As of the 1.0.1, the short version is: watch for updates and wait a little before you decide whether to buy this.

And the long version:

Pros:

• The general principle of play is sound. It's often indistinguishable from Civilization V, but that's not a bad thing (unless you're paid to judge works on uniqueness.)
  
• The depth added by designing our own combat units is interesting and allows for more freedom than other similar games when planning strategy. For example, rather than stumble about blindly or use up mass allowances on combat vessels, you might take a page from modern AEW&C. Or perhaps develop a raider doctrine with long-range, independent vessels capable of hunting alone. Or combine the two and create hunter-killer teams. There's huge potential to evade some of the worst aspects of min-max play in just this one concept.
  
• Spaceships!

Cons:

• Rather buggy for a game priced in the AAA range. Not that AAA titles are bug-free at first release, but that doesn't make it less annoying to pay more to buy less quality earlier. The ship designer in particular is a bug-ridden mess. And that's not a small problem for a game with few other reasons to play it over similar titles.
  
• The ship designer user experience--bugs withstanding--would have been reasonable ten years ago. Not today; especially with other, cheaper, vehicle building games out there such as Kerbal Space Program. It's so out of line with modern user experience it feels like Stardock is laughing at us. I've little hope this will improve much, as perusing the early access forums reveals players were pointing out some of the current problems long ago.
  
• At times, it feels like Civilization V with a different skin; same pleasures, same annoyances. From the direction early game faction scouts and settlers drive play to the over-engineered leader "discussion/diplomacy" screens containing dialogue even less relevant than a response from Eliza, it can feel an awful lot like an outside contractor team revamped Civilization V without understanding it--and therefore not knowing how to qualitatively improve it.
  
• The user interface glitter and glam leaves the impression the team wanted to match Civilization V dollar for dollar, but ran out of time or money. And that is a shame, because so many great games have shown us glitter, sprinkles, and twirly umbrellas in the user interface don't fundamentally improve the play experience and here that money and time was clearly needed elsewhere, e.g., the help system.
  
• The help system. Or lack thereof. A few tutorials that start strong and fizzle out. Little to nothing in-game and no real manual to speak of. This is a game much like chess, where mechanics are made up solely to balance one another and so one's intuition and life experience have nothing to contribute (and folks who paid even slight attention in physics or astrophysics 101 are going to be at a disadvantage.) So direct explanation of mechanics of play is essential, and almost entirely missing. Again, for cheaper titles with established forums and wikis, this is palatable. Not so for a title priced in this range.
  
• And, the big problem. The play simply does not balance when playing the largest map sizes. And the largest map sizes are presented as a significant differentiator from other like-minded titles.

I hope Stardock builds upon this in the coming months with updates; it's a game I'd love to love. There's a mountain of potential here if they find the budget and courage to come at some of the genre's problems and their solutions with fresh eyes. But, today it's not in the same league as other titles in the same price range nor is does it have the unique personality or creativity of its cheaper, indie brethren.

[Updates]
I've played around with this a little more. Few more things I've noticed:

• The opponent AI feels inferior to Civilization V, or even to Eliza. I feel as if I've I've as much chance of calling a random die roll as guessing what an AI-controlled opponent will say or do. Not to mention to the glaring inconsistencies, e.g., declaring war one turn and telling you they'll probably declare war on you the next. There's no sense of connection or rationality.
  
• The battle mechanic, or lack of one, is uninteresting, even pointless. You move your ships onto enemy ships (or vice versa) and a seemingly straight calculation is performed to determine the winner. I've tried saving and loading a dozen times before a few close battles and saw zero variation in outcome. Moreover, you have no input on battle tactics other than selecting as part of ship design what role a ship will play, i.e., you fix ship roles before construction. But that's not a real problem: roles are too simplistic to have any profound effect. You cannot call a retreat, ships gain no experience and have nothing to differentiate them from one another. Very like chess, very unlike other modern, deep 4X titles.

After a little more play; the feel is even more cardboard, generic, soulless. There's nothing to differentiate it from deeper, more accomplished titles except the concept of a ship designer; and that sabotaged by a poor implementation in comparison to its competitors.

As of the 1.0.1, the short version is: watch for updates and wait a little before you decide whether to buy this. And the long version: [b]Pros:[/b] [*]The general principle of play is sound. It's often indistinguishable from Civilization V, but that's not a bad thing (unless you're paid to judge works on uniqueness.) [*]The depth added by designing our own combat units is interesting and allows for more freedom than other similar games when planning strategy. For example, rather than stumble about blindly or use up mass allowances on combat vessels, you might take a page from modern AEW&C. Or perhaps develop a raider doctrine with long-range, independent vessels capable of hunting alone. Or combine the two and create hunter-killer teams. There's huge potential to evade some of the worst aspects of min-max play in just this one concept. [*]Spaceships! [/list] [b]Cons:[/b] [list] [*]Rather buggy for a game priced in the AAA range. Not that AAA titles are bug-free at first release, but that doesn't make it less annoying to pay more to buy less quality earlier. The ship designer in particular is a bug-ridden mess. And that's not a small problem for a game with few other reasons to play it over similar titles. [*]The ship designer user experience--bugs withstanding--would have been reasonable ten years ago. Not today; especially with other, cheaper, vehicle building games out there such as Kerbal Space Program. It's so out of line with modern user experience it feels like Stardock is laughing at us. I've little hope this will improve much, as perusing the early access forums reveals players were pointing out some of the current problems long ago. [*]At times, it feels like Civilization V with a different skin; same pleasures, same annoyances. From the direction early game faction scouts and settlers drive play to the over-engineered leader "discussion/diplomacy" screens containing dialogue even less relevant than a response from Eliza, it can feel an awful lot like an outside contractor team revamped Civilization V without understanding it--and therefore not knowing how to qualitatively improve it. [*]The user interface glitter and glam leaves the impression the team wanted to match Civilization V dollar for dollar, but ran out of time or money. And that is a shame, because so many great games have shown us glitter, sprinkles, and twirly umbrellas in the user interface don't fundamentally improve the play experience and here that money and time was clearly needed elsewhere, e.g., the help system. [*]The help system. Or lack thereof. A few tutorials that start strong and fizzle out. Little to nothing in-game and no real manual to speak of. This is a game much like chess, where mechanics are made up solely to balance one another and so one's intuition and life experience have nothing to contribute (and folks who paid even slight attention in physics or astrophysics 101 are going to be at a disadvantage.) So direct explanation of mechanics of play is essential, and almost entirely missing. Again, for cheaper titles with established forums and wikis, this is palatable. Not so for a title priced in this range. [*]And, the big problem. The play simply does not balance when playing the largest map sizes. And the largest map sizes are presented as a significant differentiator from other like-minded titles. [/list] I hope Stardock builds upon this in the coming months with updates; it's a game I'd love to love. There's a mountain of potential here if they find the budget and courage to come at some of the genre's problems and their solutions with fresh eyes. But, today it's not in the same league as other titles in the same price range nor is does it have the unique personality or creativity of its cheaper, indie brethren. [Updates] I've played around with this a little more. Few more things I've noticed: [list] [*]The opponent AI feels inferior to Civilization V, or even to Eliza. I feel as if I've I've as much chance of calling a random die roll as guessing what an AI-controlled opponent will say or do. Not to mention to the glaring inconsistencies, e.g., declaring war one turn and telling you they'll probably declare war on you the next. There's no sense of connection or rationality. [*]The battle mechanic, or lack of one, is uninteresting, even pointless. You move your ships onto enemy ships (or vice versa) and a seemingly straight calculation is performed to determine the winner. I've tried saving and loading a dozen times before a few close battles and saw zero variation in outcome. Moreover, you have no input on battle tactics other than selecting as part of ship design what role a ship will play, i.e., you fix ship roles before construction. But that's not a real problem: roles are too simplistic to have any profound effect. You cannot call a retreat, ships gain no experience and have nothing to differentiate them from one another. Very like chess, very unlike other modern, deep 4X titles. [/list] After a little more play; the feel is even more cardboard, generic, soulless. There's nothing to differentiate it from deeper, more accomplished titles except the concept of a ship designer; and that sabotaged by a poor implementation in comparison to its competitors.