Absolutly brilliant! Certainly deserves a higher score.
Perhaps the most obvious thing about Earth 2160 is it's amazing graphics engine. The effects of lasers firing and missles shooting look really detailed. You start a game by building a main base like any other RTS. But in Earth 2160 you can't simply keep building until you have the best unit for your race. The game requires you to research different technologies. Things like Plasma Lasers, Anti-Air Rockets, and Energy Resistence Armor, must be researched by using resources such as Metal and Water. Each technology takes a number of minutes or seconds to research. As you research the technologies, more units, buildings, and special weapons will become avaliable to you. Some say that the research is too slow. And it is... If you have only ONE research station. If you have multiple research stations then you can research multiple technologies and you will have your whole tech tree researched in much less time then if you just had one.
But in my opinion, the best feature of Earth 2160 is the custom unit design. Nearly all units in the game, both air and ground, let you choose what weapon(s), engine, and armor you can equip on the ship. This feature allows you to balance your offense and defense to you're enemy. For example, if you are using reflective armor, and an enemy is shooting you with an energy weapon. You will take little damage. However, if he is attacking you with a chemical weapon. You will take alot of damage due to the fact that you are wearing reflective armor instead of anti-chem armor.
The single player campaign isn't a very good strong point in this game. Often times I was bored just waiting for something to happen. There is indeed many slow times in the single player campaign. And there were alot of times that I got so bored I just quit for a while. The problem is that you haft to wait for most things to happen. ie.. waiting for your commander to give you new orders.
Multiplayer would haft to be the most fun in Earth 2160. multiplayer is intense and exciting because you are facing a smarter opponent. The multiplayer is definitly a strong point. And provides hours and hours of exciting multiplayer action that will last you a very long time.
Final Word: If you're looking for a really good skirmish/multiplayer RTS game. Look no further then Earth 2160. The skirmishes are fun, the Multiplayer is fun. And the features are really well done.