One of the best games. Ever.
The ammount of technology to be developed is astounding, the research system is great in itself, weapons are nicely done, physics is good (and my graphics gard is crying, but I won't stop playing!). All you need is... install patch 1.2 as well. Otherwise the bugs are gonna get you.
Without revealing too much; you find yourself on a space base - Laputa - from which you start your Earth re-conquest. If you wish to get a hold of a certain territory you need to move Laputa close to it and launch a tactical mission. These are a game in itself. Moving the soldiers, taking care of the cover, of the correct group composition, training your soldiers in the right fields to wield the weaponry of your choice, especially the psychics and cyborgs (yup, that is correct)...
You direct your Earth opera through a hollogram of Earth, showing you (after it is explored) where your bases are, what resources you get from a certain province, who needs your help and who needs to be taught a lesson. And finally, FINALLY you get to see your bases. In these you build laboratories and production facilities for each research field individually, some needing higher level of knowledge in the base, some (like ammo production) none at all. And almost everything you develop is directly usable - and noticable - in the tactical missions. You can also build defence structures and so forth.
The game still isn't perfect, though. The tactical maps could be bigger and yet load faster, soldier limit could be higher, bugs could be fewer and so forth. But all this doens't lessen the value of this great game. It's a HUGE leap forward from it's predecessor Aftermath. If the next in series (working title Afterlight) makes the same leap, it will be a superb game, a MUST PLAY for all the gamers who can't forget the games of old. Aftershock eased the pain considerably, Afterlight might just cure me for good.