ArsGeek

With the launch of Spore coming soon, I’m finally starting to get excited about a video game again!  It’s been a while since there’s been a video game release that truly sparked a lot of interest in my gaming life.  There’s been the occasional left field surprise like Sins of a Solar Empire which I’ve enjoyed playing very much but most of the recent big gaming releases have been more of the same.  Prettier sure, graphically some have been amazing - but it’s still first person shooter or real time strategy.  Will Spore be different?

Looking at Spore, a game I’ve been excited about for a while now, it looks like there will finally be a change from the grind of rapid build up and nuke, or hide behind the pretty foliage from alien’s shooting beams at you paradigms that have been so prevalent lately.  I’m even getting sick of my new old standby - COD4.  Level 55 on a PC and. . . wow.  A gold gun, more shots down the line and more infantile chatter over which levels are ‘teh suck’.  They’ve even launched a whole ad series in a bunch of major urban public transportation stations.  How cool is it to see a video game, any video game, advertised in a place like that?

Call me nostalgic or an old fart but I miss the days of turn based RPGs and strategy games that really made you think.  Civ, Baldur’s Gate, Total War, MOO2. . . these are games I spent days on, working out my strategies, leveling my party, conquering worlds and taking real pride in my accomplishments.  No twitching involved.  All of these games had their shortcomings and limitations based on the systems and resources available - but they also all had that golden sheen of near endless replayability, go at your own pace game play and customization.

Guess what Spore is offering?  Pretty much all of the above.  While game play isn’t strictly turn based, it does look to be paced at a rate I want it at - not at the fastest click or quickest button push.  You start with your creatures at a cellular level and bring them all the way through to interstellar conquest.  Yowza!  It’s got vast scope, incredible customization, the ability to be not just a game but a social network without the grind of MMORPG camping.  I can’t wait to get my hands on this game and tool around with it.  Single player with creature sharing - so I can choose my level of interaction with other people online and I’m not forced into reading inane comments by school kids learning they can swear on the ‘net or grouping with a bunch of strangers.

There will of course be some limitations and downsides to this game - there is no gaming nirvana, at least not yet and probably won’t be until we get a Holodeck or its equivalent.  There will be limitations to the game but worst of all, there will be DRM.  Good old SecureRom, in it’s scaled back form.  At least there’s no 10 day activation anymore, EA has backed off of that, you can even play the game offline.  You will however need to authenticate when you install, and every time you update.  Here’s the official word:

We authenticate your game online when you install and launch it the first time.

We’ll re-authenticate when a player uses online features, downloads new content or a patch for their game.

The new system means you don’t have to play with the disc in your computer. And if you are like me, always losing discs, this will be a huge benefit.

You’ll still be able to install and play on multiple computers.

You can play offline.

Better than the original 3 installs and 10 day activation period but still DRM.  Why couldn’t the folks at Stardock have developed this with Will Wright?

You can pre-order Spore right from EA and they’ll do a ‘pre-load’ which essentially downloads a huge, encrypted install file onto your machine (PC only, no Mac right now) which you can install at 12:00:01 on the 7th I’m assuming.  This saves you the hassle of having to go out and buy the game somewhere physical or wait for Amazon to deliver it to your door, but does mean you get no physical copy, at least at first.  I can’t tell whether a pre-load and pre-order also entitles you to a shipped product.  You’ll also have to download, install and trust EA’s Download Manager, yet another piece of software to manage your stuff for you.

So yes, Spore has it’s faults, and I’m sure there will be game play issues like there are in all games where not everything is perfect for everyone - an impossible goal but I’m still looking forward to it.  I can even forgive the cartoony graphics if the game gives me an absorbing experience that I’ll look forward to playing again and again.  Here’s hoping.

EDIT: I broke down and got the pre-install and the creature creator.  Check out the few things I’ve cobbled together here.

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