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[Sean Mirrsen]

Actually, there are a grand total of 3 editors in the game. The creature editor, the vehicle editor, and the building editor. What they pass off as multiple editors could be just as well achieved by stuffing content from different variants of the same editor together. Sort of what they did with the vehicle editor - the spaceship editor is just the 9 editors (land, sea, air and military, economic, religious) packed together, so you can just as well make a tank, a boat, a plane, and a spacecraft with that editor. The building editors also differ only by the one set of special items specific for the building type. The clothing editors difference is absolutely stupid. The difference between the tribal, civilization, and space-age clothing editors is 4 new items in each of the 4 sections for each progressive level. Why not make one "clothing editor" and just unlock new parts as new ages roll around?

My personal favorite mode is still the Creature phase, but it is too short to enjoy everything you make. I couldn't take down any Epics. Actually, on this playthrough I only finished the Creature phase early because I climbed to the top of a volcano, and jumped in, which caused me to fly up (hot air?) and fall down indefinetly. While incredibly inapropriate in an evolution game, I think in this particular situation a "commit suicide" button would be very useful.

[Deon]

Doooohh.
I passed it.

Ohh.

I can't imagine I was waiting for IT for so many years.

Yes, it's an ultimate game. An ultimate ARCADE. It's definitely not that sim game which was announced a few years ago...
And it's really dull if you remove all those fancy editors which mean nothing gameplay-wise.

At the end of the tribe phase I was bored  and simply killed all other cities with boxes (duh, lunchboxes on wheels kill tanks and helicopters...).


P.S. I'm much more afraid of Fallout 3 now...
Space phase is funnier but it becomes boring with time too.

And the sad part: because of that "don't matter how" gameplay I don't see a reason to walk through it again. The limbs will be different but it will be all again about the "maximum stat parts" and "finish thin in metagaming way".

Did I miss something? How can I add replayability to this game?

[Sean Mirrsen]

It appears that the game, though it is about evolution and attempted to be a revolution, failed in both evolution and revolution. It sure is innovative - demoscene technology for gaming managed to work surprisingly well. However, in the end, it fell into the same "graphics over gameplay" ditch. You can customize the LOOKS of the game, but hardly the way it plays. If you make a herbivore instead of a carnivore, you'll be eating fruit instead of enemies, but that's about it. If you make a friendly tribe instead of a warlike one, you still conquer using the same basic means. If you make an economic or a religious civilization, the basic effect is always the same as military, only instead of dealing damage you impact morale or buy off the cities. The game is empty, hollow. There's nothing under the looks, nothing to amuse yourself with other than the editors.

[Neoskel]

Can't you sandbox the hell out of planets in space phase?

[Sean Mirrsen]

You probably can, I haven't got there yet, but still the only phase where anything is interesting is the creature phase. In space, there may be missions and stuff, but Space Rangers beats the hell out of any game in that regard, so the only advantage are the editors, that actually make no difference beyond Creature phase, and are available separate from the main gameplay as well.

[Ivefan]

Space phase is basically grind for money to make money. get some annoying tasks to protect your colonies from some weak pirates or hostiles that uppon your arrival get shredded by the turrets, but if you dont go there they will plunder/capture your colony.
EVO beats this game in gameplay wise.

[Sean Mirrsen]

Yeah. But then again, EVO is just the action-platformer with a fixed plot (the little split down the middle with birds and stuff doesn't count). Spore must take a lesson in evolution from EVO, and it'll be a great game. Also, variety is the spice of life. If Spore ditches its PNG-save thing (or just makes the PNGs 4 times larger), it will be able to handle asymmetric creatures and a lot of other variations.

Here, a few ideas to improve Spore:
Ditch PNG-saves to enable asymmetric and otherwise improved creature designs.
Tribal phase buildings must be customizable, as well as the weapons used by the tribe, their tribal dances, and all other stuffs.
Civilization phase must play more like Civilization, not freaking LotR:BfME or Z. Cities must be built, not conquered, and they must not be always round.
Vehicles in Civ phase must have the same design considerations as creatures (with movement type defined by available parts), and more than one design of each type must be allowed at any one time.
Warring civilizations must not have the same outfits.

Some more things are possible, but these elements might make the rest of the game beyond Creature phase more enjoyable for me.

[Torak]

My liking of the game by phase;

Cell Stage: Awesome, I just love swimming around eating other cells, and dodging giant ass-fuck cells that take up half the screen.

Creature Stage: Epic, if the game expanded more on just this part of the game, it'd be so much better, best part is you aren't capped at a certain Level or DNA amount, so you could get the best monster with all the best parts rather easily. Thing I don't like is the stats, I swear in the Creature creator the stats of parts were added together, and now it only takes the highest stat from ANY part, making most parts useless, and customization rather useless since the 'Complexity' meter fills up far too fast.

Tribal Phase: I was a fan of the Settlers games, and for some reason this reminded me of it, gets tedious with the Instruments (considering the time limit to impress them, which is goddamn stupid), where it takes less time and effort just to wipe a tribe out then play the mariachi band for them.

Civilization: Ehh, reminds me of supreme commander without the buildings, it's a pretty simple rush for the first two or three spice mines and then massing land armies so you can kill any tribes before they rise up, and then making your cities get a huge income and massing planes and destroying everyone else.

Space: Later, I haven't even gotten close to the depths of this because suddenly, in the space phase, buttons stopped responding (such as the 'My Collection' and the Communication button for planets) making it unplayable. I also can't figure out how to repair/restock.

[Tormy]

As I read the player made reviews on the net, it seems like that the game was way too hyped. I even read that the game is actually very simple and short also. 
Some people already completed it!...well wow. Maybe I made a mistake by ordering this one. 

[TheSpaceMan]

My comuncation and my save button stoped working in space age. I am not sure if this is a bug or a hidden in game stopper due to the "full demo exe". I remeber XIII had something like that where you couldn't get a key for a elevator 13 levels in if you had the wrong exe.

[Makrond]

I'll do it like Torak and break it down by phase.

Cell Stage: Wow! Being a fan of fl0w, this phase makes me delirious with happiness. I've played from Cell to Space as both a Carnivore and a Herbivore, and being a herbivore here actually makes it slightly harder, since you don't get food (and health) from killing things. My only compaint is that it finishes too soon.

Creature Stage: it's like a slightly smaller Morrowind, only you get to customise your creature! But seriously, you get to wander all over your (admittedly small) planet, either eating or socialising with other creatures. Being a herbivore makes it easier in this stage, as food is plentiful and less dangerous to acquire. I never figured out how to pick up and give food to other creatures, however. Also, I never found flowers or seashells that are apparently able to be picked up and given as gifts. Anyway, you should spend most of your time here, trying to gather as many pieces as possible, since this is the only stage you get to create your creature. I got most of them, but I missed out on some hands and feet, as well as some detail parts. You end up with some strange-looking creatures, too, depending on whether you want to kill or socialise. Allying with creatures is really difficult, and requires parts, parts, and more parts, to the point where you just stick random parts wherever they'll fit so you can kill or impress.

Tribal Stage: Well, you get one final trip to the Creature Editor, and then that's it. Unlocking as many parts as possible is vital here - not because they really increase your tribal abilities, but because it's the only way to get some decent-looking creatures. Even so, the choice of eyes is... disappointing, at best. Anyway, this stage is basically 'build up as fast as you can and exterminate the competition.' Being a Carnivore hurts, as other tribes are ridiculously difficult to kill, even with equal odds. Your best bet is to wait until they attack you, then counterattack with everything you've got. Peaceful means, however, are so much easier - and let's face it, there has to be at least one stage where the hippies get a break. Just offer some food, play some music, and you're outta there. The outfitters are ridiculous, and aren't really designed for anything not humanoid. You might be able to get a few things to fit, but don't count on it. The negative is that you sorta need clothing to win, especially as a Carnivore. The positive is, you probably won't be looking at it in much detail for very long.

Civilisation Stage: Having not yet played Supreme Commander (I chose SoaSE instead...), my closest analogy would be Age of Mythology, or possibly C&C. Fortunately, military might is not the only way to win, and nor is it the most viable. In fact, if you want the simplest and most effective method of winning, religious conversions are the way to go (yeah, more Herbivore stuff...). However, if your enemy has more than one city, economic buyouts get you in their good books, so you can forge an alliance and win. It was at this point I was hooked (as though the Cell Stage wasn't enough  )

Space Stage: This is what everyone wants, but I gotta say getting here is a lot of fun as well. Anyway, you get to stick a whole bunch of pointless things on your ship (weapons are pre-set and can't just be stuck on in the editor). Basically, whatever you do is aesthetic only, so feel free to steal someone else's design you like and modify it a bit. Basically, the rest of it is similar to the Civilisation Stage, except there's no religious takeovers. I'm not sure what the herbivore equivalent is. Possibly alliances. Anyway, you push towards the center of the galaxy, averting ecodisasters and developing colonies on the way. Also, protecting your allies (and eventually, I'd imagine, yourself) from the Grox. They're the mysterious ultimate evil.

Overall: wait a couple months and pick it up for AUD$70 (or equivalent). It's not worth the $100 price tag, but it is a damn good game.

EDITORS:
Cell (Cell)
Creature (Creature)
City Hall (Building)
Tribal Outfitter (Clothes)
Civilisation Outfitter (Clothes)
Anthem (Anthem)
Housing (Building)
Factory (Building)
Entertainment (Building)
Spaceship
Vehicle (Land, Sea, Air)

That looks like about 13, if you count 'em seperately. I think of it as 6 if you count the ones that are actually different. And count the spaceship as a separate editor. You could also multiply the vehicle editors by 3 for Military, Economic, and Religious (land Military, sea Military, etc).

Miscellaneous note: did anyone else notice the procedural walking animations? Just thought I'd throw that one in there. Stand on a hill and you'll see what I mean.

Also, this review is nowhere near as detailed as it would need to be to do this game justice. Great tracts of good features (such as terraforming/sculpting) have been omitted. However, like I said, it's not really worth $100, so wait a couple of months for a price drop or two before you get it. It's easily worth $70-$80.

[Deon]

As I read the player made reviews on the net, it seems like that the game was way too hyped. I even read that the game is actually very simple and short also. 
Some people already completed it!...well wow. Maybe I made a mistake by ordering this one. 

I passed it in 1 day playing DF on background... And drinking coffee and watching tv. Because it's really boring in some aspects.

THE WORST THING is that there's no need in different/many bodyparts.
The game tells me that a hedgehog with a single needle and a hedgehog with many needles have the same stats so there's no need to have more than 1 needle -.- . Doh.

And it was definitely designed for 5+ because it has NO challenge. No way to lose? What?... You always respawn WITH full inventory and no penalties! I killed my sector of galaxy with my starting ship by constantly harrassing planets/dying/respawning/harrassing/dying/respawning/... Because all this click-here-click-there-to-get-another-million is more boring than to shoot something .

[Asheron]

I'm shocked. I wished I didn't buy this game.

I'm not going to write a review, but I would like to add that SO MANY things that were promised didn't pass. No plant editor, no procedural animation ( the willosaur who was dragging around things ), no decent flying creatures, and way to much carebearing and oh-you-can't-do-that-because-you-need-that. Especially in the space stage. Also TERRIBLE sounds. The creature stage is good, but the 'diplomacy' thing gets old quickly. Fighting is fun, though.
The cell stage and the building editor keep this game from sucking completely for me.

[Tormy]

As I read the player made reviews on the net, it seems like that the game was way too hyped. I even read that the game is actually very simple and short also. 
Some people already completed it!...well wow. Maybe I made a mistake by ordering this one. 

I passed it in 1 day playing DF on background... And drinking coffee and watching tv. Because it's really boring in some aspects.

THE WORST THING is that there's no need in different/many bodyparts.
The game tells me that a hedgehog with a single needle and a hedgehog with many needles have the same stats so there's no need to have more than 1 needle -.- . Doh.

And it was definitely designed for 5+ because it has NO challenge. No way to lose? What?... You always respawn WITH full inventory and no penalties! I killed my sector of galaxy with my starting ship by constantly harrassing planets/dying/respawning/harrassing/dying/respawning/... Because all this click-here-click-there-to-get-another-million is more boring than to shoot something .

*shrugs*
So the rumors were true. 

[wallish]

Great tracts of good features (such as terraforming/sculpting) have been omitted.

Wait, WHAT!?  They removed the terraforming and land-sculpting part of the game!?  That's the part I was most looking forward to!

After all the reviews I've read, from both players and publications, I have finally decided to not even buy the game.  I've been watching this game since 2005 when it was first announced.  Waiting and waiting for what could have been one of the greatest "sim" games ever.

The early videos were great, showing how amazing the game would be and all the innovative features thrown in.  Videos like this which showed an absolutely amazing game.  I mean, look at that! I feel safe saying that after three years of development since that video every single aspect of Spore was made worse. The stages are worse.  The graphics are worse.  Even the procedural animations have been made worse (look at how his three-legged creature walks, in the new editor all my creatures walked just about the same smooth/balanced way, no matter how many legs).  Look at "buttface" at about 9:25 seconds, look at "tweety bird" right after that.  The animations are fluid and realistic, they make sense from a natural standpoint. "Buttface" lurches as he walks, moving his outer leg sets forward then doing a short hop with the central set. "Tweety bird" lurches as the weight of his head leans to-and-fro.

I could go on and on about that video and how that was the game everybody got excited about, so I'll stop.

Zoom forward one year to Robin Williams.  Some improvements in the creature creator, looks great.  Then, later that year we get this video.  The editor looks awesome now, but the animations have gone down a bit in quality (his six-legged creature doesn't seem to walk any different from a four legged creature).  Little did we know that this was a sign of things to come.  The world looks pretty and shiny, but has started to take on more of a cartoony feel.  Where's the blood from attacking/being attacked?  Why does everything look like it's been ripped from a children's book? 

The 2007 TED video restored a little faith, but still lacked the wonderment of that first video.

Then fast forward to GDC 2007 where we're shown a whole bunch of phases.  Everything has changed.  The space phase looks awesome, but the other phases seem to have a little of their edge. What has been happening to Spore's development?

And now, 2008, the dream dies.  This is going to sting a bit, but with Spore alone Will Wright and his team have done something far worse than all of Peter Molyneux's actions for the past two decades.  I have a feeling, though, that EA is to blame.  The pressure to make as mass-marketable a game as possible along with limited funding and "PR re-writes" probably killed the dream quickly after the 2005 video created all that buzz.  In a way I feel sorry for Will Wright as it looks like his dream game has come smashing down onto the hard concrete floor of business and bureaucracy.