The big buzz in gaming right now is recently released sim game Spore. The brainchild of Sim's inventor Will Wright, Spore involves created an entire universe starting with simple, organisms that evolve into more complex creatures capable of social re...
The big buzz in gaming right now is recently released sim game Spore. The brainchild of Sim’s inventor Will Wright, Spore involves created an entire universe starting with simple, organisms that evolve into more complex creatures capable of social relationships and what not. The DS iteration of the game is certainly a toned down version of that on the PC, but it still offers the player the chance to let their creativity run wild as they play God to a galaxy filled with strange, exotic creatures.
After spending many hours with Spore Creatures, I was glad that the DS version remained pretty true to the much larger and more involved PC version. It would be naive to expect a straight port of a game, which is just so big, but the developers have done a good job of making the Spore experience feel natural on the DS. You start the game on your first planet as a small, basic creature called Oogie. Before long, a strange ship is seen which descends toward the surface beaming up another creature. This sequence builds the plot of the game in which you will need to help Oogie track down the mysterious spaceship to help the little critter that was taken away.
Being such a simple organism works against Oogie, so he will need the power of evolution to become a stronger, faster, and more social creature. As you begin to explore the first planet, you will stumble across other creature parts. Collecting these parts is the key to progressing through the game. There are hundreds of parts in all, and each has its own unique attributes. You will collect eyes, mouths, bodies, legs, arms, tails and more throughout the game. Completing certain objectives and defeating enemies will also award you more body parts. Each creature you encounter in the game is collectible in the sense that you can collect each one of the body parts that makes up that specific creature. Pausing the game and entering the Sporepedia will give you a run down of what creatures you have discovered as well as which parts you have collected. The Sporepedia also offers information on each of the creatures, the different planets in the game, and lots more. It is a useful tool for discovering different aspects of the game.
Spore Creatures makes use of an RPG-like system where you level up as you gain more experience points, which is achieved by collecting parts, being social, and completing objectives. As you level up, you will gain more ‘body points’ which allows you to use more body parts on your creature. Each body part has a different number of body points in which it uses up. The amount of points used up by a body part will largely depend on how useful that part is. Some parts increase your attack strength, some increase defence, some increase your social level (making it easier to socialise), whilst others still give you special abilities such as being able to walk on lava or enter deep water.
With the ability to create a creature in whichever way you like, it becomes a bit of a strategy in terms of creature design. For instance, you could create a creature that is extremely strong which makes defeating enemies much easier. You could also choose to make your creature incredibly social, making it easier to make friends. Making friends with other creatures is an important part of the game as you can tell two creatures to follow you around, which is a bonus in battle as they will help you take on the enemy. Throughout the game you will find nests which act as a respawning points if you die, and more importantly the nest is where you can make changes to your creature. The game also allows you to save a number of creatures which allows you to load them up as you desire. It is a good idea to create a number of different creatures with various strengths or magic powers. That way, you can load up the most suitable creature depending on your situation in the game and what you need to do.
The creature creator part of Spore Creatures is intuitive and easy to use. Using the stylus, you simply select different categories of body parts (e.g., arms) and then select the arm set of your choice. You than simply drag the different body parts to the desired location and make any neccessary adjustments (you can change the size of the parts aswell as rotating them). You also have a basic paint feature which allows you to change the colour scheme of your creature. There are endless possibilities with the Creature Creator, and these are really only limited by your imagination. Having to carefully consider your choices in terms of what each body part brings to your creature (e.g., more powerful) makes the creation process even more entertaining.
Spore Creatures is more then collecting body parts and designing creatures. As you progress through the six different planets, you will encounter new creatures and will come closer to tracking down the mysterious ship that is wreaking havoc in the galaxy. Each planet is split up into several different areas, and the main task in each is to nagivate to the next. Doing so is a matter of discovery, and you will have to socialise and help other friendly creatures in order to proceed. You will also need to defeat unfriendly creatures in battle. Battles become a little tedious after a while, as all you need to do is rub the stylus back and forth against the enemy creature. However, victory in battle does come with its rewards, mainly in the form of body parts and, of course, more experience. The objectives in the game are a little on the boring side at times, though having objectives certainly helps the game move away from a pure sim experience. This, though, has its consequences in that the game isn’t a fully fleshed sim experience. The balance of action and sim is mostly well done, although this assessment will differ from person to person based on their personal preferences.
Spore Creatures is mostly a positive experience, though it still has flaws. Firstly, the camera can be a real pain in the arse, and controlling your creature via the stylus isn’t always as reliable as you might like. You can use the D-Pad though you constantly need to touch thing onscreen, so using the stylus is really the most appropriate method of control. Graphics are pretty simplistic too. The world is 3D but everything within the world, including the creatures, is 2D. This I wouldn’t really mind, though the 2D visuals are a bit bland and rough around the edges. Music is appropriate and sets a relaxed atmosphere as you explore the various worlds. The game also has a badge reward system, which awards you badges based on completing certain predetermined tasks. This inclusion is a positive one as it gives you something to come back to after you have completed the main game itself. Collecting the badges also awards you badge points, which can be used to buy cheats and other body parts. Thus, in order to collect every body part, you’re going to have to earn quite a few badges.
In the end, Spore Creatures is a respectable translation of the PC version. The game certainly doesn’t set any new benchmarks in regards to sim/action gaming, and although the objectives can get a little stale at times, there’s always reason to keep playing. It’s a very accessible title that is easily played in short spurts. It’s also easy to waste away a few hours exploring the planets and collecting parts. Though it might not be without its flaws, the positives certainly outweigh the negatives and it is easy to recommend Spore.
Mercs, Vectorman and ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron.
It's Black, Back Again.
Makes sense to us.