The issue here for me is threefold:
1) There's no ramp-up time. Particularly for new players, there's no time to get to grips with the game. The air combat component is about the same difficulty two hours in or two years in. All that changes is a) what aircraft you have, b) what UFOs the aliens have, and c) how many bases you have. As a result, really, the air combat component becomes EASIER as you go further in. Basically, the difficulty curve on air combat is way over the place.
2) It means there's only one way to play the game. This is fine on higher settings, where things should be tight enough that you don't have any leeway. However, even on easier settings, you have no choice but to establish fighter bases around the world, something not communicated well in-game (I know there's a walkthrough available outside the game, but that's a poor substitute). Essentially, the game feels balanced around the higher difficulty levels.
3) It's frustrating in the early game. My early game experience involves seeing events happen around the world I can't do anything about, then seeing aliens in my airpsace, sending condors after them, and having the UFOs trail them around until they run out of fuel. This is a frustrating experience, not a fun or challenging one. I'll note that my problem isn't so much that I can't stop every UFO... i do actually like that things happen outside my sphere of influence. However, it becomes frustrating when my funding takes such a huge hit where I can't do anything about it. It would definitely help if either funding took less damage in early months, or if generally funding took less damage if it happens outside of your sphere of influence.
I do enjoy this game! I've played it through once and want to again. But the early game is putting me off.
