This is an old post but wanted to reply back since I really appreciated all the input people gave. I did buy the game recently and initially really enjoyed myself, very different feel to the prior titles with it's emphasis on speed and mechanisation. However, unfortunately I had to refund it as the combination of a widescreen monitor and the level of pixelation the large maps have was giving me headaches and eyestrain and I was struggling to parse the detail of the actions while zoomed out. Very unfortunate but it's clear that a laudable ambition might have overreached the engine's capability here and until an engine update (the fabled 5 that seems to have been hinted at for years) comes out and addresses this I can't see myself being able to play it. I think, for me, this underlines why demos for these games are still a very good idea.
Anyway thanks again for the helpful input.
Ended up reading it and enjoying it very much!