I discovered this game pretty recently. Picked it up for 10 pounds and I couldn't be more pleased witht it. Just the fact that the game has 4 billion star systems to explore is all the reason I need, but the game is engaging and beautiful (to me anyway). After playing through several MMOs recently where it was "open" but was really just following a cookie-cutter quest sequence, finding a game where once you finish the training it gives you no further instruction whatsoever and just leaves you to your own devices is a huge breath of fresh air.
But really, all that pales in comparison to this sci-fi nerd's absolute favorite thing about this game:
The SCALE.
As far as I can tell, it is not just 4 billion dots on a map where the speeds you're going and the distances you're covering are hugely inaccurate in an effort to make the game seem as big as an actual galaxy. Even that would be impressive, but it actually is as big as it says it is, and in the game world you are actually going however many multiples of c your ship indicates (excepting the jump drive, obviously). If you have doubts, just try setting your destination to one system away, which is likely less than seven light years. Make sure you're in frame shift, but not in the jump mode. Max throttle right towards the destination, and come back in 20 minutes as your ship is reading 2,000 c and saying you'll get there in 17 hours. I did that accidentally during the travel training and it single-handedly made the game worth its weight in gold for me. See also: decelerating in frame shift to dock at a station and overestimating just a little bit, thinking you'll be fine and then suddenly the location is far behind you. Oops. That indicated speed? Not a facade.
For me that is enough to make the game wonderful, but it follows it up with so much more. First of all, the first time I zoomed out all the way in the galaxy map showed me just how many systems 4 billion is. At the core of the galaxy? It's nuts. Scrolling and scrolling (either direction) and your screen is almost completely covered with tiny dots that are all systems. And with the amount of players that are on, I don't imagine anything more than one hundredth of that has been explored. Apart from that, I find the ship controls very good, the combat is good, the soundtrack gives the absolute perfect atmosphere for the game (especially in supercruise...dear Lord, the supercruise tracks couldn't be more perfect), the graphics look phenomenal right down to each individual HUD screen on your ship, the ship customization is good, the ship options are pretty good, and the sound effects are on point.
Criticisms?
Well, I wish there were a lot more ships, but this is coming from a Gran Turismo player who's used to quadruple-digit vehicle lists. It just seems like the biggest ship in the game isn't really that big, and your choices for upgrading from your starting ship can be easily counted on one hand.
Also...yes, there are several things you can do in the game. Bounty hunting, piracy, trade, shipping, mining, and exploring are the ones that come to mind. All of these are great, but as far as I can tell a significant majority of players are pirates or bounty hunters, and the rest are split between doing a mix of what's left or exclusively exploring. That's fine and each discipline is fun, but it doesn't seem like enough variety to me.
Apart from these things, I can't think of too much. Would I like to be able to wage interplanetary war on a grand scale and build civilizations on planets? Sure, but that's not what the game is.
Anyway, that's enough rambling from me. Suffice it to say that I love the game, and if any of you are still playing, let's play.
Any help would be appreciated. 
Still millions of starsystems, maybe you meant to say starsystems instead of galaxies though.
