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Author Topic: Review: 10 Things I Learned From Spore  (Read 6708 times)

Ehtyar

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Review: 10 Things I Learned From Spore
« on: September 08, 2008, 05:54 PM »
Chris Kohler gives his opinion on one of the most hyped game releases in history.

Screenshot - 9_09_2008 , 8_52_52 AM_thumb.png


Has any single videogame been so relentlessly hyped prior to its release as Spore, the latest brainchild of SimCity creator Will Wright? This game has been in the news for years because of its raw ambition: Wright said it would simulate the entire history of life on Earth, from cells flagellating in the primordial soup all the way up to space travel. (He originally called the game SimEverything.)

Can anything actually live up to that standard? If Spore is our test case, then the answer has to be no: For all the work that went into this intricate and complex simulation of life, I never found myself gripped by the simple gameplay. But this isn't to say it's not fun to see what happens when you open up and start poking around in this game that bills itself as "your own personal universe in a box." In fact, with all of the real-life evolutionary science that went into the making of the game, I feel like I've actually learned a few things during my time in Spore's universe. Here are 10 of them.

Full Review

Ehtyar.

Deozaan

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Re: Review: 10 Things I Learned From Spore
« Reply #1 on: September 08, 2008, 06:18 PM »
It is a little disappointing to find out how short some of these stages are, but I'm not evolving to the next stage the very second I'm able to. I keep exploring and playing around.

Except the tribal stage. Not much to do after you've wiped out all of the other tribes.

But so far, I'm certainly enjoying it.

lanux128

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Re: Review: 10 Things I Learned From Spore
« Reply #2 on: September 09, 2008, 07:26 AM »
Spore set quite a high standard for itself. i hope in the end it justifies the hype. :)

justice

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Re: Review: 10 Things I Learned From Spore
« Reply #3 on: September 09, 2008, 07:34 AM »
It's very very good. When you find yourself adapting your creature and strategy to increase your changes and you realise that other animals use the same strategies you know it's good[tm]. I dreamed about it in my sleep.

Deozaan

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Re: Review: 10 Things I Learned From Spore
« Reply #4 on: September 09, 2008, 02:47 PM »
You know, I'm beginning to think that the people who have to review Spore are doing it wrong. :)

I'm reminded of the reviews of Assassin's Creed (a game I haven't played). Many reviewers were saying it was repetitive, tedious, and boring. Then one of the guys from Penny Arcade wanted to find out what the deal was, because he was really enjoying the game. Here's an excerpt:

I think the biggest complaint I saw was that the missions become repetitive and boring. I actually didn't understand this complaint at all until just the other day. I had gotten an early copy of the game just like everyone else in the media but I was just playing it for fun. I'd cracked into it over the weekend and when I got into the office on Monday I started seeing these negative reviews. When I saw the low scores I was actually really upset and I wanted to talk about the game here on the site. I wanted to tell everyone that these guys were full of [smurf]. However, since so many of the complaints were based on the ending I wanted to beat it first so I was sure I wasn't missing anything. I attacked the game again but this time with the goal of beating it as fast as I could. I was determined to get a post up on Tuesday and I was pushing through the game as fast as I could. I went from finding every high perch in a district to only getting the ones I needed to advance the story. I stopped saving every citizen and avoided any unnecessary confrontations. The informer missions that I had really enjoyed before, I now avoided because I knew they took too long to complete. I did the bare minimum of missions to progress the story and anything that "hindered" my progress was frustrating. Monday night after skipping over another combat (something I used to really enjoy) I stopped myself. What the [smurf] was I doing? I wasn't playing the game because I wanted to I was playing it because I had a deadline and I needed to beat it. I stopped immediately and decided I'd write about the game whenever I got around to beating it. I spent another day and a half with it and during that time I hunted for hidden flags and explored the cities again. I came in this morning and finally did beat it but I did it at my own pace and I enjoyed every part of it.

Returning to Spore, I've just reached the Space stage and done a few missions. So far I spent the most time on the Creature stage running around making most of the other creatures extinct and running/flying for dear life away from the epic monsters. I probably played for an hour or more after I was able to progress to the Tribal stage. The Tribal stage itself was a bit disappointing; I completed it in less than an hour and felt I did everything there was to do on this playthrough. But I feel that if I weren't playing so aggressively and was trying to make allies instead of eradicating everyone else, it would take quite some time longer to farm and trade and build relations.

When I got to the Civilization stage I was immediately thrown into editors for buildings and vehicles and it kind of threw me off because I guess I'm just not that creative and I couldn't think of any designs and I didn't understand how the parts affected the statistics of the vehicles. So I opted to use some from the Sporepedia. I eventually went back and made a factory and a house, but didn't customize my entertainment buildings or city halls or any of the vehicles.

Also, apparently you can make decorative shrubberies and trees, and an anthem for your cities, but it was never explained to me how or that it was even possible. I just happened to see those things toward the end of Civilization stage. So there's definitely more to it than I realize.

In conclusion, I'm enjoying the game, going at my own pace and exploring at my own whim. It's fun.
« Last Edit: September 09, 2008, 09:38 PM by Deozaan »

Deozaan

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Re: Review: 10 Things I Learned From Spore
« Reply #5 on: September 09, 2008, 02:51 PM »
I also don't understand this complaint:

To move your spaceship around, you have to hold down the right mouse button with your middle finger to accelerate, and use the scroll wheel with your index finger to move up and down. It becomes a pain in the wrist real fast.

I use my ring finger to hold down the right mouse button and my middle finger to scroll, and I haven't had any problems yet. But I'm still near the beginning of space so maybe I'll be just like him and think "Be a man!" until my wrist starts hurting. And I'm also using a trackball so my wrist doesn't move very much.

lanux128

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Re: Review: 10 Things I Learned From Spore
« Reply #6 on: September 09, 2008, 08:14 PM »
OT: the Assassin's Creed review was spot-on. i played the game on my leisure and i can say that the experience was totally positive. thanks for link, Deo. :)