Spore

Spore is a one of a kind videogame. It offers endless possibilities and gives the gamer a game within the game. But in the process of giving you everything you want, EA has forgotten to include some depth and gameplay. As a design program Spore deserves an A+, as a videogame a little less.

It's not what we expected, and it's not what the game could have been: it's not perfect, or even particularly great. Yet what it offers is wholly unique, and there's a lot of satisfaction to be had in small amounts throughout its running time. I'm in no hurry to play through it again anytime this week, but heck...maybe in a month or so I'll create a whole new species and send them out to the stars.

Spore is the most fantastic game you’ll ever avoid playing. I can easily guarantee you will find something upsetting about the end product; the game is riddled with flaws small and large, and though there is a lot of impressive tech backing the whole product, it does not have the kind of polish we so arrogantly expect from our entertainment.

A game with much to like, but not enough to enjoy regularly.

Spore will most likely appeal to those who don't expect much from it. It's a curious step in the evolution of games artistry that will take its place amongst games like Black & White that, although interesting and innovative, never quite live up to their potential and promise.

Something as transcendent and overwhelming as the game we hoped for – the infinite, mind-boggling space odyssey suggested so early on – doesn’t sell expansion packs. It doesn’t fit on to iPhone. It doesn’t fill the vacuum left by The Sims. [Nov 2008, p.88]

Spore was meant to be everything to everyone; casual, hardcore, old, young, fat, thin, ugly, uglier. But it isn't.

Ultimately, as interesting as Spore’s concept is, the actual gameplay works against its offer to let you be creative, and the gameplay isn’t really worth the sacrifice of the creativity - especially when the standalone creature creator was released ages ago. For a fiver.

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.

Spore’s creatures look terrific and the editor is one of the finest tool in gaming history. But Maxis forgot to build a game around it: The mixture of simulation and strategy just isn’t deep enough to attract more than a few hours attention. Instead of experiencing enthralling missions or a more intimate relation to your creature, you get shooed through five draggy phases of evolution.

Spore is more construction kit than game, but a very fascinating one. The missing depth and often too easy gameplay doesn’t make it the brilliant game everyone expected.