Good but if you played the original, theres not much different.
The Map feels smaller. People will tell you that the map is huge, however it feels tiny to me.
Many, many, many more settlements created by native tribes. I decided to test combat out with a few Vet Soldiers and Cannon. Wiped out about 5 towns slowly but surely. Started to wander back home only to find they'd built two new ones. Talk about Baby Boom because theres hundreds of little Braves ready to bash you over the head.
Declaring Independence - Now, this was always difficult in the original. You had to build up your defences hard, pray you could last out long enough to crank in the Liberty Bells and receive reinforcements from another nation. Ive tried to revolt twice and been.... well crushed both times. A hugely disproportionate force plonks itself on the land and proceeds to bombard you until you wonder whether the turn will end this hour or the next. Their troops are superior, their numbers are superior and from what I have seen, there is no option to spawn a reinforcement team like the original.
Overall, its fun. The micromanagement, the menu systems are all the same. Looks a little bland menu-wise but its easy to get the hang of.
Easily worth my money. It pulled me in straight away.
One tip, early in the game when trying to access the wonderful bounty of one of the special squares (like villages in Civ4) I was asked if I wanted to visit the Burial Mounds. Of course I do!!! Theres plenty of loot to be plundered there! Big mistake, Tribesmen went ape on me and I rushed my Soldiers back to base as they were doing my early scouting. Both colonies were undefended

Saved my backside by 2 turns by offering them peace and 400 gold.