SPORE

Spore

• GenreSimulation
• Release Date09/07/2008
• PublisherElectronic Arts
• DeveloperMaxis
• ESRBE+ - Everyone 10+

Imagine the difficulty in combining hockey, soccer, football, tennis and a triathlon into a single event. Spore, the newest creation from Sims creator Will Wright promises the video game equivalent -- a game that combines a real-time strategy game, a god-like creation tool, a social network and a journey into space all in one.

Once you hit the Civilization level, you'd think life would be a little more like Buck Rogers.

Spore might best be viewed as a set of games that introduce casual gamers to the basic concepts of a real-time strategy game. Simple resource gathering, basic combat strategy are presented here in candy-coated ease with a personalized character that they'll grow to love. Gamers with any RTS experience will feel that Spore is a step back since buildings and vehicles don't evolve, simple attack strategies focus on merely overwhelming enemies with brute force, there's no technology evolution, and there's seemingly little reward apart from evolution. That's not to say that it isn't fun to fight and evolve. The creatures are the real stars of the game. It's nothing short of amazing to mold your own creature and watch it evolve from scavenger to civilized space-farer.
Spore begins in an evolutionary Cell stage, with a video of a meteorite crashing into the ocean. You, a simple living creature, float out of the remnants and begin to swim, munching plants, algae or meat (for carnivores only). Of course, this is less like swimming around a fish tank and more like "eat or be eaten" as larger creatures try to gobble you up in the process. As your cell eats, it accumulates DNA necessary for it to evolve to the next level, tracked by a bar at the bottom of the screen.
Through each stage of Cell evolution, the background color of the screen darkens as the cell moves closer to the surface, and you're first introduced to the evolution bar on the bottom of the screen that will monitor your progress throughout the entire game. Right before you leave the primordial ooze, creatures sprout legs and a can be customized (to a certain degree) through the game's Creature Creator. Though the first level in the game is called a 'stage,' it's really more of a simple tutorial that teaches you to move around and build DNA. Play through it once – you probably won't come back since the real action happens in the other levels.
Once on land, the Creature stage begins as your critter learns new survival techniques, such as bite, charge or charge. It's a simple button-pushing affair as players hit the '1' to '4' buttons on the keyboard to perform each attack, each requiring a recharge before they can be used again. Interestingly, the creatures here, downloaded from the Spore network populate the world with various hit point levels, and those with lower levels will go extinct as you gain DNA.