What's the Verdict on Spore?

Reviews of Spore are flowing in ahead of tomorrow's Europe release date and the September 7th release date for North America. Unfortunately I can't buy the game myself yet because I'm a bit skint (it would come at a time when all the good games are coming out) so it will probably be a few more weeks before I actually get to play it, much to my annoyance.

The game is receiving pretty favourable reviews with Metacritic giving it an average of 88/100. Reviews are largely centered around the game being pretty simple when split into it's unique part (such as tribal or civilisation stages) but much more wholesome when you play through all the parts together. Below I'm summed up a few of the reviews hitting the Internet


MTV Multiplayer said that Spore 'felt like nothing else' to play and concentrated on their feelings throughout the game rather than analyse general concepts such as graphics and sound. You'll become deeply connected to your creature and experience events during the creature stage almost as if you were the creature itself. Unfortunately the later stages, such as civilisation and space, loses most of this connection but you'll never lose that connection to the species as a whole. The writer, Stephen Totilo, couldn't jump ahead and play one stage on its own once unlocked because he believes you don't have the same connection with your creature and the world around it unless you start from scratch again.


IGN UK states that the game isn't what was fully promised but still a 'triumph' none the less. You only see the 'bigger picture' of game once you've played through it and started again from scratch, until then it simply feels 'like you've bought a Wii party game by mistake'. The creature and space stages are the ones that you're most likely to come back to, others being a little too basic and simple - but it's all part of appealing to a generation of Sims players. The civilisation stage is the area that needs 'the most expansion' as it's simply too restricted in how many buildings and vehicles you can build. Overall it's an 'infinite toy box' but needs an 'expansion or two to plug a few holes'.


Gamespy believes that, although the scope is great, the space stage can get get a little repetitive and casual players may have difficulty getting through it. Also 'while the gameplay isn't always perfect, Spore is a technological coup that opens up a whole new genre of gaming' due to the constant background sharing of other players creations. The ability to see everyone elses creations is where the game really shines, so you'll really want to connect Spore to the Internet to take full advantage of it. As I expected Spore 'sometimes falls into a kind of uncanny valley between casual play and a game that a hardcore gamer would love', which I think is what The Sims managed to do. The overall point of the game is gleefully exploring a universe created entirely by other players.


Eurogamer tells us to 'watch out for our Bank Holiday sofa sale species; they don't bite you at first, but the interest gets you in the end'. Your options 'multiply enormously' when you reach the space stage and the stages leading up to it start to feel like nothing more than a creation and tutorial game. The creature stage is apparently the best stage to view other players creations but there's 'not enough in the repetitive gameplay to encourage this'. However, it's all worth it for the fun you'll have along the way and the space stage 'overwhelms any disappointment'.

More Reviews:

Gamespot

IGN AU

IGN US

PTGamers (non-English)

PC Gamer UK

GameStar (non-English)

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Overall I think it sounds like a 'must play', if only for its unique creation and population system rather than the pretty repetitive gameplay. I can get over repetitive gameplay if the game itself is incredibly satisfying, and Spore seems to offer immense satisfaction. I just wish I had some damn money right now!