The (optional) addition of commanders with unique power-ups adds a surprising amount of depth to the game. Battleship used to be good for one or two games and is now worth several hour long binges.

The queue times for multiplayer are super reasonable and you'll rarely wait more than 20 seconds for a match, though you're not guaranteed to face an opponent around your skill level which is either a good or bad thing depending on what you're looking for.

The microtransactions aren't very intrusive, the base commanders you're given have a wide enough variety of special powers and ship shapes that you can easily get loads of hours of fun without purchasing another character. The purchasable characters aren't notably more powerful than the default ones so I've never felt like I only lost a game due to my opponent spending more on the game than me.
The DLC characters are pretty reasonably priced for how much they switch up the gameplay, but I'd still recommend waiting for a sale unless you have the extra money to toss around. It's nice than you can choose to only buy the ones that interest you.

Overall I highly recommend giving this game a shot, it's more fun with friends of course but you'll still get loads of enjoyment out of single player and online multiplayer.
Hope this review is helpful to someone :)

definitely not a neutral game