From the mind of Will Wright comes Spore, a journey that takes you from the origin and evolution of life through the development of civilization and technology and eventually all the way into the deepest reaches of outer space. Begin your odyssey at the dawn of life as a simple microbe just trying to survive, then use the fun, intuitive Editors to evolve the creature from its microscopic origins into an intelligent, tool-using race. Guide your species as it builds (and the player designs) villages, buildings, cities, and vehicles.
Along the way to becoming a global civilization you can choose whether to hunt or forage, attack or trade, be nice or play rough. All the action takes place in a huge, lush world populated with creatures evolved by other players and shared over Spore PC's central servers. When it's ready, your one-time pond scum launches into space in its UFO on a grand voyage of discovery, planet forming, or destruct-ion.
As you explore and play in this limitless universe of unique worlds, your personal Sporepedia tracks all the creatures you've met and places you've visited. Take complete control of your creature's fate as you guide it through the following six evolutionary phases: Tidepool phase: Fight with other creatures and consume them to adjust the form and abilities of your creature. It's survival of the fittest at the most microscopic level.
Creature phase: Venture onto dry land and help your creature learn and evolve with forays away from your safe haven. Carnivore or Herbivore? Social or Independent? The choice is yours. Tribal phase: Instead of controlling an individual creature, you are now caring for an entire tribe of your genetic craftwork.
Give them tools and guide their interactions as you slowly upgrade their state of existence. City phase: Bring your creatures' race into a new golden era by building up the technology, architecture, and infrastructure of their city. Civilization phase: Once your city is established, your creatures begin seeking out and interacting with other cultures.
You can have them do so with an olive branch or a war cry—either way, the goal for your creatures is to unify the planet. Space phase: The time has come to move on to other worlds in your solar system. Make first-contact, colonize, or terraform, then venture further to find other solar systems scattered throughout a magnificently rendered galaxy.
A 'mission' structure provides new goals and paths to follow as you begin to spread through the universe.
Spore manages quite some feats – it's accessible for casual gamers, but at the same time so real and dynamic, able to offer hardcore gamers a demanding experience and, obviously, a more appealing one than in "The Sims".
Spore's triumph is painfully ironic. By setting out to instill a sense of wonderment at creation and the majesty of the universe, it's shown us that it's actually a lot more interesting to sit here at our computers and explore the contents of each other's brains. [October 2008, p.64]
Using various gadgets the concept is handled impressively; Sci-Fi fanatics will lap up the way in which Wright and Maxis have captured the concept of colonizing planets and expanding your empire across the galaxy.
Even after years of hype and seemingly impossible promises, Spore is astounding in scope and execution. The creation tools are amazing, the interface is brilliant, and the game’s ability to harness player creativity is unparalleled. The mechanics of the individual phases can make the moment-to-moment interaction with the game feel shallow, but the experience as a whole is thought-provoking and – most importantly – genuinely entertaining.
Will Wright has raised the bar and any game that comes out now that wants to be remembered will need to consider the lessons taught by Spore.
Stunning, gigantic game with endless possibilities. Most powerful editors ever seen in any game. Spore is outstanding in technical terms, swift and nimble in the beginning. The only flaws on its perfect face are too simple civilization phase and bit tedious space exploration. [Sept 2008]
Rather than match the freedom in the gameplay, however, Spore forces players to use their creations in a series of levels that are derivative and dull.
November 23, 2020
Cyberpunk 2077 retail copies already out there, leaks are coming…. Read more
November 19, 2020
iO Interactive unveils its new project called Project 007. Watch video
November 19, 2020
Among Us is getting a new map. Read more
November 19, 2020
Far Cry 6 release date listed as May 26 in Microsoft store. Read more
August 17, 2020
Sony Confirms Work On ‘Next-Generation’ VR Headset That Might Not Be PSVR 2. Read more
August 17, 2020
About 40% of worldwide population plays video games of some form, only 8% on consoles. Read more
August 14, 2020
Ubisoft potentially teasing return of delisted Scott Pilgrim game. Read more
August 13, 2020
Fable job listings suggest game is still a long ways away. Read more