The anticipation was enormous. Considering I have been following the project for a couple of years my expectations were high. And in a way I think the buildup of hype over the years is what is going to make a lot of people feel disappointed with the game. Yes it is fun, yes it is cute, but a bit like Horizons, things were promised or shown that did not make it to the released product.
The land of idiots
Why is it that every new game has to be dumbed down, and interfaces have to be not simplified but crippled? Spore reminds me a bit of Lionheads "Black & White". Personally I loved the first game, even despite the glitches and stupid AI for the Creature. The interface was phenomenal, and EASY to use. Come on, how hard is it to grasp the idea that the cursor is a giant hand inside the world... Never had a single problem with it. And then when they released part too. Yes it was prettier, yes the Creature was a lot more responsive and intelligent, but why would you simplify an interface that already was good and working? They made the game way too easy, and you could finish it without a blink of an eye. I was shocked when it actually hit home that yes, you have finished the game, not the tutorial...
You might be wondering what does this have to do with Spore. Well I started playing on easy, just to get a hang of it. And within 2-3 hours I was half way through civilization stage... And I wasn't even rushing, in fact I actually explored a bit of every stage, and tried to get everyhting you can for that level... Disappointed with this I started again at hard. Now the game posed a little bit of a challange, and I died a few times on the way to civilization. But it still feels quite easy.
The graphics
I had the Creature Creator before the game was released, so I knew what to expect. The creatures are cute, and most of the time the auto generated movement animation works pretty well. The graphics are cute and decent, but at points you can see a glitch or two with the textures. Overall I think they have done a good job here,m as the game is not about cinematic views, but about having fun with your own quirky creations.
The sound effects and music
This is one place I am really happy with the game. The music is really good. In the way that it creates nice ambience that is pleasent to listen to, but at the same time does not distract you. Similarly the sound effects - creatures voices etc. go quite well with the mouths you give tham. And at later stages fit with your civilization type.
Editors for everything
What seems quite interesting is that most of the time you will spend in the various editors rather than actually playing the game. This is a good and a bad thing. As mentioned above I was expecting a bit more substantial game play. Instead the experienced is focused on you getting involved in creating world parts. It is quite fun, and very time consuming if you want to make buildings and / or crafts that are very detailed. It's OK if that is your cup of tea. But if you got the game intending on just grabbing ready made parts, and actually concentrating on playing... Well as previously mentioned you won't need much time to get to the final stage.
That said, the editors are truly well done. Looking at what people have done, and the few creations I've been playing with, you are given a lot of freedom to do pretty much whatever you like. It is quite nice to have the different texturing choices. From ready made sets, through choosing patterns for the three major areas, to actually painting individual parts with the colours and styles you choose.
Generally if you enjoyed lego blocks and or plasticine as a kid, you'll probably have fun with Spore.
The Cell Stage
This is the level where you more or less play pac man with food. You have a little bit of customization available for your cell organism like the mouth type, the way it moves and the fatness of the existing spine parts (you can't extend the spine though the way you can later in the creature phase). This stage managed to more or less satisfy my expectations as it was made obvious from the beginning of development, that it will not last long and will be a kind of introduction to the game and navigation.
The Creature Stage
I found it funny, how with so much promotion put on the alternative way to go through the game, rather than violently exterminating your competition, it is in fact a lot easier to kill other creatures than it is to impress them... Especially on higher levels I found that getting to impress most creatures that are specialized in "friendliness" is quite hard and very much depended on you getting lucky with which action (sing, pose, dance, charm) the other creature chooses. It didn't bother me that much, as personally I do prefer the killing route to victory, but I just found that a bit odd.
Another disappointment was the lack of more advanced interactions with your own species and the environment. Some earlier videos have shown things like dragging a carcass, and this suggested to me that there might be some other cool ways to interact with the environment. Unfortunately I have not been able to drag anything around and it boils down to running around and either singing to other creatures or recking havoc.
One thing to make sure is to make all the creature edits before progressing further, as you'll be stuck with the critter you create for quite a long time after this level.
