Spore Galactic Adventures Review – A+E interactive

On 06.24.09, In Reviews, by Ball Lightning

A+E interactive from Mercury News have reviewed Galactic Adventures.

Pros: The action-RPG feel to the addition works surprisingly well; The mission creator uses the same tools as the rest of the game, so it’s easy and you already have a feel for it; An endless supply of user-created missions theoretically adds replayability.

Cons: The action-RPG feel doesn’t really fit with the rest of Spore; The mission creator uses the same tools as the rest of the game, so it feels a little shoehorned in; The replayability depends on the general public’s ability to create fun content.

Verdict: Taken by itself Spore Galactic Adventures is a fun casual action-RPG in a sci-fi setting. In the context of the rest of Spore I’m not sure I see the logic.

Grade: B

In the interest of fairness I should review Spore Galactic Adventures, the first of what promises to be thousands of expansion packs for Spore, on its own merits. So I’ll do that first. But I also have to nitpick about the expansion as it fits in Spore as a whole, that’s later.

First the game itself. Galactic Adventures is more or less a sci-fi version of the Creature phase. As part of missions in the Space phase you can beam down to planets and have adventures as your Space Captain, using the same controls as Creature but with better weapons and verbal communication.

And it’s actually pretty good. I had my doubts whether or not it would work but as Diablo Lite it’s actually fun. The Maxis-created missions follow the same vibe as the rest of the game, helping devotees of Spode or escorting a rock star to a benefit concert. And the heavily-advertised missions by the writers of Robot Chicken are…well…from the writers of Robot Chicken. If you’re a fan of the show or a 14 year old boy you’ll love them.

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