Not even closely half as bad as anyone would dare claim. While the game certainly is not Masters of Orion 2, which undoubtedly is the crown jewel of the series, this game isn't bad in any manner of ways. The scope has been made far more grand, the research is realistic, and the UI and functions of the game are far less convoluted than it's predecessors.
I do not simply understand why even here people are parrotlike enough to complain about this game. This simply isn't a bad game, in fact, it's a great game. It's only flaw is that it came many years after Master of Orion 2, causing alot of butthurt feelings in the fanbase, which i still don't understand to this day.
If you have played the great games called Galactic Civilizations 1 and 2, or Space Empires, you'll certainly love this. While i cannot say truthfully that it is better than the legendary MoO2, i can for sure say it improves in several aspects where MoO2 was -severely- lacking. I can wholeheartedly recommend the game to almost any strategy fan, so long you're not part of the MoO2 cult and hate the game for no reason at all.