The rave reviews are a bit confusing to me.
+Better graphics -while- reducing stress on your computer.
+Bigger, smoother maps (as part of smarter uses of resources).
+New tech trees for each Civ when an expack could get away with less.
+An open beta that allowed players to get in behind the scenes.
I should say now that I was part of the open beta. I felt that Stardock deserved my money on faith alone, so I bought the game before it was released, downloaded some of the beta versions, and generally just enjoyed watching the progress. It's a great group of people, developers and fans alike.
However...
I've just finished two games, the first on Challenging then the next on Tough. While there are 5 levels above this, you would think that "Tough" would at least be, well, even sorta tough. Right? In fact, I won both games by doing the following:
Choose Terrans. Boost econ, keeping Super Diplomat. Trade techs at a huge advantage. Keep friendships even if you have to pay for it. At a certain point, you'll have a pretty hefty tech lead. Make some ships that the AI can't handle, and attack anybody who isn't already an ally. In both my game, this was only 2 of the 7 AIs. After wiping out the two that weren't allied with me, I won.
O.K., so what? Well, the AI just simply didn't put up a decent fight. It still had plenty of unescorted transport ships: Kill those and your planets can't be taken. The AI didn't refit it ships to beat my designs, or it only did so very slowly. With all those allies, you could easily dogpile the AI anyway, even if the AI did a good job in battle. The AI wasn't building on resources effectively; it ignored crystals completely, even when you're out there snapping them up.
I haven't played other races because, frankly, if playing as Terrans wasn't a priority for Stardock, I have much less faith in playing the other races. Of course, maybe Super Diplomat is just overpowered? Could be. But that doesn't explain bad AI play overall.
So why do I give it an 8.5?
Like anybody else who knows Stardock, I'm certain that the AI will get some love over time. This is the beauty of their development model. I'll happily pay for their products now knowing that many of my complaints will be addressed with time. So I'm in a odd, but well trodden as far as Stardock is concerned, position of predicting that I'll be rating the game higher than if I rated it only on what I see today. Without that benefit, I would give the game more like a 7.0.
Thus, my recommendation is this:
Buy the game now if you have any interest in supporting this great company. You really have nothing to lose. The game as it stands today is worth playing. But rest assured it will be better 2, 6, 10 months from now, too. However, don't expect the AI to wow you, at least that has been my experience. This is still a work in progress...but the work will continue, and the progress will likely be pretty profound.
I give few companies that same level of trust.