A decent grand strategy game that keeps the pressure of the campaign on till almost the end. Mainly due to the way reinforcements happens.

The asymmetric balance is interesting and the replay-ability is reasonably good. If you like Advanced wars series this feels reasonably similar in terms of turn based combat.
In terms of grand strategy its pretty good mechanics for politics and resources management. Balance is interesting and keeps things interesting in terms of planning.
The story events are okay. But more there for flavour. Rarely really have a great effect on the game. Also there are not as many as it sounds like there are.

I think the only downside would be how battle heavy this game is during the mid - late game. And the trigger for the alien invasion is a little too easy to trigger. So it almost always triggers in the first few turns. Aliens become your main problem for a while.

If you like turn based battles and take a break when they get a bit tiresome then its highly enjoyable. If you like having high stakes battles that drastically change the board and quick grand strategy victory. This might not suite your tastes.

Good Things:
* Very interesting turn based asymmetric strategy game.
* Resource management and exhaustion and diplomacy plays out understandably and predictably.
* Good Replay-ability due to multiple faction and starting types and setups.

Bad Things:
* Can be at times grindy due to how many battles need to be won before a side starts being unable to field a resistance.
* Alien invasion is triggered by some unoccupied planets being occupied. Which happens really early on. (disabling alien invasion doesn't feel great either)

Overall its a recommend. Its fun, challenging and the negatives are insignificant for someone who likes to play turn based strategy games.