The game is interesting and can waste some of your time, but there is nothing special about it. You own a fleet of ships, can build/design more, research parts, colonize planets, build structures, fight, and that is about it. It is all done in 2d bird's eye view and is turn-based. Fights go into 3d, but you don't get to control anything in the fights, except you get to choose what ships to send to the fight. Weapons and defenses come in three types. Each type of protection protects a ship against one of the three types of weapons. So, basically, bigger ships beat smaller ships. More technologically-advanced ships beat older ships. The only thought that needs to be applied is how to counter your enemies' weapons and armor. Basically, you want to have ships that are well protected against the weapons that your enemy uses, while equipping your own ships with guns that are not blocked by your enemy's defenses. Nothing advanced here at all. Oh yeah, lots of factions give you the option to trade technologies and team up, but that's it. Doesn't get any more complex than that.
Seems rather simple for a game that is mostly in 2d and completely turn-based. I realize why this game is overrated: because it is a fairly solid X4. But just being "solid" is not good enough when you take on such a relatively simple concept as X4.
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