[Macworld]

Post your comments for Review: Spore here

[swartzfeger]

I don't think I've ever been so disppointed in a game as I am with Spore. $50 down the drain.
At first I was completely smitten with the game -- the concept, art direction, the design, the customization possibilities. After a few hours the honeymoons was over. The first 4 mini games were painfully boring and shallow and was a chore to work through just to get to the final 'Space' phase. While the space phase is fun (and) huge, it gets repetitive. There's a lot to explore, but the missions all feel alike, punctuated by persistent pirate attacks. Ugh.
And the notion that Spore is built on some sort of evolutionary foundation is comical.
For people that like to futz and tinker and create their own creatures and buildings and space ships, Spore may keep you occupied, but there's virtually no gameplay here to keep a lot of gamers engaged.

[krizoitz]

I don't think its accurate to say that EA has been willing to respond to customers in regards to DRM, so much as they tried to appease the crowds by making a minor concession (3 to 5 activations). The trouble is unlike iTunes where you can deactivate one computer, with Spore you get one activation per machine. The second and larger problem is not that people are upset over activation per se, but the use of SecuROM, an intrusive and invasive form of DRM that has been known to cause peoples computers to actually have problems completely unrelated to the game because of how it gets installed (some argue it is akin to a worm or virus). I am not sure to what extent (having decided not to purchase the game due to the inclusion of SecuROM) this problem will manifest itself on the Macintosh, but I think its safe to say that EA's attitude has been more dismissive than responsive to their customers. Case in point statements by their CEO recently about how the DRM didn't bother/affect most people.

[fds]

This sounds like a totally generic Spore review, not one with the Mac version and Mac gamers in mind.
Not a single word on how well it performs on various Macs, whether the DRM system's impact might be somewhat different for Mac gamers, how fast EA releases a Mac patch following the Windows version, and so on…
Macworld reviews of games could be interesting if they had some Mac-specific information to add. Just repeating the same thing every Windows-centric review already stated over a month ago isn't very helpful.

[swartzfeger]

I forgot to mention that in my initial comment -- Spore's OSX stability is terrible. Constant crashing on my high end MacBook Pro. Could go a few days with no problems, and then have a few days stretch of crashing constantly within minutes of launching. Lowered every audio/video option possible, had no other apps running, disabled all unecessary startup apps/services and still had consistent crashing.

EA/Transgaming released a patch that supposedly would auto launch when launching the mac version of Spore, and of course it still hasn't updated my copy yet. Not really an issue anymore since I've given up on this virtual $50 paper weight.

The reliability is a Cider/Transgaming issue and not a EA/developer issue, but it still has to be noted that Spore for the Mac for many gamers is a steaming metaphorical pile.

Any gamers still on the fence should read the thousands of reader reviews on Amazon. Ignore the DRM rants. I'm one that doesn't agree with DRM, but don't let the anti-DRM zealotry belie the game's other issues. Even with no DRM or copy protection, Spore imho isn't worth the price of admission.

[People_Eater]

Spore is incredibly lame.
It has extremely shallow gameplay, and it runs out of interest in only a few hours. EA is almost guilty of bait-and-switch or false advertising, for the way they marketed the game as being an evolutionary "anything's possible" game. It's nothing of the sort. All of the customization in the creature creator just involves "standard parts" which increase various stats. Once those few stats are maxed, every creature plays just like every other creature. The design or "evolution" of your creature has very little to do with the way your creature is designed. It's just a bunch of boring mini-games.
The different levels have almost nothing to do with one another - again, a bunch of different, shallow mini-games, not an epic adventure. The UI is even inconsistent between the levels.
I was going to avoid this game because of the DRM, but then I thought "maybe it won't affect the Mac version so much" and "maybe it will be a good game". How wrong I was. I bought the game via download from gametreeonline.com - and the product refused to activate with the registration code they sent me. I had to wait two days for them to generate a new registration code for me, before I could play the game!
Once the game did activate, I had maybe three or fours crashes. How MacWorld gave this game such a high rating is beyond me. I agree with swartzfeger - this was the worst $50 I ever spent.
Oh, and EA's "response to the wishes of users"? They recently put out a press release saying that 99.2% of gamers don't care about DRM. In other words, they gave us the finger, and showed their lack of concern. How can MacWorld spin this as a positive response? Raising the number of activations is supposed to fix the problem? I don't think so. That's not what people were complaining about. They were complaining about the dodgy DRM existing in the first place, and doing crazy things to their computers.
Anyway, looking elsewhere for satisfaction, I hope that LittleBigPlanet on the PS3 does live up to the promise. From what I've been reading, it actually does the "customizable universe" thing properly. Let's hope so.
I don't want to go near an EA title ever again.

[Hurley42]

RE: "How MacWorld gave this game such a high rating is beyond me."

That is simple - it is not an actual review, but leans towards advertorial (with typos - it's "breadth" not "breath"). Advertorials are far too common on MacWorld (and many other sites).

[dreric1kansas]

I have been chomping at the bits to try SPORE but unfortuntely I can't as I don't have a dual core mac (yet!). Having been an avid SimCity2000, SimLife, SimEarth SimFarm and use of other simulations (sorry I don't thing the Sims is a simulation), I was thinking that EA was rolling all of those former real sims into SPORE. I read with interests the reviews here. The fact that the creature creator does not interact with the world or environments is disconcerting. With the other sims mentioned interaction was the name of the "game. " Having DRM well I can't blame EA as otherwise everyone would steal SPORE for their computer. I don't hear Microsoft users complaining that all PC users need to buy a copy of the Microsoft OS so why complain there. I am troubled by hearing the crashes and would like to know more about the differences in the Mac vs Pc version. There are too many complaints and not enough concerning what is good. Seems to me Mac and PC users were expecting a shoot em up thrilling game. While it seems that SPORE does not have the action , it seems to be too cerebral for you all. Like many other games or sims, the players couldn't wait to find cheat codes. Seems like SPORE doesn't need cheat codes and that is what is boring people. Maybe there will be more advanced SPORE now that users have got their feet "wet" and many don't like. Where are the ones who do like it?

[People_Eater]

dreric1kansas said:

>

Quote

Seems to me Mac and PC users were expecting a shoot em up thrilling game. While it seems that SPORE does not have the action , it seems to be too cerebral for you all.

Absolutely not. I like cerebral games. That's exactly why I don't like Spore. It is completely simplistic, and not intelligent at all. That's why people are so disappointed. We were expecting a smart simulation/strategy game based on "evolution" - but instead we got a very limited combination of facile mini-games.

Quote

Maybe there will be more advanced SPORE now that users have got their feet "wet" and many don't like.

I doubt it. EA would rather sell you "expansion packs" to wring the last drop of money out of you. To make Spore "advanced" they'd have to re-write the entire game engine. They aren't going to do that, they've already spent enough money developing this crappy version.

[Dan Frakes]

Hurley42 said:

Advertorials are far too common on MacWorld (and many other sites).

If by "far too common" you mean "never," then I agree.

[TimothyA]

I think the comments here are a little unrealistic. Probably the game is judged more critically then it would otherwise have been because of the tremendous amount of hype that preceded it. Also, the DRM controversy hasn't helped matters any. But most of the comments here are missing the point. The primary appeal of spore is not strategy. It's creativity. It's about putting together cool creatures, buildings and vehicles and seeing them interact with the environment. In this regard, spore has reached levels no other game has before.
I fell in love with spore as soon as I downloaded the free creature creator. The sheer visceral pleasure of throwing together a creature and seeing it instantly come to life is amazing. Then there's the fun of seeing other users' creativity. Every time I start a new game, I look forward to meeting the new creatures I am about to come across. It's more like an electronic tinker toy than war craft. The game is loads of fun if you see it as a creativity tool rather than a strategy or action game.