[AJC]

I think that for its time Moo2 was a pretty good game. In fact I remember when it came out - I was thrilled - I thought finally a game that came close to the old star fire system, and on a computer no less! Oh the late nights I burned ... trying to beat the cheating AI...
I think my problem with the MOO series was that it came across as civilzation in space. Alot of the same paradyms were in the game that you found in all the civilization games- such as having to feed the population, the inability to research more than one tech at a time, to name a few frustrations. I particularly hated the fact that I could not build on a planet and build ships at the same time, and that I couldnt expand my construction capabilites around a single star system like I can in SE3/4.
Once I found the SE series - well moo2 got shelved. Moo1 and 2 were just too limited.

I am not too hopeful for Moo3 - It doesnt look that great to me, I hope I am wrong. The Last time I read about it - I read that they had removed tactical combat. For me, the ability to do tactical combat is half the fun of a space warfare game. I prefer the ability to move the ships and fight the battles myself instead of waiting for a computer to decide the outcome for me.