Spore for PC Reviews

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Spore

EA Games

Release Date: September 7, 2008

Also On: Mobile

Metascore

Based on

75 Critics

User Score

5.0

Based on

1548 Ratings

Summary Back to top

From the mind of Will Wright comes SPORE, a journey that takes you from the origin and evolution of life through the development of civilization and technology and eventually all the way into the deepest reaches of outer space. Begin your odyssey at the dawn of life as a simple microbe just trying to survive, then use the fun, intuitive Editors to evolve the creature from its microscopic origins into an intelligent, tool-using race. Guide your species as it builds (and the player designs) villages, buildings, cities, and vehicles. Along the way to becoming a global civilization you can choose whether to hunt or forage, attack or trade, be nice or play rough. All the action takes place in a huge, lush world populated with creatures evolved by other players and shared over SPORE's central servers. When it's ready, your one-time pond scum launches into space in its UFO on a grand voyage of discovery, planet forming, or destruct-ion. As you explore and play in this limitless universe of unique worlds, your personal Sporepedia tracks all the creatures you've met and places you've visited. Take complete control of your creature's fate as you guide it through the following six evolutionary phases: Tidepool phase: Fight with other creatures and consume them to adjust the form and abilities of your creature. It's survival of the fittest at the most microscopic level. Creature phase: Venture onto dry land and help your creature learn and evolve with forays away from your safe haven. Carnivore or Herbivore? Social or Independent? The choice is yours. Tribal phase: Instead of controlling an individual creature, you are now caring for an entire tribe of your genetic craftwork. Give them tools and guide their interactions as you slowly upgrade their state of existence. City phase: Bring your creatures' race into a new golden era by building up the technology, architecture, and infrastructure of their city. Civilization phase: Once your city is established, your creatures begin seeking out and interacting with other cultures. You can have them do so with an olive branch or a war cry—either way, the goal for your creatures is to unify the planet. Space phase: The time has come to move on to other worlds in your solar system. Make first-contact, colonize, or terraform, then venture further to find other solar systems scattered throughout a magnificently rendered galaxy. A 'mission' structure provides new goals and paths to follow as you begin to spread through the universe. [Electronic Arts]… Expand

Starring: Ocean Quigley, Lucy Bradshaw, Will Wright

Developer: Maxis

Genre(s): Breeding/Constructing

# of players: 1 Player

Cheats: On GameFAQs

Rating: E10+

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Critic Reviews Back to top

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

100

PTGamers

Spore manages quite some feats – it's accessible for casual gamers, but at the same time so real and dynamic, able to offer hardcore gamers a demanding experience and, obviously, a more appealing one than in "The Sims".

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PC Gamer

It may not be my perfect PC game, but I think it's well on its way to becoming one of my favorite toys. And if there's one thing we could all use more of, it's time to just...play. [Nov 2008, p.33]

Total PC Gaming

One of the first big games leading into Christmas, and we've already forgotten the rest. Completely enthralling. [Issue#12, p.62]

GameTrailers

Spore will leave you in a state of wide-eyed wonderment one minute, and disappointed the next. The limited online interaction and surprisingly short campaign make it easy to think about what could have been. The fact is, there’s no other game like it, and a lot of things that will be hated by some, will be just as liked by others.

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Game Chronicles

Will Wright has raised the bar and any game that comes out now that wants to be remembered will need to consider the lessons taught by Spore.

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Giant Bomb

Spore's most positive traits are so uniquely satisfying that it's disappointing the gameplay which underpins them isn't more engrossing.

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Variety

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.

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User Reviews Back to top

Positive:

197

Mixed:

Negative:

367

EmilyE

Jan 1, 2010

Spore is one of my favorite games.The story was fun,from cell to space.I absolutely love spore.It was a GREAT idea!Good job,EA!

That_dragon_guy

Nov 20, 2011

I am reviewing this game for what it is, not what it isn't. Spore is overall, a decent game. I recommend you get it though steam though, as the game has a crippling DRM that will ruin the price. Anyways, the game is 30.00, not that bad for a decent title. It consists of 5 stages and 2 DLCs. The stages are Cell, Creature, Tribal, Civ, and Space. Cell- Overall interesting, albeit simplistic. Eat things that you can eat (Green plants for herbivores, other cells for carnivores or meat chunks, both for omnivores, but no meat chunks unless you use both mouth types). Gives you the impression your growing, make it its own game and add some levels and you have a good game that could sell well on its own. Add in a custom character customizer and you have a perfect game. 9/10

Creature- Bland, not much to it, make a creature, fight or befriend others, Needs more options for attacks and social abilities. Also, its rather buggy. But it works i guess. Would never sell on its own as a game 7/10

Tribe- Insanely hard. Least favorite stage for such a casual game. Needs more content, needs to be less difficult 6/10

Civilization- Good enough, blow up cities, make deals, new outfitter and vehicle customizers, fun to play with, not the best stage though. Prefer it to be longer and more challenging though. 8/10

Space- Very nice, has all creators so far except cell and early creature creators. Fun exploring, near perfect game play, hard to play though, but satisfying when you win, It contains elements from all the other stages, making it so you need to be clever about your tactics. Excellent pastime, great stage. 10/10

DLCs:

Galactic Adevtures: Nifty new creator that i absolutely love, new types of missions in the space stage, new creature creator that has what i was looking for, nice adventure mode which makes things a lot more interesting as time goes by. Doesn't add much content to other stages though. 8/10

Creepy And Cute: Nice parts for creature creator, but they are just reskins except for the feet, hands and details. Overpriced, unnecessary, get it if you see it on sale for 5-10 bucks. 5/10

Bot Parts: Free with a doctor pepper, parts look nice, don't serve much of a purpose though. Can't get it anymore. Also has bug fixes. 10/10, but its not available anymore and not available in anywhere except the U.S. and Canada. So 8/10

Overall:

Fun: 8/10 Enough to keep you busy

Graphics: 10/10 Good enough, nothing spectacular, looks kiddish and neat though.

Creativity: 11/10 Second best to Minecraft.

Story: 7/10 Generic. But amusing at the end game.

Community: 5/10 Too much drama going on about nothing. Thank god there is no multiplayer.

Value: 9/10 30 Dollars is an OK price. Buy it if its for less though, but get it anyways if you can.

Expectations (Without knowing of older trailers): 10/10 Exceeds expectations

Expectations (With knowing of older trailers): 6/10 Not NEARLY as good as it looked, but its the same game for the most part and is good enough.

Overall Score: 9/10, 8/10 for Retail version. Get on steam or origin… Expand

Whiskerbro

Jul 3, 2013

Why so many awful reviews? Sure, the trailers were so much better then the game, but the creature creator is fantastic with so many possibilities. The stages are all decently fun(except tribal). If the combat and socialization required some actual skill, this game would be amazing. As is, its still a fun experience with lots of replayability … Expand

RandyRandy

Sep 5, 2008

Pretty, but ultimately shallow and not very fun unless you like to grind out levels a la WoW. Most of the cool things shown/announced long ago never made it into the game or were removed. Overall a pretty big disappointment.… Expand

MiloT.

Sep 10, 2008

This review is made by independent customer and lets you know whats going on if you are wondering about buying the game. First of all the game itself is different product that was promised. Years back the demos showed totally different game with rich in content and real challenge. That all has been changed now and there is absolutely no fun left in game. Q: What did they change and why? A: They took out vital gameplay aspects of the game so they can release them later on in multiple expansion packs. This ensures your money will be leeched years to come, not just one time theft. Even the official Spore trailer shows content that does not exist in the current game! The content was changed to appeal more "casual" gamer base thus giving more profit and less quality in return. This fact has been admitted by the developers themselves. Think of it as the Sims game without being able to socialize with other sims before buying expansion pack for it. Q: What is this securom DRM and how it works? A: Securom is a digital rights manager spyware that installs to your computer when you install EA products. It bypasses your normal administrator priviledges and is very hard if impossible to remove from your system. It gathers information about your computer activity and sends it forward, in most countries, that is considered spying which not even police is allowed to do. It can cause software conflicts, unstability in windows enviroment and can slow your PC down. The most important thing is that it limits your installations to 3. So you are not buying the game, you are renting the game for 3 installs. After 3 istalls, you are required to call by phone to have it reactivated. These calls are not toll free, to ensure you are paying for the game even after the purchase. It is not certain aswell that you can get your game reactivated. There has been cases in EA's earlier game Mass Effect which uses the same DRM that people have been unable to get the game reactivated because they are thought to be pirates. Yes, you have to be able to ensure the staff on the phone that you have not pirated the game you purchased. In some countries, the phone number provided in the manual does not even exist! There is no notification of DRM spyware in the box so people cannot be informed about it before they make their purchase. Q: Is the game worth buying? Is it fun to play? A: NO and NO. The game is so simple and uninspiring only children find it fun and challenging. But in later stages even them can find the game to be very frustrating and unrewarding. There is no problem solving, no strategy or any thrill whatsoever. During the course of your creatures journey, you are reduced to pressing one to four buttons or doing simple tasks repeatedly to proceed. Some people have referred the game as a tool designed to help autistic children. The best part of the game is the editors that let you create various creatures, buildings and vehicles. Combined with fascinating ambient background music and well made graphics, the potential is for Spore to be great game is there. Sadly not any of that potential reached the final product. Many customers feel their money was cheated and are now struggling to return their opened game box back to the store. Some customers refuse to have their computer infected with spyware only to play a game they purchased. Some cant believe their game stopped working after 3 installs and on the phone they were being treated as pirates. The promises made before launch and the product delivered just do not match up. This game is a one star game with a word GREED all over it.… Expand

PeteW.

Oct 1, 2008

Desoite the DRM. The game is boring within 3 days. I waited a year to buy it. Save your money. Only an 8 year old would enjoy this simplistic game.

PaulT.

Sep 5, 2008

SecuROM DRM uses unlawful practices to hide on your computer system and limit the game to 3 activations. Product labeling fails to make this clear. Consumers are being cheated.… Expand

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