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Spore (Windows/Mac, 2008)
Price:
C $11.39
Approximately£6.56
+ C $16.80 postage
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Spore is a very epic game with 5 stages that are all quite a bit of fun to play (although I do have minor criticisms on each, they are still definitely very fun). The 5 stages link together to give you a really epic sense of accomplishment. It is also probably the best game I've ever played as far as player content customizability. You get to pretty fully customize your creature, your clothing, your buildings of different types, your vehicles of different types, and even planets eventually. However, it should be noted that the style that Maxis made this game in is not a serious one. If I'm in a serious mood, I would probably prefer Civilization or the like, which has more realism, and it takes a lot longer to build things up. Maxis made Spore to just be a really fun game, and that's just what it is: not realistic. So the animation borders on cartoonish, things are built in a poof-bang kind of way, and there is overall a sense of humor in the way that civilization and the decisions of species are made. In my opinion, this is not necessarily a bad thing at all, since it would be pretty much impossibly for Maxis to have approached a game of this epic proportions with a realistic model--for instance, one game of Spore from cell stage to space age would be so long, it would make an entire Civ IV game on marathon look like a brief walk in the park compared to a marathon. Overall, there are a few improvements that I could see them making, but that's for Spore II (which I hope very badly will be created). This game is definitely worth the time, as long as you can throw your realism out the door a little just to enjoy this really fun, and yet epic game.Read full review
Well to start, I think if you can get this game for under 20 bucks it's worth a shot. We had the creature creator for some time before I got the game due to our other gaming habits. At first glance, there some different takes on normal elements of game play make it a bit different than other games on the market. General elemenents of advancement are slightly different than the norm. The design elements of the game are quite fun and interesting. Working with the different skill sets, as well as the ability to morph those sets to create a true evolving creature is kinda a fun twist too. The history is fun. Being able to import your own creations is nice too. I am only 25/33% into the game so my review may not be the best but I've enjoyed it and as I said above, if bought on the cheap, it's worth a shot. The main negatives I have are mainly with the conrol system. While you can use the typical 3rd person/1st person "wasd" and mouse most of the camera and movements feel a bit clunky. I would be much happier of the camera especially did a better job of tracking. I had some issues with hill navigation as well that appeared to be related to the incline but it was not obvious and the ability to change directions and get moving again was a bit slow and cumbersome. IMHO, not a show stopper though. That aside, I am looking forward to finishing a game and see how much replay I'll find.Read full review
While it is great fun and as easy as could be expected to design a creature from scratch, with amazing freedom, the game can be very repetitive. The worst offender is the Creature stage, where you're only task it to find other groups of creatures and either befriend them (by imitating them in an almost-minigame) or kill them (by clicking on your attacks in a menu in real time). In order to complete this stage you need to "buy" more powerful and sophisticated parts for your creature in order to realistically be able to continue to progress, which takes away from some of the freedom of design. Later stages are more complex, but not much. Everything really just leads up to the Space stage, in which your civilization builds a spacecraft (custom-designed using the same editing tools as your creature) and you set off to explore the galaxy. Planets are divided into solar systems, and as you leave your own you will run into many other space-faring creatures, as well as ones in earlier stages of development. The amazing part is that many of the creatures (and building designs and vehicles) you encounter were created by other players. You can even track which players have seen your own creatures. This is by far and away the best reason to keep coming back. Even at this stage gameplay is still repetitive but there are literally thousands of planets to explore as you build your galactic empire. You can even manipulate each planets ecology by adding species of plants and animals picked up from other planets, and manipulate the atmosphere to provide ideal living conditions. There is a lot of replay value here if you are not easily bored by repetitive tasks. Overall, the game works pretty well, but by the space stage it really makes little difference how you played through the other stages. There's also the infamous Securom, which installs itself with the game despite being independent software that does not uninstall with it (in fact it is very difficult to uninstall at all). I made sure I knew how to uninstall it beforehand, and so far have not have problems, but I do think there should have been some indication that such intrusive software is being used when you install the game. Performance is completely unaffected.Read full review
Spore was a crazy ride through my imagination. The creature creation options can be really wild, however it may take hours to collect the right pieces to design the creature you like. There is a limit to the 'complexity' that your creature can have, meaning how many pieces can go on it. The complexity meter fills far too quickly, limiting the creativity you can put into your creature. The different phases of the game vary greatly in both entertainment and play style. However once you play through the game once, you are unlikely to start over again. Many functions of the game don't carry over to the next phases. Like in the tribal stage, your actions (befriending/defeating other tribes) have no consequences besides deciding your special ability for the next phase. Your allied tribes do not thrive along your civilization and thus are not seen again. The only phase I did not enjoy was Space. While it is immense and there seems to be much to do, all of the real content is done within the first hour or so, and then you have the option to continue befriending/defeating other planets' civilizations, and colonizing planets (same exact experience with each planet). That being said, Spore is an excellent game that pushes the boundaries of your imagination, and is well worth trying. 4/5. NOTE: The Spore CD Key can only be used a limited amount of times before customer support must be called to reset uses (and verify ownership). Buyer beware.Read full review
PROS: Creature and Vehicles sandbox is AMAZING! Very user friendly Accessible Interesting evolution stages Excellent for children Lovely Design CONS: Limited multiplayer Shallow gameplay of each genre (Not for any really hardcore gamer) Short (unless you are in the mood for replaying it with another creature look or nutrition tendency) DRM (digital rights management) You can only can install it register on 3 computers. Then you need a fresh copy. Overall Thoughts: The 5 evolution stages are an interesting mix of Pacman, The Sims, Black & White, RPGS, RTS and Civilization. First 4 feel like an introduction mode to other games of the genre which is perfect for children or Really Newbies. The only unique one is the Galactic Stage which is interesting while it last. Speaking of lasting appeal Spore is a bit short, I finished the evolution process in 8 hours... Its is called a massively single player game, cause of its sharing user created content system. But you ultimately feel alone... I would really suggest this game but when its price drops at $19.99.Read full review
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