i didn't mind it but i'm almost positive the AI cheats.
i played a few games and every single time i brought a fleet against someone i was at war with, they would show up almost immediately with a fleet just slightly more powerful. the first few times i figured it was just me under-estimating my opponents, but it kept happening. Eventually i picked on someone i was way way ahead of, same deal.
to test it out i looked up some cheats, and used them to build an out of control fleet. absolutely massive and improbable to achieve playing normally, gave myself all techs, basically went full god mode. Sure enough, the enemy matched it with one just slightly more powerful and equally advanced
uninstalled the game straight away and haven't reinstalled it.