Spore :: PC Game Review

Spore is here, but what the heck is it? EA and Maxis put their heads together to build this wacky game of life that starts as the stuff you'd scrape off your shoe, gets big enough to be cute then grows up to conquer the galaxy - all with you guiding the way. It's available for PC and Mac, plus there's a DS version with a taste of the action. Any way you look at it, from the creature customization to the online options, Spore is huge. To help you figure it all out, Gary's got the 411 on the game so you'll know what's going on. Read on with Gary's Spore review!

Design, Create, Evolve, Conquer!

In Spore you start out with a tiny microbe in a puddle of water. You guide it to food, choose how it evolves and soon it hops up onto land. On land you evolve your creature even more, giving it weapons to defend itself, teaching it to make friends and watching as it mates - going from a single creature into a whole species. Stage three is tribal society, the evolving slows way down and you guide your creatures as they build villages and conquer their neighbors with pointy sticks or religion. The fourth stage is civilization (that's us humans!) with vehicles, weapons, TV and videogames. The fifth and final stage lets your creatures jump into space with a custom spaceship, zipping from planet to planet to conquer, visit, abduct natives, explore and colonize as you take over the universe.

OMG! It's Growing!

Spore lets you go from microbe to galactic emperor, but there's more to it than that. Not only is it easy to play, it's packed with tons of creature options - you could spend three months trying out different legs! And, the online Sporepedia site lets you share your creature creations and download some of the nearly 10,000,000 other creatures. So, as your creatures explore your planet and galaxy, they're running into other Spore players' creatures - making it a different game every time. Plus, you can comment on Sporepedia creatures and download the free Spore Creature Creator program to make and upload critters for free!

Icky Gunk

As cool as creating your creatures is, there's a chunk of the game in the middle where all that evolving fun goes away as you conquer the planet in a fairly ho-hum chunk of the game. The spaceship level is cool again, but it's frustrating to have to work through the middle bit.

Conquering the Universe

Just like a big chunk of fuzzy mold, Spore grows on you. It's packed full of options that will let you create your own bizarre creatures plus fantastic online features to let you share you creations and discover what other players have created. It's also easy to play and darn cute! Spore opens up a world of fun for gamers of any age that lets you unleash your creativity. Go on, grab a copy and create your very own crawly critters - there's a world waiting for them!

Thumbs Up:

• Create your very own critters.
• Easy to play.
• Conquer the planet and then the galaxy!
• Share your creations online, download other creatures and meet millions of monsters!
• Create creatures with the Spore Creature Creator for free!

Thumbs Down:

• Conquering the planet is ho-hum.
• If you aren't online, you're missing out!

Game Rating:

Available for: Mac and PC.

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