Better than its predecessors. More tactical, more strategic. The game manual is terrible. You'll have to study.....
Music is ok, with some theme really good and some other a few repetitive.
THE BAD
The manual is useless!!!! You'll have to study and discover things while playing. This could be a little frustrating at the beginning (first time I opened the base management interface I was tempted to uninstall the game....). For example, no explanation about how's calculated the resource level related to number of mines owned (see the forum to discover it).The diplomatic tree could be implemented better. Some minor graphic problem in strategic missions. The map rotation and management sometime go crazy (but I don't know if it depends by my pc or by the game).
Finding your tech vehicle around Mars is sometime difficult.
CONCLUSIONS
It's that kind of game you know when you start to play with, but not when you'll finish (....ooops 3 am! I need to sleep. Ok just another game-day to discover new technology...)
If you work and have a social life... you risk to compromise them: this game is too much addictive.....