I think there are a lot of misconceptions about the game, a lot of people seem to be expecting a sim but it is not, rather it is a strategic action game which should be played at the "big picture" fleet commander level only jumping in when the action gets hot.
I think it is a good game but Eidos has made a bit of a blunder by releasing a multiplayer demo they would have been better releasing their naval academy tutorial section and a single player level. as:
--people are struggling to figure out the controls
--very few players are using naval tactics and are instead sending one ship out at a time and jumping aboard to fight it out when they should be assembling and deploying fleets, formations are possible in the game but no-one is using them.
--there is a repair screen for all of the ships but again no one seems to be using it due to having no training mode.
--many users are having problems configuring their firewall/routers to play the multiplayer game.
Just goes to show that releasing a demo without an adequate tutorial is not a good idea, it may cost them more sales than it brings in as users struggle to play correctly, which is a real shame as it is good fun when played to it's full potential.
Take a look at this
The excerpt from the forthcoming Prima strategy guide below gives an idea of the tactics and formations possible in the game, a look at some other units and gives a glimpse at the depth and style of play that many users seem to be missing in their appraisal of the demo. (6MB PDF but definitely worth a look)
http://www.primagames.com/catalog/promo_image/9780761554929_616.pdf