell, was quoted as saying that he did not want players to be able to control space combat, as he felt that it gave the human player an "unfair advantage" over the AI players; imagine that!