The DS version of Spore won’t be processing the massive universe of content to be included in its PC counterpart. You won’t evolve your creature from a single-celled state, challenge other tribes in the real-time strategy segment, develop a flourishing society, or conquer alien cultures as you explore planets spread across a near infinite galaxy.
Instead of following the epic journey of a microscopic organism that evolves into a race of space-faring aliens, Spore: Creatures on the DS will focus on crafting the perfect pet. A typical story, which sends your UFO crashing onto an alien planet with a younger sibling - who gets captured and needs rescuing before you can blink an eye - sets the premise.
Above: Spore: Creatures offers more ways to customize your mini-monster than Pokemon and more damage-per-second than Nintendogs
But even though it experiences some shrinkage in content, Spore looks like the kind of game that might keep you hooked for the long haul with a ton of ways to pimp out your pet with various upgrades, parts and abilities. You’ll start out as a rather useless lump of flesh. But as you battle, quest and explore, you’ll unlock new parts and abilities to make your creature as cute and/or deadly as you want.
Want another pair of eyes on your creature’s back just because? Go crazy. The game’s flexible editor lets you adjust the size, color, and placement of a ton of different parts with few limitations. Want to level up its attack a bit? Slashing mobs for XP with the stylus and poking icons to activate abilities feels fresh. Want a few quick mini-games to ease the pain of a long commute? It’s all there. What you can create in Spore: Creatures seems to only be mostly limited by your imagination.
Above: What you can make is mostly limited by your imagination. But what if your imagination sucks?
But here’s the rub: What if your imagination sucks? What if collecting new parts for your beast becomes more of a chore than a pastime? What if Spore on the DS feels like a cheap watered-down version of Will Wright’s mad vision of a game that takes you from the micro to macro? Expect more details on how Spore: Creatures is shaping up on the DS as the game’s release draws nearer. In the meantime,click herefor the latest screenshots of Spore.
Feb 13, 2008
