Spore: A Failure?

[Daftpanzer]

Populous was designed by a team called Bullfrog, who did a lot of early strategy/god games. They aren't around anymore, some split off to make Lionhead studios which did the Black+White series. I'm not sure if any of them have anything to do with actually making Spore.

 

[cephalo]

Populous was designed by a team called Bullfrog, who did a lot of early strategy/god games. They aren't around anymore, some split off to make Lionhead studios which did the Black+White series. I'm not sure if any of them have anything to do with actually making Spore.

Bullfrog was a great company. I can't remember a bad game coming from them.

 

[Dale]

Bullfrog was a great company. I can't remember a bad game coming from them.

Theme Park Inc (the third title in the Theme Park series).

That sucked!

 

[salty mud]

But Theme Hospital was simply epic.

 

[philippe]

this thead makes me want to play populous again, after all those years. (i was so hooked on it when it came out for the playstation)

 

[Rub'Rum]

But Theme Hospital was simply epic.

It was quite fun for a while. That's the game I remember most from Bullfrog. Didn't they do Dungeon Keeper too? That was alright. I can't say many of these games had a very lasting appeal though. Once I'd seen people making puddles of puke in the hospital's hall for a few hours... You know... Populous was the better game.

 

[Macha]

It was quite fun for a while. That's the game I remember most from Bullfrog. Didn't they do Dungeon Keeper too? That was alright. I can't say many of these games had a very lasting appeal though. Once I'd seen people making puddles of puke in the hospital's hall for a few hours... You know... Populous was the better game.

Theme Hospital is one of very few games that I play over and over again.

 

[Dale]

I love the bloaty head treatment.

Reminds of the guy from men in black.

 

[salty mud]

It was quite fun for a while. That's the game I remember most from Bullfrog. Didn't they do Dungeon Keeper too? That was alright. I can't say many of these games had a very lasting appeal though. Once I'd seen people making puddles of puke in the hospital's hall for a few hours... You know... Populous was the better game.

I seem to remember it getting insanely difficult past certain point, to the point where the amount of vomit was grotesque. I simply started again at an easier hospital and had a whale of a time!

Theme Hospital is one of very few games that I play over and over again.

Same here. I bought a budget copy for about £1.00. Best money I ever spent on a video game.

I love the bloaty head treatment.

Reminds of the guy from men in black.

Ah, yes. The bloaty head treatment. Don't forget the monkey man treatment... as I remember it you had to zap a person to remove the monkey hair...

 

[SpurnSpore]

I don't think spore is a failure,I am so enjoying the space stage since the patch.
It is incredible,the best space game I have played.
very much like going from planet to planet exploring and discovering things and even get
guilty if creatures need to be zapped for a virus!
I feel for their evolution.Having the god power of shooting down a terraforming effect is awe inspiring.

 

[crazyunits]

damn Will Wright and those money-sucking prostitutes at EA.

 

[LAnkou]

I just looked for "Spore replay value" on google.

The first results are somewhat quite bothering for me as i'm quite interested in this game. Plus all those comment about the lack of depth makes me thing that it's a lot like the sims. You enjoy only what you are capable of putting into it.

Basically, in the sims, it's a kind of rince and repeat avery game too. have a guy (or girl) and do what you want with it. The funniest thing for people being designing the house, put the guy into a career top, etc...

 

[Ranbir]

Did Spore achieve what it set out to?

Yes. Wright didn't over shoot his promise. I think the failure was the expectation that this was going to be "SimEverything".

Listening to Wright the past years and how he talks about design, this is exactly what he promised and in that regard, he succeeded in what he wanted to make.

 

[SpurnSpore]

Most games are rinse and repeat.
CELL- eat, swim, grow, mate and add parts,like pacman but better, a fish tank screen saver on steroids and interactive. 8/10

CREATURE- run, walk, find, eat kill "like the Sims 2 " and watered down for kids,
Dance, charm and sing spoil it, is also a little too catoonish,(with a little tweaking by clever modder's, Or an adults only patch or expansion.It could be more realistic and closer to the Spore many expected.
-It does have a "feel" to it that you are on another planet. With great 3D and with haunting forest noises,weather-storms/rain. sun cycles through day.And at night, stars and planets revolve in the sky.The ocean surf sounds good too.
added bonus- funny surprises ie: Large roaming mean creatures "Epics" UFO's buzzing and abducting creatures.8/10

TRIBAL- fight, fish, hunt 7/10

CIV -all out brawl but easy (if you are carnivore)6/10

SPACE- The awesome Spore galaxy, to explore and create in!
apart from the annoying pirates and eco disasters and unbalanced Warmongering races.
(the patch helps) I have found no other game where you can change planet climates,
creatures and explore as if you are in startrek,or feel like you have a galaxy at your feet to explore.
This too, with more patches could be much more awesome (with a CIVfanatic mod
9/10
THE Creator's are great! make a creature, a space ship, aircraft, vehicles/ boats and houses even factories.Then see them in your game, share and download other peoples.9/10
It will become the best game ever,It is worth getting. and No, it isn't Deep-Yet..

 

[PreLynMax]

Most games are rinse and repeat.
CELL- eat, swim, grow, mate and add parts,like pacman but better, a fish tank screen saver on steroids and interactive. 8/10

CREATURE- run, walk, find, eat kill "like the Sims 2 " and watered down for kids,
Dance, charm and sing spoil it, is also a little too catoonish,(with a little tweaking by clever modder's, Or an adults only patch or expansion.It could be more realistic and closer to the Spore many expected.
-It does have a "feel" to it that you are on another planet. With great 3D and with haunting forest noises,weather-storms/rain. sun cycles through day.And at night, stars and planets revolve in the sky.The ocean surf sounds good too.
added bonus- funny surprises ie: Large roaming mean creatures "Epics" UFO's buzzing and abducting creatures.8/10

TRIBAL- fight, fish, hunt 7/10

CIV -all out brawl but easy (if you are carnivore)6/10

SPACE- The awesome Spore galaxy, to explore and create in!
apart from the annoying pirates and eco disasters and unbalanced Warmongering races.
(the patch helps) I have found no other game where you can change planet climates,
creatures and explore as if you are in startrek,or feel like you have a galaxy at your feet to explore.
This too, with more patches could be much more awesome (with a CIVfanatic mod
9/10
THE Creator's are great! make a creature, a space ship, aircraft, vehicles/ boats and houses even factories.Then see them in your game, share and download other peoples.9/10
It will become the best game ever,It is worth getting. and No, it isn't Deep-Yet..

How could you rate the annoying factor of space stage over the uniqueness of creature stage?
I would rather shoot my foot off with a shotgun and eat the entrails than play the space stage.
The space stage had the most potental in the world, yet it was the most disappointing stage of the game.
If I do have to rate I'd say:
Cell: 8/10
Creature: 8/10
Tribal: 4/10
Civilzation: 5/10
Space: 2/10
Creature Creater 8/10

Overall 45/60

 

[Mellian]

1) For the gamers: Sometimes simpler IS better. For example, take the Space stage. It isn't as challenging as Master of Orion (MOO) II, but it is about a billion times better than the disaster that was MOO3.

May be joining this thread late and responding to an old post, but would like to comment that MoO3 is better than Spore Space in regards to complexity. Thing that sucked the most for that game was the AI, who was unable to do all out attacks, something Spore Space does, but only gives you single ship to take on their fleets. :/

 

[Mellian]

They should have simply made Spore into two different games, one for actual gamers that prefers complexity, automation, intelligent AIs, detph, strategy and etc...and the other for casual gamer dummies.

-mellian

 

[Lord_Iggy]

That would have been nice...

 

[White Elk]

1) The game was very purposely dumbed down. Really, really dumbed down. Remark from Will Wright specifically stated they rather sell more copies than make a lasting, challenging experience that might not appeal to everyone.

2) The game was sectioned off for expansion packs. A lot of expansion packs.

If all this is true then I can take Spore completely off my radar. I had enough of this with Civ4 (a franchise for which, at one time, no other game could compete for my attention). Even if EA resolves their malware issues, Spore is dead to me if it follows the Civ4 mold.

 

[Pokurcz]

It is so dumbed down that it sucks. It sucks so much that it actually makes me depressed. Every time I turn it on I get my hopes up, and then get thouroghly enveloped by this soul eating emptyness after about half an hour of playing.
It makes me sick!
I feel cheated!
I am actualy exchanging it for an other game today.

It is a game for kids. Kids that would gain more by playing with Lego in stead.