Acceptable

I'm of two minds on this game. On the one hand, it delivers what you'd expect. At the same time, however, I played a few full games (which takes a while) and realized I just wasn't very thrilled. Perhaps the multiplayer is where Space Empires IV really shines (which I doubt but can't disprove), but the single player game didn't inspire me. It's solid, but nothing more.

If you really like the 4X genre, give SE4 a try. It's cheap, and you'll enjoy the experience of learning another 4X game. If you aren't an ardent fan of the genre already, though, this game isn't going to change your mind.