Llevaba muchísimo tiempo esperando ansioso que llegara Spore, la última creación de Will Wright, creador de joyas como Sim City o Los Sims. Las expectativas eran muy altas y con cada nuevo vídeo o imagen del juego que aparecía, la expectación aumentaba por momentos. Sin embargo, tras jugarlo, dichas expectativas se antojan demasiado altas.
In Spore we play directly with the evolution of a species. The story begins when a meteorite hits the planet’s sea and the first cellular organisms are formed. This is when the first of the 5 phases that make up the game begins: the primordial liquid, the prehistoric phase, the tribal phase, civilization and the conquest of space. Each of these phases completely changes your playing style, and can be considered as a game made up of 5 mini-games.
The first phase of the game is exactly the same as the PSP and flash game called Flow. In it we have to feed on fish smaller than us to grow and reach the surface. It is a simple phase, in which we only have to direct our creature and it will take care of everything.
The next phase takes place when we get big enough and reach dry land. We will have to choose whether we will be herbivores (and we will have to copy other animals to move forward) or carnivores (we will have to attack other species). The bad thing about these first two phases is that it is not our actions that determine the changes in the constitution of the species, but the “chips” that we find out there, which can thus change completely from one moment to the next.
The tribal phase is the one I liked the most of all, since it is quite similar to a strategy game, although very limited in all aspects. In it we have to create citizens and assign them tasks, ranging from warriors to fishermen and “artists”. We can ally ourselves with other tribes by playing the instruments they ask of us at each moment of a diplomatic ritual (as in the previous phase) or destroy them to appropriate their culture.
In the civilizations phase we have to conquer the entire planet. We can do this by buying other cities or laying siege to them. The most beautiful thing about this phase is the spherical representation of the world, although unfortunately the development is too simple and easy (even on difficult). We will be able to create vehicles and houses, so it is the part that most resembles The Sims, since we will also have to keep the citizens of our cities happy so that they can produce profits.
The last part, the conquest of space, seemed boring to me, very boring. In it we have to contact other civilizations, collect samples from other planets, colonize them and create alliances.
In short, when the bar is set so high for a game it is very easy for it not to be able to surpass it, and that is what happens with Spore. Those at EA have tried to reach The Sims fans, but focusing more on the casual audience through simplicity and simplicity. However, a spear must be broken in favor of the originality of the game and its countless details.