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- Cerzi, on 09/08/2008, -1/+22I wish this game was innovative, I really do, I was as excited as everyone else two years ago. But, unfortunately, it isn't. The cell stage is the only remnant of Spore's potential innovation, all other aspects of it have been essentially scrapped in place of watered down versions of traditional gameplay formulas that have been around for decades.
The creature stage is a simplistic RPG. All that in-depth customization of your creature that looked so interesting and innovative two years ago? Almost completely cosmetic. You equip your creature with feet of +3 speed the way you might equip your dwarf with an axe of +5 damage in your typical RPG. Your run speed is then based solely on this stat (not on your creatures bone structure, mass, symmetry or any other physical property of the way you've made your creature). Likewise, the amount of damage you do is based on what claws or teeth you equip. It doesn't matter if you put them on your ass behind a glitchy clipped mess of other details, they'll do full damage based on the bodypart's level. Even worse, due to stats not stacking and some decorative items costing DNA but giving your creature no actual evolutionary advantage, you're actually forced to do certain unintuitive things (such as not use more than one pair of eyes, not use any form of ears or nose, not use the same pair of feet twice if your creature has multiple pairs of legs, etc) if you want your creature to be powerful.
The gameplay in this part of the game is based upon a randomly generated world with a scattering of randomly placed camps where randomly selected creatures spawn (identical to spawn systems used in many MMOs over the last ten years), with a few explicate "roamers", mobs that - unlike the ones that spawn in the camps - will randomly meander around the map. You spend your time doing 2 things: attacking other creatures using at most 4 different attacks (bite, spit, etc), or making friends with creatures by way of a 4-variable "simon says" minigame. Whether you make friends or attack is largely up to you; occasionally you'll run into a creature that is inherently hostile, but not often. Again, these activities are essentially the same in nature regardless of the physical or appearance qualities of your creature. A 6-foot tall hopping green penis with no legs is just as capable of charming a potential friend as the cutest teddybear, and is just as capable at combat as the meanest looking monster (give it a single foot and it'll be able to run just as fast as any other creature, too). At any time you can completely re-build your creature from scratch and it will be deemed the next evolutionary generation. There are no repercussions for this, nor for being killed by another creature.
Then there's a very watered down RTS game, followed by two extremely watered down but micro-heavy 4X-style games.
This is not an innovative game. It offers a vast amount of cosmetic customization of your creatures and their cities/vehicles, but I'm afraid it is certainly not innovative. - MatthewK, on 09/08/2008, -0/+18DRM only hurts the legitimate customers, it does absolutely zilch to the people who pirate it.
Sometimes after I've bought a game I'll go search for the crack. "No-CD" cracks make playing a game incredibly more convenient since I don't have to search for the damn disc, insert it, wait for it to spin up, etc.. In some cases cracks will even increase the performance of the game for crying out loud! - PhilMoskowitz, on 09/08/2008, -0/+16Will they go back right to the day hype was invented?
- Farik, on 09/08/2008, -3/+19I don't really care about the DRM (I try before I buy) but the game is way overhyped.
- mysn239, on 09/08/2008, -1/+16I feel a heavy difference from my usual games, but am i the only one to say i actually like this game?
Who agrees - inactive, on 09/08/2008, -0/+12There's a story here about Amazon, too. In the UK, ALL the user reviews of Spore have mysteriously been wiped from the site...
- inactive, on 09/08/2008, -0/+11Sigh. Look up 'Sins of a Solar Empire' and 'Galactic Civilisations' for examples of games that are selling very very well with NO DRM.
What EA are doing with their draconian restrictions and dirty malware practices is either:
a) stopping people from buying the games, as evidenced by the hundreds of comments/cancelled preorders on Amazon
b) making sure that the only version serious gamers play will be the pirated version, as that is far more convenient for them to use.
They're making sure that piracy and cracks *flourish*, through sheer necessity, rather than stopping it. - inactive, on 09/08/2008, -1/+12I win moar: I know you're an ***** without even meeting you.
- zyklon, on 09/08/2008, -0/+10While I love the game thus far (Played through one creature already, working on my second refined version), I know it's going to end up being a lot like the Sims, in that once I've done everything I want to do (Being having my house/empire exactly the way I want it), I'll get bored and shelve the game. I'm afraid of that fact though, I've been waiting for Spore for years.
- Cerzi, on 09/08/2008, -0/+9See unfortunately this just isn't the case. I wish it was, but it isn't. The cell stage is the only remnant of Spore's potential innovation, all other aspects of it have been essentially scrapped in place of watered down versions of traditional gameplay formulas that have been around for decades.
The creature stage is a simplistic RPG. All that in-depth customization of your creature that looked so interesting and innovative two years ago? Almost completely cosmetic. You equip your creature with feet of +3 speed the way you might equip your dwarf with an axe of +5 damage in your typical RPG. Your run speed is then based solely on this stat (not on your creatures bone structure, mass, symmetry or any other physical properties of the way you've made your creature). Likewise, the amount of damage you do is based on what claws or teeth you equip. It doesn't matter if you put them on your ass behind a glitchy clipped mess of other details, they'll do full damage based on the bodypart's level. Even worse, due to stats not stacking and some decorative items costing DNA but giving your creature no actual evolutionary advantage, you're actually forced to do certain unintuitive things (such as not use more than one pair of eyes, not use any form of ears or nose, not use the same pair of feet twice if your creature has multiple pairs of legs, etc) if you want your creature to be powerful.
The gameplay in this part of the game is based upon a randomly generated world with a scattering of randomly placed camps where specific creatures spawn (identical to spawn systems used in many MMOs over the last ten years), with a few explicate "roamers", mobs that - unlike the ones that spawn in the camps - will randomly meander around the map. You spend your time doing 2 things: attacking other creatures using at most 4 different attacks (bite, spit, etc), or making friends with creatures by way of a 4-variable "simon says" minigame. Again, these activities are essentially exactly the same in nature regardless of the physical or appearance qualities of your creature. I 6-foot tall hopping green penis with no legs is just as capable of charming a potential friend as the cutest teddybear, and is just as capable at combat as the meanest looking monster. At any time you can completely re-build your creature from scratch and it will be deemed the next evolutionary generation, further disconnecting you from the actual creature you're supposedly evolving.
Then there's a very watered down RTS game, followed by two extremely watered down but micro-heavy X4-style games.
Sorry, but this game is not innovative. It offers a vast amount of cosmetic customization if your creatures and their cities/vehicles, but it is not innovative. - P0peRatz0, on 09/08/2008, -0/+8Wow, the P.R. people for Spore have really gotten their money's worth. It's the iPhone of games.
- inactive, on 09/08/2008, -1/+9The game is all hype. Creature creation is badass. Right after the Tribal stage the game goes downhill and never recovers. I call it Bore.
- punkcat, on 09/08/2008, -0/+7Spore was the biggest let down i've had in ages.
- PrismoFillusion, on 09/08/2008, -0/+7I'm still on my first play-through, and taking my time. It's fun, but it's clear that this game isn't nearly as deep as many of us "hardcore" (term used loosely) gamers had hoped. If you can look past the hype and anticipation and just play the game for what it is, it's a fun ride. Not a great game, but a good one for sure.
- Raian, on 09/08/2008, -0/+7They could have spent a little more time on the game. First each evolutionary period is too short.... the gameplay is pretty weak. It's more geared toward "casual gaming".
--It's still kinda fun... just rushes you through the game. - sheetrock, on 09/08/2008, -0/+7I'll be doing my part by buying Fallout 3 and GTA IV (PC). And some more books for light reading, maybe some indie music.
But Spore? Nah. Talk about putting a hundred-dollar lock on a one-dollar chest. EA's managed to spoil the Battlefield franchise for me as well. I just don't have the money anymore to blow on games that ruin my fun with this out-of-control copy protection tripe. - blankoboy, on 09/08/2008, -0/+6This is the sole reason I did not buy it. EA and Will Wright will have to learn the hard way....STOP TREATING CUSTOMERS LIKE CRIMINALS!
- thomasmck, on 09/08/2008, -1/+7The problem I have with the game is having to click 1000's of times all over the screen, which they call 'gameplay'. It's extremely cartoonish and simplistic, great for a 10 year old.
- saigumi, on 09/08/2008, -0/+6I know people dugg you down for the wall of text. But you summed up the game perfectly.
All of my creatures are basically the same. At first generation leap, add the spikes, at the second, add more fins, at the third, take off the spikes and add faster fins.... at the nth evolution, take off the grabber hand and add a boney hand. There was no reason not to.
And what the heck is wrong with the space part of the game? The game gets harsh way too fast. - joegibes, on 09/08/2008, -0/+4Will Wright is an *****. I have a term paper to write.
- Hoogs, on 09/08/2008, -0/+4Unfortunately, I found out about the whole DRM issue/dumbed down gameplay AFTER Amazon had shipped my copy, so it was too late to cancel the order. Oh well. Hopefully it won't be all that bad.
- punkcat, on 09/08/2008, -0/+4part way through and i asked myself "why didnt i just buy Civilization?"
its a very shallow game with rehashed ideas, even the single cell stage has been done before.
http://intihuatani.usc.edu/cloud/flowing/core.html
(and better imho) - Abnovitas, on 09/08/2008, -0/+4I'm sure, Spore would have been better, if they released it last year as planned.
Too many features were cut from the game. Now it looks like a demo of the game, Will Wright presented over the last three years.
I don't know, if this happened, to make Spore easier and more accessible, or to prepare the second money-making machine after The Sims 2 with it's 20 or so add-ons.
Well, I believe in the latter. This isn't the game, Will told us about and I blame EA for it :/ - loneraven, on 09/08/2008, -0/+4Agreed... basically it comes down to the same thing in just about every stage: Do I attack, or do I ally? The only difference is, is that you can accomplish this differently in each stage. Beyond that, Spore offers no depth.
Ultimately, the Creature and Vehicle creator are the best parts of the game. Unfortunately, though, the creature creator has been dumbed down from Will Wrights original vision. - inactive, on 09/08/2008, -0/+4its the Lucasification of video games...
- inactive, on 09/08/2008, -0/+4@Yobboninja
Sadly, wishing Pandora's box closed once it has been opened just isn't practical. Software Piracy is here, is a problem, and isn't going to go away anytime soon, no matter how hard certain companies might want it to.
Frankly, though, I suspect the bigger companies like EA are using the piracy angle as a strategic ploy to cripple the relatively leaner-revenue PC system and move everyone onto consoles that guarantee them much more in the way of profit. It is also a great way to mask poor unit sales due to shoddy development practices - not our fault: blame the pirates.
Finally, the Stardock example shows that profits can be made if you tailor your game to the right market, and treat your customers as just that: potential customers. A little bit of respect towards your market goes a lot further in opening wallets than any DRM *ever* will. - Katana, on 09/08/2008, -0/+3I've had no problem, installed the game, loaded and ran fine.
I played the game 10 hours straight from cell to space, i would have hoped for 20 hours at least.
It's a good game but far too linear, once it's time to move on up to the next stage there is no incentive to stay in the current one. - Coffeedemon, on 09/08/2008, -0/+3Likewise. Enjoying my creature now that I have found a way to make him strong enough to survive. I just don't really see more than a few play throughs (for the different styles) before I shelve it for a bit though. Hopefully there are some mods or something that add to the game until they release the inevitable expansions. Can't complain - if I get 20 solid hours of fun out of it it will be worth the 50 dollars.
- bradharrelson, on 09/08/2008, -0/+3Yes, Spore was on the scene before it came to store shelves. =-)
- bradharrelson, on 09/08/2008, -2/+5The game is terribly short and simple. Don't buy it!
- joegibes, on 09/08/2008, -0/+3I also got mine via "digital download" (wink wink) and it's running just great.
- Lunarsight, on 09/08/2008, -2/+5I didn't have a problem with the DRM. I got my copy via digital download, and it seems to work fine.
My one criticism is Spore doesn't always seem to play nice with my video driver. I had to reduce the quality to keep it from causing my computer to lock up on me.
Spore is a clever idea. Although, like many of the 'Simmy' games, the one pitfall is the time one may need to invest to play it. (In order to get far in Sims 2, you really would need to have no life of your own.) - inactive, on 09/08/2008, -1/+3Shhh! You can't say that on Digg!
- CitrusC, on 09/08/2008, -0/+2"you realise that if everyone actually PIRATED games this would never be a problem."
Fixed that for you, buddy. Piracy is actually a viable to way to avoid intrusive corporate DRM; ideal if you don't have the required knowledge or tools at your disposal to remove the malware they sneak in with the software.
Not that it's legal, of course. Breaking the law is bad. The DRM companies need to realise this. - inactive, on 09/08/2008, -0/+2Agree! I checked piratebay last night and found a gazillion torrents for Spore as well as cracks. DRM kills the average computer easily.
- 1359399, on 09/08/2008, -0/+2There's a video of Will Wright explaining the history of Spore here: http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2008/09/04/video-will ...
He explains some of the design/gameplay choices pretty well - Fergy, on 09/09/2008, -0/+2This is the best review I have seen for Spore.
- joegibes, on 09/08/2008, -2/+4I hate this game, simply because I got zero homework done on sunday. I've got a term paper to write, Will Wright! Give us a break and make your game less addicting!
- etx313, on 09/08/2008, -1/+3So far it's dumb-fun. But I really, really hate the controls.
- Farik, on 09/08/2008, -0/+2fl0w ftw.
- misilman, on 09/13/2008, -0/+1Who are you? Yoda?
- ftx437, on 09/08/2008, -3/+4This game is BORING! no replay value and is basically wow with out the "wow"!
- inactive, on 09/08/2008, -0/+1The problem is there is NO evolution in the game, its all artificial selection... sad
- JackpotCity, on 09/08/2008, -0/+1It's always nice to see behind the scenes, but I agree that this will go the SIMS rouute and build a big following, even with the flak they're getting over the DRM issues.
- MarkOfTheDead, on 09/08/2008, -0/+1How many ***** times are you going to plug your own submission in this thread?
Digg isn't your personal army so you can feel like Mr.BabyMan for five seconds, stop whoring your *****. - inactive, on 09/08/2008, -0/+1simlife was better
- Farik, on 09/08/2008, -0/+1Yeah it also doesn't work with SLI. Maybe that has since been patched but I would get an "out-of-date driver" error message when in multi-GPU mode.
- Lunarsight, on 09/09/2008, -0/+1In my case, there was no "wink/wink" involved.
I was too lazy to drive to the store, so I downloaded it online from EA Games.
So, EA Games did get their proverbial pound of flesh from me for Spore. - chongli, on 09/09/2008, -0/+1Hate to break it to you, but the cell stage is not innovative. It's basically the game fl0w. See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fl0w
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