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RadioElectric · 08-09-2008, 01:37 AM

Hello all, I've been playing for a couple of days now and I've found myself with a lot to say. So I've decided to say it here

I think it's interesting that the reviews I've read on here so far split the game into Cell, Creature, Tribal, Civilization, Space. The stages are so disparate that there's not much I could say about one thing that would apply to another, so I'm going to stick with that

Cell Stage

I played as a herbivore.

I liked this stage very much, though it did feel like just an "introduction" to the game proper. Being chased by giant hungry carnivores is very exciting and there's a very direct problem-solving element to the evolution. Still, I was looking forward to getting out of this stage and getting onto dry land.

Creature Stage

I played as a herbivore, I did hunt one species though to see what the gameplay was like.

I've got two main problems with this stage.

Firstly, because "stats" are so important you end up having to compromise the way you want your creature to look just so you can get the bonuses you need to succeed.

Secondly, the stage felt a bit like a crappy MMORPG to me. Something about having mobs of very fast strong creatures and the odd epic creature that can (and will!) brain you in one hit reminded me of when I tried to get into Minions of Mirth (a free MMORPG that my girlfriend likes). So, aside from the fun of making my creature (compromised by having to give him "ugly" hands and feet to succeed) I mainly wanted to get through this stage and get onto the next stage.

Also, I managed to keep one of the "microbe" parts all the way through the creature phase. I did notice though with the parts that I sold that I couldn't get them back again. Is this right? Are the cell parts still functional in the creature phase?

Tribal Stage

I played as a pacificist, almost. I destroyed one tribe to see what I would be missing.

Uniforms! Very cute. I wish you could give your tribal leader a special outfit though. I was surprised to see another "simon says" game after having one in the creature phase already. I grew tired of this phase particularly quickly. I noticed that there might be things in this phase I could enjoy (I noticed my tribe had "pets" of two of the species I was allied with before, though I didn't see them do anything with them) but I couldn't really take the time to because of the pressure of being attacked.

Civilisation Phase

I played as a religious nation.

I didn't understand how converting worked in this phase at first. Because of this I managed to get quite disadvantaged without realising it and then saved my game. In the end I figured out that all 3 "paths". Have the same strategy: Build a lot of vehicles and spam the other cities one-at-a-time. Again I noticed that though there may be potential for "sandbox" kind of play, you're completely distracted by the shallow game mechanic (and God help you if you try to ignore it!). Needless to say I raced through this phase hoping space would be more fun.

Space Phase, or, "Oh God, how wrong I was."

I was told my race were Shamans.

After designing my spaceship (Does the design matter at all? Do any of the parts you put on it make a difference?) I went through the tutorial fine. I quickly discovered though that I was surrounded by followers of Spode. Followers of Spode that all wanted my money. I couldn't afford it of course and they promptly responded by declaring war. Thanks. Branching out I managed to find races of philosophers, scientists and traders to ally and trade with. I even tried paying them to attack my enemies a couple of times but it had no perceivable effect.

I started colonising and terraforming planets but the constant attacks, pirate raids and other distractions meant that I played the game for 6 hours and probably spent about 30 minutes of that doing things that I wanted to do. The rest of it was spent merely maintaining the status quo, with my allies slowly being beaten out of existence. It's a shame because in the previous stages I was probably just optimistic about there being anything in the game that the "you're being attacked again" mechanics were distracting me from but in space I'm sure there really could be something.

All-in-all, the cynical side of me worries that these mechanics were put in to distract from there being no real depth to the game. I think most of us fell in love with the game as an idea but some of us were let down by the "rules" they chose to make it work by. My biggest issue is that once you take it from being a sandbox to an RTS kind of game then you have all sorts of "Balance" issues to deal with that have obviously been ill-attended here.

Anyway, that's my tuppence on the game review-wise. I'm a bit dissapointed with it really, hopefully a patch will fix it. It's this kind of thing that makes the lack of open betas get on my nerves. What were the in-house testers thinking when they said the game was working right?

Here are a few things that I think could be done to dramatically improve the game:

1) Autosave, combined with the ability to restart from the beginning of the stage (one without the other is a recipe for disaster).
2) A sliding scale in a "gameplay options" menu to adjust the rate of "events" in the game. Be that pirate attacks, eco-disasters or assaults from other races.
3) The above will help as a stop-gap solution, but really there needs to be a move towards making this a less stressful game. I already have games that make me work hard to not get my **** kicked, I would have thought this would be a game I could chill out to.
4) There needs to be a way to negotiate with races that you're at war with.
5) Everything needs to be more spread out.
6) Can I, at the very least, train military air vehicles to protect my planets? I don't think I can. If that's the case then fix it!

None of these will help with my biggest problem (lack of continuity between mini-games) but they might manage to make this a game I want to play as opposed to a game I want to moan about at half one in the morning.

Edit: Oh, I almost forgot. For me, the MOST annoying thing about the space phase is that once your cities get bombed (which they will) you have to spend AGES replacing each individual building and turret. I very much wish there was a "repair city: X-BAGILLION sporebucks" (well it wouldn't hurt to get a discount

) which would just put everything back to how it was. For 5 minutes.

08-09-2008, 01:37 AM	#1 (permalink)
RadioElectric Rookie Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Rugby, England Age: 21 Posts: 87	My Spore Review Hello all, I've been playing for a couple of days now and I've found myself with a lot to say. So I've decided to say it here I think it's interesting that the reviews I've read on here so far split the game into Cell, Creature, Tribal, Civilization, Space. The stages are so disparate that there's not much I could say about one thing that would apply to another, so I'm going to stick with that Cell Stage I played as a herbivore. I liked this stage very much, though it did feel like just an "introduction" to the game proper. Being chased by giant hungry carnivores is very exciting and there's a very direct problem-solving element to the evolution. Still, I was looking forward to getting out of this stage and getting onto dry land. Creature Stage I played as a herbivore, I did hunt one species though to see what the gameplay was like. I've got two main problems with this stage. Firstly, because "stats" are so important you end up having to compromise the way you want your creature to look just so you can get the bonuses you need to succeed. Secondly, the stage felt a bit like a crappy MMORPG to me. Something about having mobs of very fast strong creatures and the odd epic creature that can (and will!) brain you in one hit reminded me of when I tried to get into Minions of Mirth (a free MMORPG that my girlfriend likes). So, aside from the fun of making my creature (compromised by having to give him "ugly" hands and feet to succeed) I mainly wanted to get through this stage and get onto the next stage. Also, I managed to keep one of the "microbe" parts all the way through the creature phase. I did notice though with the parts that I sold that I couldn't get them back again. Is this right? Are the cell parts still functional in the creature phase? Tribal Stage I played as a pacificist, almost. I destroyed one tribe to see what I would be missing. Uniforms! Very cute. I wish you could give your tribal leader a special outfit though. I was surprised to see another "simon says" game after having one in the creature phase already. I grew tired of this phase particularly quickly. I noticed that there might be things in this phase I could enjoy (I noticed my tribe had "pets" of two of the species I was allied with before, though I didn't see them do anything with them) but I couldn't really take the time to because of the pressure of being attacked. Civilisation Phase I played as a religious nation. I didn't understand how converting worked in this phase at first. Because of this I managed to get quite disadvantaged without realising it and then saved my game. In the end I figured out that all 3 "paths". Have the same strategy: Build a lot of vehicles and spam the other cities one-at-a-time. Again I noticed that though there may be potential for "sandbox" kind of play, you're completely distracted by the shallow game mechanic (and God help you if you try to ignore it!). Needless to say I raced through this phase hoping space would be more fun. Space Phase, or, "Oh God, how wrong I was." I was told my race were Shamans. After designing my spaceship (Does the design matter at all? Do any of the parts you put on it make a difference?) I went through the tutorial fine. I quickly discovered though that I was surrounded by followers of Spode. Followers of Spode that all wanted my money. I couldn't afford it of course and they promptly responded by declaring war. Thanks. Branching out I managed to find races of philosophers, scientists and traders to ally and trade with. I even tried paying them to attack my enemies a couple of times but it had no perceivable effect. I started colonising and terraforming planets but the constant attacks, pirate raids and other distractions meant that I played the game for 6 hours and probably spent about 30 minutes of that doing things that I wanted to do. The rest of it was spent merely maintaining the status quo, with my allies slowly being beaten out of existence. It's a shame because in the previous stages I was probably just optimistic about there being anything in the game that the "you're being attacked again" mechanics were distracting me from but in space I'm sure there really could be something. All-in-all, the cynical side of me worries that these mechanics were put in to distract from there being no real depth to the game. I think most of us fell in love with the game as an idea but some of us were let down by the "rules" they chose to make it work by. My biggest issue is that once you take it from being a sandbox to an RTS kind of game then you have all sorts of "Balance" issues to deal with that have obviously been ill-attended here. Anyway, that's my tuppence on the game review-wise. I'm a bit dissapointed with it really, hopefully a patch will fix it. It's this kind of thing that makes the lack of open betas get on my nerves. What were the in-house testers thinking when they said the game was working right? Here are a few things that I think could be done to dramatically improve the game: 1) Autosave, combined with the ability to restart from the beginning of the stage (one without the other is a recipe for disaster). 2) A sliding scale in a "gameplay options" menu to adjust the rate of "events" in the game. Be that pirate attacks, eco-disasters or assaults from other races. 3) The above will help as a stop-gap solution, but really there needs to be a move towards making this a less stressful game. I already have games that make me work hard to not get my **** kicked, I would have thought this would be a game I could chill out to. 4) There needs to be a way to negotiate with races that you're at war with. 5) Everything needs to be more spread out. 6) Can I, at the very least, train military air vehicles to protect my planets? I don't think I can. If that's the case then fix it! None of these will help with my biggest problem (lack of continuity between mini-games) but they might manage to make this a game I want to play as opposed to a game I want to moan about at half one in the morning. Edit: Oh, I almost forgot. For me, the MOST annoying thing about the space phase is that once your cities get bombed (which they will) you have to spend AGES replacing each individual building and turret. I very much wish there was a "repair city: X-BAGILLION sporebucks" (well it wouldn't hurt to get a discount ) which would just put everything back to how it was. For 5 minutes. Last edited by RadioElectric; 08-09-2008 at 01:46 AM..