Spore
I had initially written a long rambling manifesto on why Spore disappointed me, but I’ve let that lie for a while now and I think I can approach the subject on a somewhat more even keel. I’m disappointed by the game as a whole, even though it still managed to suck me in for a few hours, and for what it was worth those hours were entertaining. The game is well put together, it’s fun, it’s funny, the graphics are good, the sound is good and the customization is out of this world. It’s just that it didn’t deliver on what I had hoped it would be, which would have been a sort of SimEarth-lite, or some sort of simulation of evolution even if simplistic or lampooney.
It’s none those things, and what it boils down to is a really simplified real-time-strategy game that morphs slightly as it progresses along its stages. Intertwined amongst all of this is the creature creator, which also morphs into a different creator as the game progresses. This is the real meat of the game, and if you like endlessly customizing your creature, your creature’s outfits, your creature’s civilization buildings and vehicles then you’ll be endlessly entertained. I’ve never really been into those things on a deep level, so the game ran out of steam for me pretty quickly. Customizing the color of my creature’s ass is not game play.
The game play just isn’t there, no matter how charming or well put together the overall package is. I played a couple of different games, on various difficulty settings to get a feel for it, and I tried some of the different paths available, but I was more or less doing the same thing no matter what, only with different looking stuff. And I think that is what it boils down to for me is that my designs, no matter how clever, crafty or efficient, really had no bearing on how the game was played. I could create a well-conceived creature, building or vehicle, or I could create the most outlandish monstrosity, or I could create the most boring cube, blob or brick. The outcomes were always the same. This was the biggest disappointment for me, because I had really hoped that I would be rewarded for good design, creative design or efficient design, and once I discovered that it didn’t matter then I quickly lost interest in what is an otherwise shallow game.
What makes this all the more disappointing is that Maxis and Wil Wright have created great games and simulations before, but they seem to be on the pathway to creating easily playable schlock. I guess this is the price we pay for the Wii brand of casual, simplistic games that non-gamers will snap it up. And they do have to pay the bills. Still, I think for anyone who ever wasted hours modeling a planet in SimEarth I just don’t see how Spore can cut the mustard.