I loved the Master of Orion series, parts 1 and 2 were classics and due to my joy at seeing MOO3 being released I was one of the first people signing up on preorder… I wish I hadn't bothered.
This game is not a sequel to MOO2, as it's not based on the same game style and is not recognisable to previous players. There are a lot of options and pages upon pages of data to wade through.
I have a few friends who like the new style, the control it gives and the depth to it. I also have several who were hoping for a genuine sequel and were very disappointed. Currently it's almost 50/50 and due to that I would hesitate to recommend the game to anyone without having a play first (a demo is available for this purpose).