SimEarth is a game that's ambitious. You control an entire planet! The problem is that in the end it comes down to being difficult to understand in anything outside sandbox-infinite-energy. In that way, it can be an entertaining way to blow away time. You place little life-forms in a raging sea on a world that's tearing itself apart in the throes of creation. It evolves into a fish, then a dinosaur, then a bird, then a monkey. The monkey and bird have a distinct edge over their brothers lower on the evolutionary chain in reaching the status of civilization. Not anything a few well placed fires or volcanoes or meteorites can snuff out, however. All along the way the graphics leave most of it up to your imagination. Imagine pretending a branch is a sword or some rock a racecar and you get the idea.
The fun of screwing around with the geosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere is fun, for a time(you can even change the rate of mutation, reproduction, and what your civilization devouts their energy to). The same for building up civilizations and bringing them crashing down in many different and creative ways. From turning the planet into a desert, to pulling an Atlantis on them with a few ice meteorites, to even waiting till the final age and create a cradle for a robotic invasion.
At its best, the game is sandbox for people too impatient for Spore, or bored people looking for a game of God meets the ants and brings a magnifying glass. At its worse, a confusing, boring game that seems to have been made on a whim of "Hey, this might be cool, but our budget is like five dollars and we just spent three at the McDonalds."
Other Helpful Reviews for SimEarth: The Living Planet
This is probably the worst game that I've ever played. I remember that I only played it for two days before I threw it away because it just plain sucked. I thought that playing God and creating a world would be fun. I... Read Full Review
SimEarth seems like a good game. Having your own planet and letting life evolve and become sentient on it, what could be better? Well, other games, actually. Even though it is made by that genius, Will Wright, this game ... Read Full Review
