I probably put in hundreds of hours on this game, back when it had to be purchased as a mail-order CD directly from the designer. Back in the early years of its release, it supported a small but vibrant modding community, and many of the mods were extremely elaborate and enjoyable. This was one of the first 4x games to strongly support modders by storing all of its data files in easily-edited text format, with (relatively) meaningful names. As a result, fixing a lot of the (perceived) problems with balance and strategic choice was as easy as changing a few lines of data with a text editor.

But how does it hold up today?

In many ways, quite well. Most more modern games that have eclipsed it in graphics and interface aren't quite in the same genre. For example, Distant Worlds (another game I've played for over 50 hours in the last year) is much better as a simulation, but it's a real-time game without much of the tactical crunch that you'll find in the combat engine of a game like SEIV. Similarly, a Civ-style many-paths-to-victory game (like GalCiv III) will do much better at diplomatic actions than the rudimentary AI of SEIV, but at the cost of having a much shallower approach toward ship and fleet design. Notwithstanding 15 years of new design priorities, this is still probably the best bet for experiencing an old-style wargame approach toward 4x galactic-scale empire building.

Here's a list of pros, neutrals, and cons. Note that many of the "cons" are things that can be partly fixed with a basic appreciation for modding, making this game easy to improve if you're willing to put in some of your own effort in fixing them.

++

Huge tech tree with lots of hard choices. With the "slower tech" options in the pre-game settings the cost of higher levels in a given tech will blow up quadratically, creating constant dilemmas about when to keep specializing vs when to start something new.

Large, realistic star systems, where you feel like you're really dropping support colonies all over dozens of little moons. The systems using the FQM mod are especially complex and attractive.

A balanced approach toward fleet design. You'll want to create dedicated supply ships, repair ships, missile platforms, carriers, satellite layers, remote mining stations, mobile shipyards, command vessels, drone launchers, and all kinds of other fun stuff. It really adds to the roleplaying nature of the game when you have a huge complex war machine reminiscent of the US Pacific fleet back in WW2.

A relatively smart AI for expansion and development, at least once it's been patched with an AI mod like TDM or ReStock. It's quite common to make first contact with an alien empire twice my size, and feel VERY nervous about sharing a border with them.

A huge suite of old mods to try out, including some that are included in the "Extras" folder with this release.

+-

Heavy focus on combat. This game excels at playing in the "all computer players against all human players" mode (a pre-game option), or in setting up multiplayer games. It's not so good at diplomatic-oriented games against the primitive political AI.

Lots of micromanagement. The other reviews don't lie. If you don't love it, you'll surely hate it. The automated ministers make enough bad decisions that if you choose a large galaxy, you're committing to a game that could take 100+ hours.

A very predictable pre-scripted AI, once you understand what things make it "angry". (New players often find it "feels" random, but it never really is.) This is both good and bad. Good since it feels more like the game is under your strategic control, bad because (in any game without another human player) everything is totally predictable. You can give the AI enough resources to make your situation quite hard -- but if you also want variety in your strategies, and not just difficulty, then you need to take the initiative in trying new stuff. ("This game I'll win using only carriers", etc.)

Certain highly exploitable AI behaviors, like a willingness to take certain terrible ship/tech trades (I usually turn trading off entirely), or a tendency to totally ignore you and let you build up a huge well-developed empire that will crush the galaxy. For a fun and challenging game, you'll need to act as a warmonger toward at least a few of your rivals!

--

Outdated, minimalist graphics. At least you can download player-created graphics packs to update them from "small and crude" to "small and clean".

Disconcerting atonal electronic music. This is very easy to replace with your own music files, though, after modding only a few lines in Settings.txt.

A weird interface that makes certain vital functions almost impossible to locate. The way that "waypoints" and "strategies" are spread out over multiple tabs and locations is especially baffling.

A general lack of useful documentation on modding functionalities.

I probably put in hundreds of hours on this game, back when it had to be purchased as a mail-order CD directly from the designer. Back in the early years of its release, it supported a small but vibrant modding community, and many of the mods were extremely elaborate and enjoyable. This was one of the first 4x games to strongly support modders by storing all of its data files in easily-edited text format, with (relatively) meaningful names. As a result, fixing a lot of the (perceived) problems with balance and strategic choice was as easy as changing a few lines of data with a text editor. But how does it hold up today? In many ways, quite well. Most more modern games that have eclipsed it in graphics and interface aren't quite in the same genre. For example, Distant Worlds (another game I've played for over 50 hours in the last year) is much better as a simulation, but it's a real-time game without much of the tactical crunch that you'll find in the combat engine of a game like SEIV. Similarly, a Civ-style many-paths-to-victory game (like GalCiv III) will do much better at diplomatic actions than the rudimentary AI of SEIV, but at the cost of having a much shallower approach toward ship and fleet design. Notwithstanding 15 years of new design priorities, this is still probably the best bet for experiencing an old-style wargame approach toward 4x galactic-scale empire building. Here's a list of pros, neutrals, and cons. Note that many of the "cons" are things that can be partly fixed with a basic appreciation for modding, making this game easy to improve if you're willing to put in some of your own effort in fixing them. ++ Huge tech tree with lots of hard choices. With the "slower tech" options in the pre-game settings the cost of higher levels in a given tech will blow up quadratically, creating constant dilemmas about when to keep specializing vs when to start something new. Large, realistic star systems, where you feel like you're really dropping support colonies all over dozens of little moons. The systems using the FQM mod are especially complex and attractive. A balanced approach toward fleet design. You'll want to create dedicated supply ships, repair ships, missile platforms, carriers, satellite layers, remote mining stations, mobile shipyards, command vessels, drone launchers, and all kinds of other fun stuff. It really adds to the roleplaying nature of the game when you have a huge complex war machine reminiscent of the US Pacific fleet back in WW2. A relatively smart AI for expansion and development, at least once it's been patched with an AI mod like TDM or ReStock. It's quite common to make first contact with an alien empire twice my size, and feel VERY nervous about sharing a border with them. A huge suite of old mods to try out, including some that are included in the "Extras" folder with this release. +- Heavy focus on combat. This game excels at playing in the "all computer players against all human players" mode (a pre-game option), or in setting up multiplayer games. It's not so good at diplomatic-oriented games against the primitive political AI. Lots of micromanagement. The other reviews don't lie. If you don't love it, you'll surely hate it. The automated ministers make enough bad decisions that if you choose a large galaxy, you're committing to a game that could take 100+ hours. A very predictable pre-scripted AI, once you understand what things make it "angry". (New players often find it "feels" random, but it never really is.) This is both good and bad. Good since it feels more like the game is under your strategic control, bad because (in any game without another human player) everything is totally predictable. You can give the AI enough resources to make your situation quite hard -- but if you also want variety in your strategies, and not just difficulty, then you need to take the initiative in trying new stuff. ("This game I'll win using only carriers", etc.) Certain highly exploitable AI behaviors, like a willingness to take certain terrible ship/tech trades (I usually turn trading off entirely), or a tendency to totally ignore you and let you build up a huge well-developed empire that will crush the galaxy. For a fun and challenging game, you'll need to act as a warmonger toward at least a few of your rivals! -- Outdated, minimalist graphics. At least you can download player-created graphics packs to update them from "small and crude" to "small and clean". Disconcerting atonal electronic music. This is very easy to replace with your own music files, though, after modding only a few lines in Settings.txt. A weird interface that makes certain vital functions almost impossible to locate. The way that "waypoints" and "strategies" are spread out over multiple tabs and locations is especially baffling. A general lack of useful documentation on modding functionalities.