Has anyone played it?

Look at the rules for official tournaments in part 1 and the most popular part 3? In part 1, the main drawback is that they can give you random artifacts, while in part 3, there are entire pages of rules and additions to them. And there are constant disputes at tournaments about Admiral's Hats, Flights, and other improvements.

No, there are enough rules in both, it's just silly to compare 1995 and 2000... what's more complex to control, a hang glider or a helicopter?
Those who played part 1 back then felt a real breakthrough, and the other parts were, of course, better and more well-thought-out, but that effect was never there again and never will be. Unless in a new generation of games, when you can virtually participate in the game and chop off the heads of hydras with a sword or shoot down griffins with an elven bow. :)