E3 2006: Spore – impressions

After the development of The Sims 2, Will Wright has taken his upcoming game to the next level. You have probably already read tons about Spore, but if not, this is the short version: Spore is a game of evolution, in which you start out as a miniscule invertebrate (or something like that) which you design yourself, and then your task is to evolve the animal, crawl onto dry land, create some offspring, a tribe, a larger society, an entire planet and in the end, venture off into the endless universe. Obviously there are far more complexities than this, and each of the six sections have too many elements for us to explain them all here. If you want more details, you should visit the recently updated Spore website.

Create your very own monster

The game is far enough in development to allow EA to show off things like the very complex creature editor. If you’re familiar with the editor from Sims 2, you might be slightly prepared for what Spore enables you to create, but then again maybe not. The Spore editor behaves like pure sculptor’s wax. You start out by choosing the basic shape of your creature, and you can twist, turn and shape it as you like. As you go along, you can add arms, legs, eyes, mouths, fur, colours and lots of other elements. And as you earn points in the game, you can add new things like larger teeth, stronger limbs and the like. But these details are certainly not all cosmetic. Animals with longer limbs will run faster, animals with larger mouths roar louder (at least I think so, but the noises definitely change with the shape and size of the mouth). The graphics in the game are slightly cartoony, so even when you create a fierce and scary monster, it really looks more fun than dangerous. The editor seems sleek and intelligently designed, and like the Sims 2 editor, it’s very easy to get to grips with, and exists almost as a game in itself.

Masters of the Galaxy

We were also shown how in the later phases of the game, you go from having a global society with cities and vehicles to being a galaxy-trotting empire capable of exploring strange new worlds and civilisations (there will be 2 million of these, all created by fellow Spore players), where you can choose to be benevolent and create peace and friendship, or you can spread death and destruction, and even kidnap alien creatures for… testing… in your lab back home.

Once your little spaceship finally scuttles about between the stars, you might just be able to fathom the size of this thing, and how endlessly miniscule you are in comparison. Spore is both incredibly huge and very detailed, and you’re left with an astounding amount of freedom to do exactly what you want. At the same time it is very exciting and inspiring to realise that other Spore players have created all the creatures on the various planets, and they probably can’t see all of the big picture either.

There might be danger in that kind of freedom. Games like The Sims, The Movies and perhaps also Black and White are exciting because they give you the opportunity to create something (in your own image?) and play God. But the lack of a definitive framework usually make things a bit boring in the long run in these games. Still, if Spore manages to drive the player forward, while maintaining the staggering level of freedom, there is one quirky mind out there that’s even more brilliant than we thought.

Source: Boomtown Denmark
English version by: Jonatan A. Allin (neonwolf)