Let me start off by saying that I have been looking forward to MOO3 for a long time. I've followed the Boards and read all the hype. I'm not one of those folks who thinks that you cant like a variety of games about the same subject (4x in this case). I enjoy SE4 a lot, but the lack of AI and 'chrome' were things I hoped MOO3 would remedy.
But, after almost 12 hours of playing/fighting/reading/fighting with Moo3, I can say that the game is NOT fun. Its not rewarding. Its not addicting. The UI is TERRIBLE. Its meant to encourage 'macromanagement' by making 'micromanagement' almost impossible. Even tasks you'd expect to be fun like designing ships are a chore and filled with tedium and unintuitive menus.
I could go on and on about how frustrating the game is to play when you try to manage things and how empty it feels when you give up and play the way they intended you to. But what it all comes down to is whether or not the game is enjoyable. At this point, the verdict is a resounding "NO!". I'm not even sure patching would help. Its that bad....
Believe me, I tried to like it and I WANTED to like it, but in the end, I DONT like it. MOO3 is easily the most disappointing title I've played in a LONG time.
If you are thinking about picking it up, my recommendation would be to buy it from a retailer who allows open returns. There are some features that are really neat, but they're buried in a morass of contradictory info and needlessly difficult input screens.
Just my $.02 on it.
Talenn