I've played ~100 hours in this game and now I can definitely say you: it is a totally boring piece of garbage. Thanks.

I like strategy games for the fighting be it turn based or RTS, however this games warfare mechanics leave you with little to no control. Effectivly making this more of a complex Auralux like strategy game then a game in which the player can turn the tides by simply haveing a better strategy.

This is an excellent 4x game, one of the best in the genre. It's easily worth the price.

+:

The tech tree is branching and complex, allowing for a great diversity in playthroughs and lots of replay value.

The UI is intuitive and thoughtful, especially the solar system management. Looks great too.

The races are diverse and unique.

The AI offers plenty of challenge.

The ship combat system is simple (some would say simplistic), but it offers a greater level of control than other popular space 4x titles.

The music and ambience is calming.

The DLC is a total revamp of the tech tree, offering what almost feels almost like a new game. Great value here.

-:

No ability to customize ship appearance.

No RTS-style direct control over ship combat.

Let's be honest in the domain of Space Empire games (you're in Space, making an Empire):
It's not as good as Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares.
It's also really complicated.
-Designing your ships alone could be a game.
-The tutorials seem to go on forever (they do end eventually).

Yet it is one fabulous game, with interesting choices and mechanics.

5/10

I wanted to like this so much. It is almost painful to give it a thumbs down. There is so much in this game that is so close to making it really good, and really this is not so much of a thumbs down as it is just not a thumbs up.

So, where to start...

This is, as you should know, a 4x space game but there in lies one of the first problems with it. It is a 4x game "light" IMO. The game takes the approach of making many aspects of a 4x game and automating them. The combat is completely automated, there is mostly no colony management outside of setting a tax rate and building que, there is no real desicion making in research other then to just get it all, there is little to no diplomacy other than war/peace, and there is no espionage.
Overall, while this makes the game a bit more casual and easier for newer players to understand, after multiple games and hours of play time everything just kinda falls flat. And honestly, I wouldn't have minded all this so much if the rest of the game was there as well. This is not a bad game, by any means. For what is there, it is polished, beautiful, the music is nice, the lore is interesting and the game does a great job of pulling you in and making you want to play it. But once you get past that intial love, you realize there is not anything else there. It is super shallow and after a few games it becomes very repetitive.

The worst offender in the game and what possible pushed it down for me was the combat mechanics. Let's face it, most 4x games result in lots of combat and this one is definitely no different. However, the mechanics of how they work in this game make them very uninspired, bland, and does nothing to reward the player for being smart or playing better. See the main problem with the combat is all combat is done through ship fleets. A fleet can have a certain amount of "Points" of ships in them. The bigger the ship is the more points it is. You can gain more point maximum per fleet through research and racial traits. Actual combat is all done 1 fleet vs 1 fleet at a time and is all automated, winning is simply a numbers game that compares fleet defense number vs enemy attacking number. So what this boils all down to is the empire that can have the most points of ships in each fleet has a huge advantage simply because they have more of everything. Since combat is all automated there is no tactical advantage for smaller faster ships or ambushes or any battle tactics whatsoever. It is all just a numbers game and who can have the biggest number. Unfortunately, this carries over to the rest of the game because what this means is that once you get past the initial exploring part of the game all you will ever do is build ships non stop and throw them at the enemy and whomever can build them fastest with larger fleets wins.

This is also exactly all the AI does as well. So once war is engaged, and it always will in most 4x games, it becomes a sluggish slog that becomes very boring very quickly. This is were the rest of the shallowness starts becoming very apparent as with other 4x games you may be able to start other tactics, whether diplomatic, espionage, etc to help move the combat and war along. Unfortunately in Endless Space there is no other tactics, and there is no other option other then to just slog it out, or simply stop playing. Which was what I did.

As with so many 4x games in recent memory, Endless Space fails to build upon earlier games that were far superior. The developers, for whatever reason, failed to learn what made those games popular and whom, by many, are still considered the best of the genre, even some 10-15 years later. Yes, the graphics are better, the sound is better, the ships are cooler, and the lore is engaging, but 4x games require more then that. So I cannot recommend this game, there are just simply better games out there of this stype and style.

Master of Orion have always been special to me and I always look for the next great space strategy game. This game was fun the first ten hours. It was addictive even. Colony building was somewhat simpler than Galactic Civilization which was a plus in the beginning but became a little monotonous later on. Nonetheless, I kept going. I wanted to rule the galaxy afterall. Then the game totally went to ♥♥♥♥ for me after the population started revolting literally everywhere. It was crippling and completely progress killing. Pretty much stopped me cold from playing any further.

4.5/10.

Endless Space is a very interesting and beautiful 4x game.
Get the DLC if you're going to buy it, though

Great Game, but needs some refinement, good thing a sequel is on the horizon.

Endless Space is a complex, and beautiful 4X strategy game that draws natural comparisons to games like Sins of a Solar Empire (Endless Legend, possibly Civ). If you don't like having to spend possibly hundreds of hours exploring tech trees, managing morale, supply lines, and configuring ship outfits this game isn't for you.

My one gripe (with most 4X games for that matter) is that the pace is often (intentionally) slow. Even after learning the mechanics; skirmishes against AI will take multiple hours. This is fine if you plan on casually playing a game over the course of days/weeks/months (which I'm told many people do), but in many cases the larger strategy (i.e. any of the 'X's) will largely overwhelm the rest of the game, to the point that most tactical aspects will feel mechanical, which leads to a lot of largely unfulfilling early games (which will burn 10-50 hours).

If you appreciate the zen of turn-based strategy, you'll love this--and for the money, playing this game is effectively identical to Endless Legend (which I believe is currently more expensive).

A fun game with long matches and a steep learning curve. Cool ship designs, Love the multiple upgrade paths.