The game was released way too early and apart from the major bugs I would doubt that the underlying game could deliver..
Having bought the GC II and all of the add-ons I understood how Stardock are committed to releasing patches and bug fixes until the game works pretty well.
However how does a game like Elemental get released in such a buggy and incomplete way is beyond my understanding. Not only is it full of bugs, some of which have already been patched, and the multi-player seems to still be a way off being ready, the game is "broken". What I mean by that is I would doubt that it needs just a few more patches to address the underlying problems and I really hope that if and when multi-player is enabled then Stardock does not forget how glaringly inadequate the AI is within the single player game.
This game should not have been simply delayed for a bit more polish it should have been rewritten.
The Gamespot review is spot on, sadly.
Instead of counting down the days for the next patch I am now just looking forward to Civ V being released.
Just to add... The purchase price of this game was almost as high as my expectations but at least Stardock have been prompt to refund that cost. However that cost did raise my expectations of a "finished" and playable game rather than the bug laden beta which needs more than a few patches to resolve it being broken. Bugged games can, if you have a willing company, be fixed. Broken ones need to be laid to rest.