Spore (PC)

...a bloodhungry destroyer of worlds. Spore provides a much needed breath of fresh air into the sandbox/creator genre, and indeed computer gaming as a whole. It's colourful, original, brilliant fun, and charming, but the gameplay is scared with repetetive and simple mechanics. This is what stops Spore getting the 5 stars, but in no way does it stop this being a game that is well-worth buying. If you end up buying it and forgeting about it after a week ...
...this point you realise that Spore isn't one big game but actually a combination of 5 smaller ones. You are now given control of multiple creatures, and your first job is to set them off gathering food. Soon other tribes appear, and agin you must decide wheather to kill them, or not to kill. Whatever direction you took in the creature stage will affect your Shaman's (tribe leader) abilities, which are crucial in a fight or when trying to impress another ... more

"Look, it can walk, it can walk!" I cried with glee as I watched my home-bred slimy-green-eyed-monster-thing scrambled out of the murky brown sea and onto the land. This is the highlight of Spore, watching your creation evolve from cell into a whole species of space-searching critters. Having now reached the final stage: space, I look back at the original and only wonder how that cute, little fury thing is now a bloodhungry destroyer of worlds. Spore provides a much needed breath of fresh air into the sandbox/creator genre, and indeed computer gaming as a whole. It's colourful, original, brilliant fun, and charming, but the gameplay is scared with repetetive and simple mechanics. This is what stops Spore getting the 5 stars, but in no way does it stop this being a game that is well-worth buying. If you end up buying it and forgeting about it after a week that's fine, but it'll be one of the funnest weeks you'll have had in a while.

The Game

The game loads and you're promted to choose one of a few planets to begin your new "spore". After choosing the planet's name and your creature's status (herbivore or carnivore), a short cut-scene explains how you, your creation, starts its new life after arriving on a meteor; this is the Cell stage. You must guide your cell around its new-found home whilst finding food, be it vegetation or other animals, to gain DNA points and ultimately evolve to the next stage. The Cell Stage may be the simplest mini-game you've ever played, but it is the perfect way to begin a game such as Spore. Attack a creature and its eyes will widen, and its body go rigid before it leggs it; the animals react and move so fluidly and smoothly that you begin to forget that this is just a glorified point and click mini-game. When you've aqquired enought DNA, search for a mate to begin the long road of evolution - que the creature creator. Here you can adapt and change your creation in any way you want. 2 eyes not enough? Why not have 3 more. Need something to fend off thoses annoying red things that keep eating you, have this giant spike. I hope this makes the point I want it too; if you want it you can have it. This is only made possible by the incredible easy to use yet massivly varible click and drag creators.

Unfortunately, the cell stage is short-lived, maybe half an hour at most, which comes as a genuine dissapointment. Luckily the next installment is the Creature Stage, which leads your creature onto the land with its very first pair of legs, or more. This stage plays much like a third-person RPG, where you basically decide whether to kill or to socialise with the other creatures that inhabit your planet. This is done by either button mashing the attack buttons (claw,strike, etc) to kill enemies, or by using one of 4 possible "social" interactions to mimic those of other creatures. Again it's awfully simple, but the main point is that it provides so much fun! I found that it dragged on a bit and the repetetivness got to me.
As with the Cell stage, you can call for a mate to edit your creation. Here things get a bit more interesting, because your offered sao many more parts. You've also got to take into account that different parts change the way your creature can interact and move; for example, its health, speed, interactions, and attacks are all affected by the parts it's made up of - not to mention the way it looks.

After gathering enough DNA, choose your creature's final appearance and evolve to the Tribal Stage. This phase plays as a top-down RPG, similar to Age of Empires or Warcraft 3, albeit a very simple one. It is at this point you realise that Spore isn't one big game but actually a combination of 5 smaller ones. You are now given control of multiple creatures, and your first job is to set them off gathering food. Soon other tribes appear, and agin you must decide wheather to kill them, or not to kill. Whatever direction you took in the creature stage will affect your Shaman's (tribe leader) abilities, which are crucial in a fight or when trying to impress another tribe. As your tribe grows in size, more buildings are availiable and your tools become more efficientm, be they weapons or musical intruments. If you take the warmonger path, as I did, it is really quite simple to defeat your enemies one by one, with enemies' raids rarely causing a problem. Even on the hard setting I completed the tribal phase in under an hour; I felt that the tribal stage is the weakest of the 5 in Spore.

Once all of the opposing tribes have been befriended or wiped out, you advance to the Civalisation Stage, which is really just a glorified tribal stage but with more options available to you. Your species is now the dominant race on the planet, and it's your job to unite or crush them. Now the global currency is spice, which is collected from spice geysers that are dotted around the map. Spice is used to build new units, buildings, and bribes etc. Depending on how you played the preivous stages, you are either an economic, religious, or military nation; this effects how you are able to take other cities, either through religious conversion or military force.
Here comes the chance for those creative minds out there to really make their species unique, because you are can create every building and vehicle from scratch. You even get to dress your citizens and make the national anthem. For those who don't have the time or the patience there is the option to download one of Maxis' pre-made ones, or if you're connected to the internet you can download someone else's hard work. It gives you the chance to make your mark on the game. The buildings are purely cosmectic, however you do have to balance your vehicles' stats between speed, health and power. All of these mechanics are basic in themselves, but thay all merge together to make a smooth blend of user-created content and colourful and enjoyable gameplay.
The Civ phase itself can prove a challenge, especially on hard. If you don't establish yourself you can find yourself pinned down by constant enemy raids. The most appealing way to win is by spaming units and attacking your enemy, but it proves boring after a while.

Merge the globe under one banner and prepare to take off to the stars. This is the Space Stage and ,arguably, just the beginning of Spore. It's longer than all the other stages put together, and opens up loads more options for the player. This time your put in control of a spaceship, again fully desginable, which is where you'll spend all your time in the space age. The first thing your notice is how massively massive Spore is. Simply zoom out and you'll see that your planet is one of 3 or 4 in a solar system, which is just one of the hundreds and hundreds of other solar systems in the galaxy. Will Wright, creator of Spore, claimed that it could take 100 years to take every single one. It may seem daunting at first, but you realise that what really matters is what is happening in your sector of Space. Again the main way to obtain money is through spice, which is traded with other space faring nations. The aim of the space age is ultimately to reach the centre of the galaxy, where a secret ending awaits, but you'll start by trying to establish colonies on other planets and safely occupiying your area of space. Other nations provide missions and trade routes, but get on the wrong side of them and you'll find yourself in the middle of your very own galactic war.
As well as meeting other nations you'll be adapting other planets for life, building colonies for your empire, and exploring the vast world of Spore. The Space age could keep you occuied for weeks with its new moves, but like most of the game it can again become repetative when you realise that underneath all of these new mechanics is actually a very simple engine.

Sporepedia

This is the one thing that Spore's got going for it in terms on longeviety and replayability. If you're connected to the internet you can access the Sporepedia, which is basically a huge collection of Maxis', your's and other peoples creations. Download other peoples' creations and they'll appear in your own Spore world as other nations and creatures. If you like the look of a creature you see you can take them and use them as your own. It's a great system that ensures that your universe changes and adapts as it should.

DRM

With all the gossip and insults flying about with the issue of DRM I couldn't not include it, as much to voice my own opinion as to help others understand what it means. DRM is a Digital Rights Management system implemented by EA. It means that Spore can only be installed on 3 different computers. If you uninstall it, you can install it again on the same computer without using up an install. I haven't found this a problem, as I've installed it on my laptop and my pc, leaving one install left incase I get a new computer. One upside is that it means you can play Spore without the disc, and so in affect you could lend it to 2 friends and all have separate games. I can't see how anybody would need to have Spore on more than 3 computers, and I think that the people compaling about it are just looking for an argument. If the worst comes to the worst you can ring up EA and ask them to give you another install, which is completety do-able. Don't let this issue put you off buying this game, because that would be a real shame. I can understand how it has annoyed some people but the subject has been exxagerated by too many.

Conclusion

Spore provides an orignal and super fun gaming experience, which is both charming and vast. But it is spoilt by simple mechanics and a lack of depth. Whether you're a hardcore gamer or a casual one, this game can appeal to both and is worth the buy. Expect it not to last long, but keep an open mind. It's fun, it's original, and truly unlike anything seen before; it's Spore.

Requirements

• Windows XP or Vista / Apple Mac version is avaliable
• 2.0Ghz Proccesor (Anything less on Duo core works fine)
• 512Mb RAM for XP, 768MB for Vista
• 6GB hard drive space
• 128Mb Video card
• Internet connection required for full to access all features (see Sporepedia) 

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