And, for the most part, the actual gameplay is solid as well. But there are a few areas that are done, well, poorly, and the entire 'persistent multiplayer' bit hasn't even been finished yet. [Yes, to an extent that's not Interplay's fault -- the company they were doing it with had a massive reorg -- but it's still a shame.]
Let it be said here and now: First, I'm not a Trekkie, and second, I never played the first SFC. So Starfleet Command II needed to do at least two things for me: intrigue me with the setting, and beguile me with the gameplay. It did the first handily, but the gameplay had me befuddled for a while.
SFC2 is roughly based on the Star Fleet Battles tabletop game that's been around, well, for ages. It carries along quite a bit of its predecessor's complexity -- managing energy, controlling turns, and whatnot. And it throws it into a real-time engine. Now, because of this complexity, you won't be seeing massive twenty-on-twenty fights like you'd have in 'normal' strategy games. Instead, SFC2 concentrates on tactical battles between small groups of ships.
And, once you get over the absolutely frightening learning curve, the game is actually quite a bit of fun. It plays like you'd imagine naval sparring did Back In The Day -- stately ships circling each other, looking for a weakness and exploiting it. Energy conservation is key, and keeping your weapons, shields, and engines balanced is an integral part of the game. And, believe me, it takes a lot of getting used to. Once you do, however, you're in for quite a gameplay treat. There are absolute tons of ships to command, plenty of weapons to use, and more different strategies to use than I could ever learn in my life. Every group has their strong points and weak ones (well, it can be argued that the Federation is the 'middle of the road' race), and learning these interactions is integral to the enjoyment of the game.
There are some pretty serious problems with the game, however. For one, beginners can be overwhelmed by the tutorials. They take a long time to do, and are often vague on important concepts -- for example, speed isn't even covered until the second tutorial. Augh. While veterans of the first SFC will undoubtedly have no problems jumping into the game, those of us who are new to the concept can have some serious problems with the control overload.
Secondly, the single-player campaigns, while large, just aren't particularly inspiring. Instead of using a strong story-driven setting, you do a sort of random wandering-about and completion of missions thing. The map used to control the campaigns is stark and dull, and the whole thing feels more like a rough Galactic Empire simulation than a game. Isn't it fascinating that Klingons have attacked Sector (12,3)? Ugh.
And lastly, the much-touted Dynaverse that would allow people to duke it out in a persistent online universe has yet to be opened to the public. For now, we have to content ourselves with straight TCP/IP play against others in skirmishes. These skirmishes are quite fun, mind you, but full multiplayer support would be nice.
