Deeply flawed, but still good fun.
The gameplay is simple. Each player in turn selects their units one by one, moving and firing at will, and (in most levels) ordering new units to be built at the factories. The AI moves swiftly, and in multiplayer turn-limits stop the game becoming too tedious, so that things always seem to flow well. You start with just a couple of unit types, and progress to have access to a couple of dozen. The variety, and the tactical challenge, comes from the Commanders, which are unique units with distinctive powers. Once you've got the hang of the game, which takes only a few minutes, you have two campaigns, a series of player-versus-AI battle maps, and the option on 2-4 player online or hotseat play. So far, so good – and it is pretty good.
However, there are fundamental design flaws.
First, most of the levels, including all of the multiplayer battles, work around the premise that you seize resource areas (oil wells) to generate income so that you can pay to build new units. Or put another way, the better you do, the more powerful you will become. This basic flaw means that most games will be determined in the first few moves. There is no strategy for playing from an early disadvantage, and terrain is sufficiently limited that you can't hole up and hold out while you rebuild after an early defeat. If you begin to lose, your only real hope is that you have a better grasp of how to manipulate your units' move and fire distances than your opponent so that you can slowly claw your way back.
Second, the Commander units are not equal. Most give a small and interesting advantage. But one, in particular, is obscenely powerful if used correctly: face an opponent who has worked this out and all the fun will vanish from a multiplayer match.
If you want a good cerebral challenge on Live, then you'll get more longevity from Carcassonne, Catan, or a traditional boardgame. But the game is pretty good fun, and if you want something in the tradition of C&C, Civ, etc., then while this is not the strategy game you've been waiting for, at 800 points it's a good stopgap until Civilisation Revolution comes out.