Spore, my Impressions...

[MikeyLSU]

I enjoyed the article, but was confused with the conclusion.

Reading it gave me the idea that it was an enjoyable game, but the conclusion states to rent the game. Can PC games be rented anywhere? Either way, the review seemed for the most part positive to the point that I didn't fully get that rating.

 

[warcrow]

Thanks guys. :beer:

Yea, Ars's rating system needs a revamp--it's either Buy, Rent or Skip. I don't think it's either a solid Buy or Skip for everyone--but a beware before you buy and "do the research" kind of thing.

 

[MikeyLSU]

makes more sense now. Screwy rating system for PC games and too broad overall.

But it was a good review. I just started stage 3, tribal last night and really enjoy the game so far.

It is not hard or complex which is good for a change of pace for me from my normal games. Kindof relaxing to play.

 

[smoothvirus]

Warcrow:

I just purchased Spore last night but haven't installed it yet.. had this question about one thing in your review:

you will be able to install and play on multiple computers.

So I can take my copy and install it on my desktop and my laptop as well? I'd like to be able to play on both systems but buying two copies of the game to do that seems silly.

I've been struggling to decide which system to install it on.

 

[Smilin]

I just got to tribe stage last night.

I'm pretty much taking my time and not rushing. I've even stuck around the previous stages to tinker a bit after I met the goal to advance.

So far the game is amusing me. Not the best I've ever played but it certainly doesn't suck. It seems to be polished and bug free which, sad to admit, is refreshing these days.

My opinion isn't fully formed yet but so far I kinda dig it. I think the wife may like it and I'm going to armtwist her into giving it a try.

 

[warcrow]

Originally posted by: smoothvirus
Warcrow:

I just purchased Spore last night but haven't installed it yet.. had this question about one thing in your review:

you will be able to install and play on multiple computers.

So I can take my copy and install it on my desktop and my laptop as well? I'd like to be able to play on both systems but buying two copies of the game to do that seems silly.

I've been struggling to decide which system to install it on.

Yes you will be able to do that. I installed my copy (full retail) on two seperate machines at home--but I think only the first install had access to the Sporepedia, but I could be wrong there.

Honestly though, it wouldnt be really that big of a deal because there is a ton of content already available.

 

[MikeyLSU]

Originally posted by: Smilin
I just got to tribe stage last night.

I'm pretty much taking my time and not rushing. I've even stuck around the previous stages to tinker a bit after I met the goal to advance.

So far the game is amusing me. Not the best I've ever played but it certainly doesn't suck. It seems to be polished and bug free which, sad to admit, is refreshing these days.

My opinion isn't fully formed yet but so far I kinda dig it. I think the wife may like it and I'm going to armtwist her into giving it a try.

my wife loves it, she doesn't play many games, but was looking forward to this one and I can't get her off the computer now.

 

[Beev]

I played it some over the weekend. Really, really not impressed. Then again, I though the Sims was a piece of shit. This is probably meant to cater to the same crowd.

 

[Scrimmy]

Originally posted by: warcrow
One of the editors over at Ars Technica saw this post and contacted me in regards to writing a full featured review of the game for their front page--crazy! It has now been published:

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/games/spore-review.ars

Let me know what you guys think. (This is my first time being published, so please have low expectations!)

Great review.

I also share your biggest worry: they released an incomplete game with the plan of filling in all the blanks with expansions to flesh it out. It seems to be a pretty polished, but there really is a lack of serious depth. I'm sure if they expaned each stage into its own complete mini-game, it would be an absolutely amazing game. I'm just not sure I want to spend $150 to get there.

 

[warcrow]

Originally posted by: Scrimmy

Originally posted by: warcrow
One of the editors over at Ars Technica saw this post and contacted me in regards to writing a full featured review of the game for their front page--crazy! It has now been published:

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/games/spore-review.ars

Let me know what you guys think. (This is my first time being published, so please have low expectations!)

Great review.

I also share your biggest worry: they released an incomplete game with the plan of filling in all the blanks with expansions to flesh it out. It seems to be a pretty polished, but there really is a lack of serious depth. I'm sure if they expaned each stage into its own complete mini-game, it would be an absolutely amazing game. I'm just not sure I want to spend $150 to get there.

Thank you sir! :beer:

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

I'm kind of annoyed. The only stage where actual design of the creature matters is the primal ooze, and that has a grand total of 12 parts to use. Creature stage and beyond, even if you're creatures head is firmly up it's ass and it's hands are tiny and it's spurs come out of it's eyeballs, it still functions correctly. It becomes a game of trying to make something that looks decent using the parts you need for good stats.

 

[wanderer27]

Originally posted by: warcrow
One of the editors over at Ars Technica saw this post and contacted me in regards to writing a full featured review of the game for their front page--crazy! It has now been published:

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/games/spore-review.ars

Let me know what you guys think. (This is my first time being published, so please have low expectations!)

Very well done - especially for the first time !

 

[gorcorps]

So I started enjoying the game a bit more in stage 4. It's a bit deeper than stage 3 but still very simplistic. I enjoyed making my own buildings and vehicle enough, and it's fun running around conquering stuff. Unfortunately it's not fun enough to make up for how poor stage 3 was and how boring 2 was.

 

[smoothvirus]

Originally posted by: warcrow
Yes you will be able to do that. I installed my copy (full retail) on two seperate machines at home--but I think only the first install had access to the Sporepedia, but I could be wrong there.

Honestly though, it wouldnt be really that big of a deal because there is a ton of content already available.

Thanks Warcrow.

BTW great review, yours was the best I've seen and I've read several of them, including Gamespot.

 

[warcrow]

Originally posted by: smoothvirus

Originally posted by: warcrow
Yes you will be able to do that. I installed my copy (full retail) on two seperate machines at home--but I think only the first install had access to the Sporepedia, but I could be wrong there.

Honestly though, it wouldnt be really that big of a deal because there is a ton of content already available.

Thanks Warcrow.

BTW great review, yours was the best I've seen and I've read several of them, including Gamespot.

Wow, thank you!

 

[fatpat268]

I think you captured the point the best out of any review I've read.

Most reviews I read are way too forgiving and basically proclaim Spore as the best thing since sliced bread, but it's obvious that these reviewers really haven't played the game much. The Space stage is the best stage, and I had a lot of fun fighting the Grox and fighting my way to the center of the galaxy, but it's too repetitive. The story of the game is basically: Ally or Attack. It's like this in every stage except for the first one. I'm a little disappointed to see it dumbed down to that level.

Warcrow, if you were rating it on a scale of 1-10, what would you give it?

 

[Zenoth]

After playing the Space phase for approximately the whole day today I think that I am seriously considering returning the game for a refund, I haven't done that in ages, usually I just let them take the dust, but this one? I don't see myself playing this again even in a decade, it's nothing memorable for me, it's just too repetitive, and even if there's expansion packs the game's goal and principles (evolution through phases) will remain intact. And it crashed on me one time during the third hour or so of the Space phase. I deeply regret having bought it out of impulsions (hype).

 

[gorcorps]

Originally posted by: Zenoth
After playing the Space phase for approximately the whole day today I think that I am seriously considering returning the game for a refund, I haven't done that in ages, usually I just let them take the dust, but this one? I don't see myself playing this again even in a decade, it's nothing memorable for me, it's just too repetitive, and even if there's expansion packs the game's goal and principles (evolution through phases) will remain intact. And it crashed on me one time during the third hour or so of the Space phase. I deeply regret having bought it out of impulsions (hype).

WTF, people return open games just because they don't like them? It's a completely unusable game now as your account/PC is linked to that copy of it.

 

[Newbian]

Originally posted by: gorcorps


WTF, people return open games just because they don't like them? It's a completely unusable game now as your account/PC is linked to that copy of it.

Something you will have to call EA's support center for.

Hope you have free long distance since it's not a toll free number.

 

[Zenoth]

Originally posted by: gorcorps

Originally posted by: Zenoth
After playing the Space phase for approximately the whole day today I think that I am seriously considering returning the game for a refund, I haven't done that in ages, usually I just let them take the dust, but this one? I don't see myself playing this again even in a decade, it's nothing memorable for me, it's just too repetitive, and even if there's expansion packs the game's goal and principles (evolution through phases) will remain intact. And it crashed on me one time during the third hour or so of the Space phase. I deeply regret having bought it out of impulsions (hype).

WTF, people return open games just because they don't like them? It's a completely unusable game now as your account/PC is linked to that copy of it.

Yes but I don't care, my store has a strict policy, if your game doesn't work, return it for a refund. I will pretend that it doesn't work, and they will accept, I've done it once before with F.E.A.R. (the original), and it worked. They will not resell it anyway, they know the game is heavily DRM'ed and could have problems on another system, they aren't that stupid.

 

[Jeff7181]

Nice writeup.

First, let me start by saying I decided to pick up the game because I've had a $60 credit at the EA store for who knows how long... so, my EA boycott is officially over.

Second, I can't stop playing the damn game. I'm in the space stage and have explored over 100 solar systems... actually, I got that award a while ago, probably approaching 200 now.

The game is rather one dimensional. You're basically choosing between war and peace the entire time you play the game. However, there are many hours of gameplay available, which was surprising to me. I thought once you hit the space stage it's pretty much over. However, that's not the case... it feels like the game just starts there... similar to how WoW players have said the game starts at 60.

A couple things that have me stuck right now...

I have quests I can't complete because I have no flippin' clue where the planets or star systems are that I'm looking for. It says go find something on a particular planet. At first it was easy... a lot of the stuff I was looking for was in solar systems all clustered around each other. Now I've got so damn many solar systems I've explored the map is a damn mess. Can't tell what's what. Basically what I spend most of my time doing right now is flying from star to star looking for the destination of my quests and "mapping" the galaxy as I go along to get all these dumb planets into my encyclopedia so I can search for them if I need to visit them later for a quest.

Additionally, terraforming is one of the big parts of the game... but I've been horribly unsuccessful so far. The first planet I was supposed to terraform was a T0. It's hot and has little atmosphere. I can't figure out what to do to get it to move into the T1 area to complete the quest. I've spent way too much on the dumb kits to cool the planet and increase the atmosphere, but the more I cool it, the less atmosphere there is. When I add atmosphere it heats up again... at 100k points per kit, I've easily spent over 1 million points dicking around with that quest. (anyone have any suggestions?)

 

[fatpat268]

Terraforming gets easier as you progress in the space stage. You have the cloud seeders/vacuums that add or take away atmosphere, and a refrigeration/heat ray to make it warmer or hotter. And as you progress you'll have four more options that does a combination of both. These you only have to buy once and have unlimited use, only governed by the amount of energy left on your ship.

The space stage is fun, but it's ridiculous in it's scope, and I can only terraform/ally/take over planets for so long. And once you make your way to the galactic center, going against the Grox is a ridiculous task.

 

[lozina]

ok so I got the game yesterday and played it for about 4 hours.

the first stage was pretty fun, I like shaping my creature but I am surprised at how short lived it was and how it lacked much depth. When my creature grew to next size, I would see maybe 3 or 4 new varieties of creatures, plus maybe 1 or 2 of the varieties that were around when I was smaller. And that's all I would see wherever I roamed, nothing more until I ate enough to grow to the next level.

the second stage I had a lot of fun in because it was more detailed in how I can shape the creature. I had the most fun here in then creature editor. The ally/attack process became a bit arduous after doing it so many times but I still looked forward to evolving my creature every time.

the third stage is the farthest I got so far and it is so far the most boring. It is basically an RTS with absolutely no innovation. I really get the impression the game was rushed with many features chopped off the drawing board in this particular stage. So far I couldn't even imagine this stage being enough to satisfy a flash game on a web browser. Looking forward to getting beyond this stage to the next one.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Friend of mine got this game and he has basically the same complaints as everyone else here. That it's hardly a game... more of an interactive version of the creature creator. He tells me the only fun part is creating your creature, but that there's no penalty for making an evolutionarily unfit creature. As long as it has claws, it can scratch, whether the claws are on its hands or up its butt. If the legs are super stubby and don't even touch the ground, it doesn't matter. Basically every creature is exactly the same.

He's really into RTS games so he was naturally disappointed with the RTS elements. He wishes he could have more control over his city's layout, as well as more options for fighting units.

From the description he's given me, it sounds like it's basically the same as having the Creature Creator and then starting a "post your Spore creatures!" thread. Which is something people will do anyway since otherwise their creations are all anonymous.

 

[Magusigne]

My main complaint is that I had MAJORLY hyped this game up to the point it was pretty much doomed to fail. Thats my fault. I've been following this game since it was first announced and even had it pre-ordered for 2 years...heck..I even built my new rig earlier this year to get ready for it. That was my WHOLE reason for building this rig..and now I feel faintly empty.


The positive about this game is that it will be XPACKED to hell and back...which is a negative and a positive I suppose.