Spore Options

[impala454]

anyone tried it out yet? they sure are marketing the hell out of it.

[Spectatrix]

Ok, now that I've played Spore well into the space stage, I've definitely come to the conclusion that I don't like it all that much. I'll summarize.

1) Cell stage: Pretty simple, could've had more depth to it, but was more or less what I expected. Only takes like 10 minutes to play through.

2) Creature stage: Also simple, but quite fun! Could be a little longer (takes a couple of hours), but I enjoyed the heck out of it.

3) Tribal & Civilization stages: Retardedly easy, retardedly short (an hour or two for each), jarring jump from 1st person perspective to 3rd person (God's eye view).

4) Space stage: OMFG, the micromanagement! You have one ship. That's right, one. One ship to jump from system to system responding to every 2-bit "eco crisis" or "aliens are attacking your colony" distress signal, while working through variations on the same half dozen missions to enhance diplomatic ties with your potential allies and avoiding three calls from hostile empires demanding tribute. Worst of all (imho), there aren't any decent status screens. I would've liked:

• Your planets & their terraforming status, # of colonies, and spice production stats
• Empires youv'e talked to, along with their relationship to you (ally, trade agreement, friendly, hostile, war), along with their relationships to each other
• History graphs
• Pretty much anything else useful that MOO2 had, but this pissant game doesn't

Seriously, the space stage is a freaking joke at best, a headache at worst. I DO like the stuff with terraforming worlds, though. It's kind of Sim Earth Extra Light.