Spore reviews coming in: 'Delivers a myriad of delights' - GameSpot

Rundown of reviews:

"Taken on their own, its pieces are nothing special. As parts of a singular ambitious vision, they work far better. Throw in the best customization tools seen in years and an enthusiastic community brimming with creativity, and you have a legitimately great game that will deliver hours of quality entertainment." - GameSpot

"Spore's triumph is painfully ironic. By setting out to instill a sense of wonderment at creation and the majesty of the universe, it's shown us that it's actually a lot more interesting to sit here at our computers and explore the contents of each other's brains. " - PC Gamer

"It may not be a perfect game, but truly innovative titles seldom are. Spore is a technological triumph that introduces a whole new way of tapping into a bottomless well of content." - GameSpy

"We're all familiar with the innovative, web-aware customisation cloud that underpins Spore, but nobody's done it better (even though many now do it - apparently years after Maxis thought of doing it here) and the final game is proof that it was all worth it: you're all one big Designer, and Spore succeeds as much because of you and me as the many worlds scattered across the stars and the many ways we've been given to explore them." - Eurogamer

"While Spore is an amazing product, it's just not quite an amazing game. I can't help but feel that Spore is ambitious and memorable, but I also admit that, save for the cool Space Stage, there's not a lot of depth here. Rookie gamers are going to feel at home here, but veteran gamers may feel like they need more." - IGN

Pretty much what I expected. I'm going to create terrifying monsters and take delight in knowing they will populate other people's games.inoperativeRS

"Spore falls a little short of its promise at every stage"

I wouldn't say "flop" but that's disappointing. I'm waiting to see what they do with the Wii version,

IGN AU have their review up, and it's a 9.2

Reading through it at the moment:

http://pc.ign.com/articles/907/907287p1.html

EDIT: Linkified...

Ok, so Gamespot has their review up.

Its a little disappointing to see an 8.0 for a game as highly anticipated as this, I just assumed it was going to be this revolutionary game of epic proportion or something. Has the game changed throughout production or was it always this "simple"?

Ok, so Gamespot has their review up.

Its a little disappointing to see an 8.0 for a game as highly anticipated as this, I just assumed it was going to be this revolutionary game of epic proportion or something. Has the game changed throughout production or was it always this "simple"?

F1Lengend

It is interesting to see a game not live up to the hype. I think we get used to being able to predict how games will turn out. I am sure that Spore is great, but from following it over the years it seemed like the sort of game that would be an inevitable GOTY candidate. I think this goes a long way towards shutting people up who assume that reviewers simply score games according to the hype they have going before they come out. I do plan on picking this game up at some point soon, so the lower than expected scores from GS and a few other sites certainly haven't deterred me, I just think it is interesting now that Spore is here. For years we heard about how revolutionary and incredible it would be, and the reality is that it is just another high quality game.

I would get it, but 3 installs is dumb, especially considering it's done nothing to subside piracy of the game. I'll see how I feel on Friday :Pal-128

From reading the reviews, Spore delivered what it always promised to deliver. And I don't see how you could call this game anything else but revolutionary whether you like it or not. Spore manages to combine several gameplay elements across multiple genres in an accessible cohesive way, its scope is incredible and it ushers a new way for user-created content in single-player games. Can't really recall any other game coming even close to that.

Spore always promised scope, not depth. Will Wright said back in 2005 that making Spore as simple and accessible to people will be the biggest challenge in its development. This is Will Wright we're talking about, The Sims didn't sell 100+ million copies because of its gameplay depth. Pretty much all of Wright's games have been simple and accessible, that's the very key to their success - along with being unique, inventive and terribly addictive, naturally.

Saying that Spore's different elements aren't very remarkable on their own is completely missing the point, in my opinion. It's like when people say silly stuff like there's better shooting and better driving than the ones offered in Grand Theft Auto. The point is Grand Theft Auto doesn't offer just shooting, it doesn't offer just driving, it offers all of that combined in a single experience.

I've been watching a few gameplay videos KevinV posted up and I'm a lot more excited about this game than a couple of weeks ago. I also think reviews have been rather spot on. But reviews can't predict the future. With Spore's unprecedented emphasis on user-created content, who knows what this game is going to evolve into?

3 installs? What's that all about? :?Teufelhuhn

Beginning with Mass Effect, EA implemented SecuROM anti-piracy servers automatically checking your hardware. Basically, you can install Spore on 3 different machines. It will also use up an activation every time you change a "major" hardware part. After 3 activations, you will have to contact EA and show some proof of purchase. It's pathetic especially since I hear Spore has been pirated for a week now.

[QUOTE="al-128"]I would get it, but 3 installs is dumb, especially considering it's done nothing to subside piracy of the game. I'll see how I feel on Friday :PTeufelhuhn

You can only install Spore 3 times, and have to contact EA to get more (though I don't think theyh vae to give you any more). If you buy Spore, don't upgrade certain hardware, get certain drivers, bother with mods (in case you screw up your game), and many other tasks until you're done with the game ;)

[QUOTE="Teufelhuhn"]3 installs? What's that all about? :?UpInFlames

Beginning with Mass Effect, EA implemented SecuROM anti-piracy servers automatically checking your hardware. Basically, you can install Spore on 3 different machines. It will also use up an activation every time you change a "major" hardware part. After 3 activations, you will have to contact EA and show some proof of purchase. It's pathetic especially since I hear Spore has been pirated for a week now.

If I was going to play a PC game, this is one I'd definitely play. I always thought The Sims was way too scurried and hectic to actually be very enjoyable, but I've always liked the sound of Spore.

The reviews don't scream landmark game to me but it still sounds like a fun, innovative title with some awesome community features. Good enough for me, I'll be picking this baby up on launch day.

[QUOTE="Teufelhuhn"]3 installs? What's that all about? :?UpInFlames

Beginning with Mass Effect, EA implemented SecuROM anti-piracy servers automatically checking your hardware. Basically, you can install Spore on 3 different machines. It will also use up an activation every time you change a "major" hardware part. After 3 activations, you will have to contact EA and show some proof of purchase. It's pathetic especially since I hear Spore has been pirated for a week now.