That's a good point.
There is no campaign mode to play through (though they are adding one in the expansion) but the game play is just awesome, if you're into the RT4X type of gameplay.
Imagine the RTS element of homeworld combined with the empire control of Imperium Galactica or something like that. IMHO, the game is definitely the best RT4X game ever made.
They've also released several patches (currently up to 1.05) which has further tweaked the game in a lot of ways. They're also working on a big 1.1 patch which will do even more.
Regarding the game length, the games can definitely be long if you're on a large map, but the great thing about it is that you can save a game and then continue on at a later time, a big plus to me. I would prefer to have one 20 hour long epic game as apposed to 20 1 hour games... but hey, that's just me.
Anyways, the game plays great over hamachi (a free VPN), if anyone ever wants to play, just PM me. And don't worry, I'm only a mid-line player, at best.