I think that you'll be pleasantly surprised by the PG3 system and it might sway you to buy it. But I hope it doesn't cause the game does look sub-par in other points and for a Steam game it's priced quite high (probably 59 after pre order). The PG3 system allows for more realistic and in depth strategy to be made and will also aid the AI that can't handle stacks very well.
Spore: A Failure?
- Thread starter salty mud
- Start date
korossyl
Vajda
Maxis was trustworthy? They of SimEarth, SimLife?
Psyringe
Scout
Well, SimEarth was an awesomely looking concept at its time, which totally failed in practice because the gameplay just didn't work. Most of the time I could have spent enjoying the game were instead spent on frustratedly trying to find out how on earth (pun slightly intended) I could achieve anything.
It was the most disappointing game I ever purchased.
Because I expected it to be much more. It's still a decent game, but it was a HUGE dissapointment. My expectations for it were pretty high.
Infact I once thought it would be the best game ever made, and that I would not need to play any other game, like civ. That's how high my expectations for it were..
Because I expected it to be much more. It's still a decent game, but it was a HUGE dissapointment. My expectations for it were pretty high.
Infact I once thought it would be the best game ever made, and that I would not need to play any other game, like civ. That's how high my expectations for it were..
Jouzou
Warlord
Is the "People Underwhelmed by Spore" club gathering here? Can I sign up as well? I grabbed a copy of Spore last year and was totally unsatisfied. The game had been out for 2 years already, so I really had no excuse. The idea of creating a new lifeform and guiding it from primordial soup to space, however, was just too tempting. Also, I read a review by a (usually reliable) gaming website that had praised it and gave it a whopping 90 out of 100.
Then the cold, hard reality kicked in. First of all, the aforementioned primordial soup; Someone (or more likely many people) remarked that the first section is basically a flash game, and I have to agree. For example, take this game, put some cool graphics on it, add a creature customizer and you've pretty much nailed it.
I might have enjoyed the land creature stage, if it actually made any difference gameplay-wise where you place your body parts and how your creature is shaped. Also, exploring the world while collecting DNA was fun...for five minutes maybe. After that it just became a chore.
The tribal stage and the civilization stage were just a bleak copy of, well, Civilization. These phases were so shallow and the options were so limited that I'd rather forget the whole thing.
Finally, there was one huge thing that ruined the space stage for me: awkward combat mechanism. I mean, come on. How long has the video game industry been doing space shooters? Is it too much to ask that they'd get it right?
Anyway, this was my rant about Spore. Just wanted to get it out. I guess the moral of the story is: If you can't test the game yourself, at least watch actual gameplay footage before you buy (these days there's a Let's Play of nearly every game ever out there).
P.S. If I have to say one good thing about Spore, it's probably that it acted as a "gateway drug" to Civilization for me; when I played the civ phase, I found myself thinking: "This is what I've been looking for - only better executed."
Then the cold, hard reality kicked in. First of all, the aforementioned primordial soup; Someone (or more likely many people) remarked that the first section is basically a flash game, and I have to agree. For example, take this game, put some cool graphics on it, add a creature customizer and you've pretty much nailed it.
I might have enjoyed the land creature stage, if it actually made any difference gameplay-wise where you place your body parts and how your creature is shaped. Also, exploring the world while collecting DNA was fun...for five minutes maybe. After that it just became a chore.
The tribal stage and the civilization stage were just a bleak copy of, well, Civilization. These phases were so shallow and the options were so limited that I'd rather forget the whole thing.
Finally, there was one huge thing that ruined the space stage for me: awkward combat mechanism. I mean, come on. How long has the video game industry been doing space shooters? Is it too much to ask that they'd get it right?
Anyway, this was my rant about Spore. Just wanted to get it out. I guess the moral of the story is: If you can't test the game yourself, at least watch actual gameplay footage before you buy (these days there's a Let's Play of nearly every game ever out there).
P.S. If I have to say one good thing about Spore, it's probably that it acted as a "gateway drug" to Civilization for me; when I played the civ phase, I found myself thinking: "This is what I've been looking for - only better executed."
Daftpanzer
canonically ambiguous
I love Europa Universalis II (not so much III) and HoI2. But of course, Paradox games are limited to specific eras, and in my experience they are much harder work - to learn, to play, to keep updated with patches and mods etc.
IMO: Civ4 complete, with your selection of mods, is unmatched for providing an in-depth game that evolves through time.
IMO: Civ4 complete, with your selection of mods, is unmatched for providing an in-depth game that evolves through time.
Daftpanzer
canonically ambiguous
Well thats true... But if you have a decent comp, you can set up a scenario with a lot of civs on a huge map. Just rarely I find myself playing a truly epic game with world wars and colonies and liberations and revolutions etc (Revolutions mod is a must for me).
Leonel
Breakfast Connoisseur
I tried playing the Space stage last night and I don't recall it being as fun as it was way back when. I was up until 2am harvesting spice and buying systems and discovering Earth. I suppose I enjoyed myself as random events have been greatly toned down so I'm not constantly racing back and forth between systems.
Optical
The Fall of the Eleventh
It's a decent game but there are better ones out there. I play it when I need a break from my other games, but generally it's a little too simplistic for me. 
Pokurcz
Emperor
The game is a kick in the nads! There I said it! They hyped it before it came out as the ultimate game, and when it came out it was the equivalent of the teletubbies.
mythmonster2
BEC NOIR! RUN!
Actually, even then, the Tribal and Civilization phases leave a lot to be desired. Going War in Tribal is probably the worst thing you could do; even in all red species, I have to go Peace, if only for that one phase. Civilization... eh, it just doesn't hook me. Fun the first three times after trying each specialty, then it wore off. Vehicle editors are still fun as hell though.
- Joined
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Actually, going to war was pretty easy. The AI units were always visible on the map if I recall correctly and do nothing but attack you headlong without any regard to tactics.
Tribal and Civilization were weak spots though.
Spore is alright if you play it for a few hours and then lock it up for a long time. I bought it right when it came out, and was so utterly disappointed that I left it to rot under a stack of books for 2 years. I found it the other day and played it over the weekend. It was decent fun at first but grew boring VERY quickly. Now I have to avoid it like the plague for another two years or I'll start hating it again.
bestrfcplayer
Steppin' up!
I bought Spore a few days ago, and I think I'm already over it. It would have succeeded more if EA made it appeal to EVERYBODY, not just the causal gamer.
KungCheops
Warlord
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8372603330420559198&ei=QBvNSN6FGoLOrgLDv-jXAg&q=Spore#
I would have loved to play that game...
I would have loved to play that game...
AlphaShard
Emperor
I agree they made it seem like it was going to be this great indepth game and it just felt like the Fable of the simulation world. It had a lot of bark but no bite.
