Spore (PC) Review

Posted by Chris Vicari on 09.18.2008

It’s ironic that Spore is a simple game despite its complex customization scheme.



Title Spore
System - PC
Publisher - EA Games
Developer - Maxis
Players - 1
After years of hype, media coverage, interviews, pictures, videos and fanboys we can finally get our hands on Spore, the alleged “torch holder” for the future of video games. Developed by Maxis, known for its highly-praised and renowned classics such as Sim City and The Sims, you will find the same amount of quality here. A quick note however, if you’re set on purchasing this game, I recommend you buy the game box itself rather than download it through EA. I had numerous issues with their download manager and had problems with corrupt/missing files during the installation process.

Gameplay and Theme

Spore is quite different from many of the games out there simply because you start your own race at the cellular level, then develop your creation in any way you see fit such as adding 10 legs or eight arms, the ability to spit acid or grow spikes. Eventually your creature develops into a tribe and then a nation able to conquer the galaxy. The customization opportunities in Spore are practically unrivaled, surpassing other games like Impossible Creatures and Galactic Civilizations by a landslide. Not only can you shape your creatures in any way imaginable, you can also create your people’s buildings, vehicles and eventually UFOs. The possibilities are nearly endless and even though there aren’t any multiplayer opportunities, you’ll have plenty to do in singleplayer.



When starting a new game, you have the option of starting on 7-8 different planets, but it doesn’t really matter too much. After that, you have a choice of either going carnivore or herbivore and then you’re ready to go. The controlling scheme in the cellular stage is simple point and click and depending on your diet choice, you either destroy and eat other organisms or consume plant cells. By consuming food, you grow a little bigger and earn DNA points. These DNA points allow you to trick out your creature with various appendages such as spikes for defense or flagella for faster movement. Placement and size of these upgrades is totally up to you, but before you can view the customization screen, you must call a mate. With the push of a button your creature sounds off and another of the same species is soon to follow. Before you can get some decent upgrades though, you have to collect them from destroying asteroid bits or killing other cells and this is where tedium sets in. Asteroid bits are few and far between and drops from killing other cells are even rarer. Thankfully, if you’re happy with the way your creature is turning out, you can skip the mind-numbing manhunt, grow some legs and walk into the creature phase.



You’ve now entered the creature phase and more customization opportunities are open to you, but you’ll pretty much be doing the same thing you did during the cellular phase albeit a little differently. The objective here is to destroy or make friends with the other creature nests in your vicinity, but to also earn even more DNA points to add more parts and progress further down the evolutionary line. The cool thing I noticed though is that the creatures you face are made by other people and aren’t randomly generated. At the start of each game, the Spore client automatically downloads creatures from the Spore network which means other people may be facing off against your wacky creations as well.

Body parts are now found in old piles of bones around the area and there are a lot more of them. The boring hunt begins anew as you search all over the landscape for body parts that will suit your needs as each piece adds different stats and abilities. Some will add damaging abilities such as charge, bite and stealth while others will add to your creature’s charm allowing it to dance and pose its way into friendship. Body parts can also be acquired by completing objectives as well.

Since there’s only one objective during the creature phase and only two ways to complete it, there’s a hamper on the things you can do. If you’re not the type who can willingly lose hours into customizing your creature, then you may find this stage boring and unchallenging. All you do here is walk around the landscape and press 1, 2, 3 or 4 to kill enemies or 1, 2, 3 or 4 to woo them over to your side. That’s pretty much it. As you grow in brain power, you can also have a little fan following which can help you out in a pinch if you’re outnumbered. There’s nothing intuitive about it really and you can’t order them around though.

Once enough objectives are completed and your brain swells to maximum size, your small nest of creatures are ready to form their own tribe. Before this happens however, the game double-checks with you to make sure that the creature you created is the one you want to keep. After that you can no longer alter the physical makeup of your creature, only its clothing aesthetic. The tribal phase is when things start to get a little more interesting since a smidgen of resource gathering is introduced, but yet again it’ll be the same as before. The difference here is that you’re able to create buildings and purchase apparel for your tribe. Like the appendages from earlier phases, the apparel also adds bonuses to your tribe such as attack ability, gathering skill and charm. The resource gathering is nothing special and is just food retrieval which is then used to increase population and purchase buildings. As you destroy or ally with other tribes, you gain access to new buildings which can put weapons in the hands of your creatures, teach them how to sing or give them torches making them more effective at burning down buildings. As more and more tribes fall under your supremacy, you are one step closer to becoming a nation.

Once in the nation stage, you are tasked with taking over the world. Simple as that. More customization opportunities become available allowing you to create your own townhall, tanks and planes. If you’re bored of customizing at this point, the game comes with preset buildings and vehicles you can use. I had the most fun developing my tank though as I gave it massive treads, five humongous turrets and one badass paintjob. The buildings you place can also be tailored to your specifications and give your city various bonuses such as offensive and defensive power as well as keeping the happiness up. Spice takes the place of food as your economy and its as easy as capturing nodes on the map and defending them. As more nations fall into your fold, the more you can produce. When four nations are under your control, you can start building planes to bomb your enemies and once 12 fall, you can start building UFOs and conquer space.



Space is big, well, actually it’s very big. Sadly this potential is wasted on the fact that you’ll be doing the same things you did throughout the entire game. If you haven’t caught on by now, the game is extremely repetitious, but the space phase let’s you have a little bit of fun. As a UFO, you can visit different planets, abduct creatures, bomb cities and even make the planet inhabitable. It feels a little bit like a sandbox because of the freedom you’re given, but it’s all really the same stuff with a different wrapper.

Graphics

While Spore’s graphics aren’t the best out there, they are still pleasing on the eyes. The creatures, depending on how you made them, can also look pretty detailed. Spore’s ability to accurately showcase how a creature with 10 arms, 13 legs and five mouths can walk, talk and interact is absolutely topnotch. I didn’t experience any graphical issues while playing and I’m sure we’ll be seeing a high-resolution pack soon enough thanks to the game’s robust community.

Sound

The sound in this game is excellent. The noises your creatures make, the ambience in the background and everything else makes Spore’s sound simply great. True quality is seen throughout.

Fun Factor

The creature editor is by far the most entertaining portion of the game. There’s just so much you can do it’s astounding. Even though the rest of the game is shallow, easy and not very complicating, I did have a lot of fun playing it. After a couple hours though, I tired of the game’s repetition and wanted more. If you enjoy customizing or creating something in your image, then Spore will be exceedingly enjoyable for you. If you’re looking for something more and tire easily of creating things then Spore may not be the game for you.

Lasting Appeal

Thanks in no small part to the game’s bustling modding community and of course the creature engine, Spore has an extensive lifespan. I’m sure EA will employ its usual business tactics and release 10 expansions by next year so more potential can be found there as well. Spore, despite its aspirations to be like every game out there, is most certainly not for every person out there. Mess with the downloadable creature editor, watch a few gameplay videos and then decide if the game is right for you. Don’t believe the hype. You may feel shortchanged.

The 411

For me, Spore feels like wasted potential. There are so many opportunities to make the game more in-depth and challenging, but it was somewhat squandered. Spore tries too hard to be like every game imaginable and the jack-of-all-trades mentality doesn’t work. The customization engine really shows off Spore’s potential as well as Maxis’ talent, but everything else feels a tad rushed. If you played the game for a couple of hours, you will experience everything the game has to offer. If it took another year to make everything better, I wouldn’t have minded the wait to be perfectly honest.

Graphics	8.5	While not the best out there, the accurate protrayal of creatures from all walks of life makes the graphics a huge success.
Gameplay	7.5	A phenominal creature editor is trounced by shallow and simple gameplay.
Sound	9.0	Spore's sound quality is topnotch.
Lasting Appeal	8.0	The game can last a long time for those who enjoy creating things, but it has the opposite effect on those who don't.
Fun Factor	8.0	Again, the creature creator has the potential for a ton of fun, but the repetitious gameplay certainly dulls it.
Overall	8.0   [ Very Good ]

Screenshots
All 14 Spore Screenshots