Spore: End Game Thoughts

There's no need to warn of spoilers here. Spore only has as much or as little story as you give it. And it should be no surprise that the last stage of your creature's evolution is space. That's right, you take your creature further than our own race has gone.

There are a few different ways to go about this stage. You can go out and conquer other races, because there are many, many different races out there. You can establish trade routes and alliances, which eventually lead to you buying that particular star system. Both of these choices lead to earning badges, which fill a progress bar. Once that bar is filled, you can effectively call yourself Done. That's what I did anyway.

The other way to end the game, and I believe this one will take a much longer time to complete, is to make your way to the Center of the Universe, establishing colonies along the way. I say this is a longer way of finishing the game because in addition to your ship's physical movement across the cosmos, you'll probably end up playing the short game as well. I didn't do this part. My race has effectively conquered their small area of space, and I'm calling it quits. I can only imagine that reaching the Center of the Universe must be very rewarding and you'd probably want to have a party to celebrate. But I'm here to tell you, my friends, that I don't need a reason to have a party.

I don't have many gripes about this game, looking back. And the ones that I do have are focused squarely on the Space Stage. For one, your "fleet" has one ship. Apparently your race, as advanced as they are, can only make one ship for you. While it's true that other races can lend you their ships, putting the total number in your fleet to five, it would have been nice to have a xenophobic, Empirical fleet of just my own people.

And because your race can only provide you with one ship at a time, every time there's any sort of trouble at one of your colonies, you are the one they call to come save the day. Pirates, malicious rival races, or infected fauna are just some of the distress calls you get. Your allied races will call you with these same problems. Advanced as they are, they just can't take care of themselves.

It's easy enough to ignore these calls, but I wouldn't advise it. Every time you ignore them, and continue on your own business, you fall back a step in their opinion of you, which could lead to the loss of trade routes, alliances, or all-out declarations of war. So I saved their asses every time. And it kept me busy.

There are other things to do besides set up colonies and expand your empire. You can become a treasure hunter of sorts, seeking out new systems for artifacts which can be sold for a mint. You can help fledgling civilizations grow, and once they reach their own space-faring potential, you've got a new ally right off the rip. As I said, there is plenty to keep you busy in this game.

Each race also has their own religion, which is something to pay attention to as well. Certain sects are more aggressive, demanding tribute or attacking you outright. Others focus on commerce, and still others just sit back and let it all flow around them. Keeping the religions of your allies straight is important, because while responding to a distress call from one ally, I find that they are being attacked by another ally. What to do? Find out who's empire is bigger, then destroy the smaller one. Again, that's what I did.

Spore is a really good game. Not great, but very good. Incredibly high replayability. But take a while off from it before you dive right back in. When you finally do come back, because you will, you'll have a better understanding of what to do.

That said, it is pretty short. If you had a free weekend, you could definitely blast through it. Being generous, I'd say it's a 14 hour game.

I'ma give it 8.5 out of 10.

Next up for me, Star Wars Battlefront for the PC. And some WoW thrown in there too.

Spore: First Impressions

Playing God isn't a novel concept to gamers. Building cities in the Sim series, or nurturing whole eras of humanity in the Civilization games. You could actually include any game where a main character can "die," or is forced to kill other creatures to survive. But the first games to really bring this concept, Digital Divinity, were The Sims and Black & White. Whereas in The Sims, you controlled every aspect of one character's life, in Black & White you were actually a God. It took the Sims basic idea, simplified it and deepened it at the same time. A race of people were yours to command, benevolently or maliciously, through your giant, fuzzy avatar. The Sims, obviously, was a giant success, with the third iteration of the series already in the works. Black & White, however, saw some success, but little hoolpa even as the sequel was released. Will Wright's Spore, which hit shelves September 7th, blends these two games into something that is infinitely complex and childishly simple at the same time.

The game begins deep in the ocean. A meteor fragment breaks open and you, a simple celled organism, swims out. Your objective is this: Eat, and by eating, Survive. You have the choice before the game even begins as to whether you want to be a herbivore, sucking in plant particles, or a carnivore, feasting on the remains of your kills. But eve this is not set in stone, since the frequent upgrade drops enable you to "equip" both types of mouth and live as a herbivore. Whatever you choose, once you crawl out of the sea and into the Creature Stage, your path is set.

At this point, you establish a nest, meet the other members of your species, and find your mate. Your basic goals remain the same: Eat and Survive, but the added ability to befriend or make extinct the other species on your planet forces your play style to change. Instead of just eating and upgrading, you have to decide how to upgrade. Do I choose these feet, which look ridiculous but up my dancing skill, or these hands, which strip away my ability to grasp objects but let me deal more damage.

Once you've established a few new nests, and made allies or enemies enough to up your brain power, you enter the Tribe Stage. As of this posting, that's where my creatures, the Rynus, are. Ready to begin building towards a post-modern civilization, and later intergalactic colonization.

One of the coolest features of Spore is the game's tendency to automatically integrate any creatures you made in the Creature Creator. A cheap buy at around $10, the Creature Creator is basically a paired down version of the in game creator, which allows you to go crazy and make any creatures you want or can imagine. Already I've befriended a couple of my creations, exterminated a couple, and seen two stalking around as Epic Creatures.

I'd say that a serious gamer could reach this point in the game in a good day of playing simply to play well. But the magic of the game is in the customization of your race. Definite replay-ability.

If I were rating this game, and I am, it would easily be a 8.5 out of 10.