Comments on: Spore - A Review and a Lesson to Developers

By: Longasc

Longasc — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 19:37:41 +0000

I think you pointed out my problem with Spore. You can do many playful things that are for sure fun. But not if you dissect game mechanics in cold blood while reviewing, not really playing, the game.

I love the combined arms approach in Medieval: Total War (I hope Medieval 2 is more like the old MTW1), the very first Panzer General for DOS/Win95 and the whole civilization series. Rome: Total War and the next Panzer General games toned down the need for that. Cavalry charging in a spear wall and winning was impossible in Medieval, but worked too well in Rome!

Actually I like the freedom of exploration that Spore provides. But I prefer it in a setting like the old Ultima Underworld or Ultima VII/VIII.

So well, then I got Spore. It is neither a strategy game, nor a MMORPG, nor a RPG… probably too innovative and too much for an old and biased gamer.

I always try to understand people, why they like or hate this or that. It is really frustrating that people love “Titanic” so much, and I always think I would rather watch Evil Dead: Army of Darkness again.

But at least now I have some idea why people like Spore and why I did not really get it. Maybe I should give it another chance and be a bit more open-minded, though I doubt it is my kind of game.

By: Longasc

Longasc — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 18:21:09 +0000

I cannot really imagine why your daughter or your wife love the game. I also could not understand why Black and White was praised by some people.

These supposed sandbox games are very restricted and limited, repetitive instead of offering replayability through the sandbox approach. But people call them sandbox games… With a very limited set of instructions at hand, it does not even matter how you play, carnivore or herbivore, this does not really make a difference. Even if you come to the space age, there are games like Galactic Civilizations or Civilization X,Y,Z that offer me more meaningful choices and consequences.

Spore picks up some parts of RT strategy games without ever getting to the complexity and challenge involved. Really, I guess some of you know SIM EARTH and previous Maxis games, they all do better in this regard.

By: Longasc

Longasc — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 15:11:51 +0000

Spore is a step back in game design. It is a toy, a screen saver, but not a game. It is repetitive and does not offer challenges, incentives.

Just check the ratings at amazon.com, amazon.de, amazon.co.uk, … besides people complaining about Securom, too many people just find it boring.

You can take Spore as a design study, but releasing this as a game was a step back from Sim City, Sim Earth and similar games.

By: yanjiaren

yanjiaren — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:52:13 +0000

You always get the extremes with games, either they are loved or loathed.

By: Heather

Heather — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 14:12:41 +0000

I want to play this game, but i have to wait a few more months.

By: yanjiaren

yanjiaren — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:26:27 +0000

I wil get my Son to check it out. He is a real Gamer.

By: Witchkiller

Witchkiller — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 05:38:59 +0000

I have to agree with the spirit of this post, Cambios. If a modern graphical MUD were to build a game world that is as open as Spore, with fantasy elements, and abilities that you spent exp (or some similar advancement currency) on, then I am sure it would be a hit. I just picked up Spore, and after working through the second phase of the game, I immediately realized what great framework Spore is for the type of game that many jaded graphical MUD fans are hoping for. I love how the parts that you unlock are related to how you play the game. I had fun playing with herbivores and omnivores and carnivores. I’m still having fun exploring all of the different trait abilities that are unlocked pending upon your play style.

I sincerely hope that future developers are looking at Spore and seeing the potential. A nicely polished MUD, with that level of customization and PLAY based, not time based, rewards and advancement would be a great thing for gamers.

I could go on and on about the possibilities of MUDs.

-Witchkiller

By: Cndrmn

Cndrmn — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:35:37 +0000

I’ve met some people who loved it, some who hated it, but none of them played it longer than a few hours. The gameplay is boring and repetitive. There should have been more emphasis on the first 2 phases, which are fun because of the creature creation, it’s just not as much fun to design city halls and tanks.

By: maliseraph

maliseraph — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 17:10:59 +0000

My friend has it and is loving it, although he has a few complaints about the lack of ability to automate things and the necessity of having to manually deal with every single pirate attack.

By: bill_finger

bill_finger — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 09:19:05 +0000

I’ll probably get it. I think we’ve all been looking forward to it for about three years now, so of course some will feel a little let down.