This is definitely much faster paced. There are different game modes and those tend to differ in average length. For example, a mode to kill x number of enemy demigods for a win isn't going to take as long on average as the destroy-the-citadel mode. There's no base building, no researching, so it's just jump in and go fight.

You can play co op vs AI online or LAN, but the auto-matchmaker for Skirmish and Pantheon does not currently allow to you make a preset team before looking, it just matches based on rankings, more or less. Custom games allow you to set up teams, maps, victory conditions, etc.

In my opinion, this is a very slow game.

Simply the fact that the game is designed to only control one unit - take dota for example, ive been playing that for 2 years and failed to get my starcraft buddies to play it since they play with 200+ apm. DotA instead lets u roll+smoke a joint while u play it, just to give u an impression.

So if you prefer a fast-paced game with a lot of map control, micro and base building, this is nothing for you.

But that should not interfere with you buying it I did so and I didnt regret it to this day.

Well, it remains to be seen how the online community will develop, however Demigod doesn't have very much to offer for purely single player, it's just AI skirmishes and a smaller version of Pantheon. It's definitely more geared to be an online game.

I guess I would say if you're on the fence you can wait for reviews, gameplay videos (there are already several official gameplay vids/walkthroughs, in HD on Gametrailers), and a demo sometime in the future.

I do like handing out money to Stardock!

Multiplayer is a huge focus for me, yeah.