Spore - Who is getting it?

**Navaros** · 09-06-2008, 08:44

I've been reading a lot of end-user impressions of Spore and the consensus seems to be that it's an incredibly simplistic, repetitive, bare-boned game that can be blown through in a few hours easily. And also one that is marginally entertaining for a few hours, and that's about it. Many end users seem to have said it is suitable for ages 10 and under only.

IMO the 3 install limit is a total scam and should be - and possibly already is (needs to be court challenged) - illegal. That alone is a deal-breaker IMO.

The professional reviews giving it ridiculously high acclaim are IMO bought and paid for just like all other alleged AAA titles which always receive ridiculously high scores no matter how crap of a game they actually are.

It infuriates me to see the 'professionals' in the game industry continue to perpetuate this shady trend and thus mislead innocent consumers.

**The_Doctor** · 09-06-2008, 13:20

I have just started the Civ stage, and I agree with everything Navaros' post. The Cell stage is fun, but very short, The Creature stage is very repetitive, The Tribal Stage is the most shallow RTS every created. Right now I don't have the will to continue playing the game.

**CountArach** · 09-06-2008, 13:23

Originally Posted by The_Doctor

I have just started the Civ stage, and I agree with everything Navaros' post. The Cell stage is fun, but very short, The Creature stage is very repetitive, The Tribal Stage is the most shallow RTS every created. Right now I don't have the will to continue playing the game.

I agree with your assessment of those three. What is urging me on is wanting to see space...

**The_Doctor** · 09-06-2008, 13:51

What is urging me on is wanting to see space...

Same here.

**Veho Nex** · 09-06-2008, 17:04

Originally Posted by CountArach

I agree with your assessment of those three. What is urging me on is wanting to see space...

It seems like they put more time into the space stage as it is like its own unique space RPG. I've been playing the space age for a couple hours and I still can't get around at how unique everything is...

But in one of the gameplay videos i saw, you could be a fish and your guy was capable of biting an animal and then dragging it.

**Mailman653** · 09-06-2008, 19:03

Too bad you can't rent PC games

**Motep** · 09-06-2008, 23:40

Originally Posted by Mailman653

Too bad you can't rent PC games

right!

**Kekvit Irae** · 09-07-2008, 01:03

Originally Posted by Mailman653

Too bad you can't rent PC games

At one point in time, you could. This was during the age of MSDOS games. You could copy the entire game from the CD to your harddrive and then take it back to the video store and play it without ever needing to rent the CD again (I'm looking at you, Cannon Fodder and Lost Eden). Game companies wised up to this and stopped allowing people to rent out PC games.

**Mailman653** · 09-07-2008, 19:40

Originally Posted by Kekvit Irae

At one point in time, you could. This was during the age of MSDOS games. You could copy the entire game from the CD to your harddrive and then take it back to the video store and play it without ever needing to rent the CD again (I'm looking at you, Cannon Fodder and Lost Eden). Game companies wised up to this and stopped allowing people to rent out PC games.

I loved Canon Fodder!

**Zenicetus** · 09-06-2008, 23:42

Originally Posted by The_Doctor

I have just started the Civ stage, and I agree with everything Navaros' post. The Cell stage is fun, but very short, The Creature stage is very repetitive, The Tribal Stage is the most shallow RTS every created. Right now I don't have the will to continue playing the game.

That's the takeaway I got from the review in the New York Times (which is interesting because it's not your typical game review site... seems a bit more independent to me):

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/ar...pagewanted=all

The writer basically said that a ton of effort was put into the creature stage, which is fun. But past that stage it's not very well-developed. And of course we can't help but compare those later stages with the best strategy games, where it's bound to fall short. I'll play GalCivII if I want a space conquest game, unless something else is actually better at it. So far, other than the "cute" factor, and the unique aliens, I'm not hearing big enthusiasm for the later game stages. A sandbox game can't be very successful if the beginning is fun, and the end-game isn't.

Something else I've wondered about... given the HUGE scope of the game, they haven't exactly left themselves much room for an expansion pack, or a Spore II. Would people buy this again as a Spore II product, if they just improved the end-game?

Anyway, I'm waiting for more user reviews before thinking about buying it (especially with the DRM issues).