Reviews

Posted by: jkdmedia

It is hard to believe that it has been nearly a year since one of the most innovative games was released for the personal computer. Spore took the gaming world by storm, and gave a new meaning to user generated content. It was only a matter of time before a real expansion pack would be released for the game (the various creature packs do not count); and it is entitled Galactic Adventuress. This newest addition to the game really expands it even further, and makes user generated contented even more in the forefront. This expansion pack also solves one of the biggest issues with the game: the space stage.

Spore is divided up into five different gameplay sections: Cell, Creature, Tribal, Civilization, and Space. The first four felt really fleshed out, but when you get into the Space stage, the gameplay felt lacking. All you could do is fly around from planet to planet capturing them by various means and try to find out what is in the center of the universe. Even though this was fun, after a while I yearned to go back to the cute creature sections once again. Galactic Adventures really solves this issue by allow players to step foot on various planets, and getting into a variety of adventures.

When you first install the expansion pack, you will notice a "Galactic Adventures" tab on the left side of the menu. You can then go into that tab and learn about more options that this expansion pack provides, and learn how to make your Captain an adventurer. After the Captain has been "certified" you have several options: play developer created adventures, play user created adventures, create their own adventure, edit adventures already made, or go back into their own galaxy for a whole new slew of missions.

And you thought your school was rough

The developer content really sets a great example of the adventures that can be crafted. There are several adventures available on the onset: some based on stealth, brute force, mythology, and even "how a bill becomes a law" missions. How a bill becomes a law is a hilarious mission that mocks the old cartoons that was shown in Elementary School. It is great to see that the developers have a nice sense of humor when crafting these adventures. All of these missions are a blast to play and set a very nice ground work to show what is possible for the user generated content, which really expands this universe even further.

Once players have finished playing through the developer created missions they can then check out the user content tab and find numerous adventures that other players have created. Many of adventures are even better than the ones the developers of the game created. They all have their own unique hint of flavor and humor that gamers will enjoy. The best part is that if players do not like a particular adventure they can just quit and try a new one, with no penalty.
The adventure mode also adds more of a role playing element to this new expansion pack. After gamers complete each adventure, they will be graded and will gain experience points which can be used to level up their Captain in rank as well as a new set of weapons/items they can use. Players will want to play as many missions as they can to unlock it all, and that is part of the fun of these adventures.

If none of these adventures suits your tastes all you have to do is either edit one that you like to get a good foundation started, or just create your own. The creation/edit tool is a very comprehensive tool that is the exact same one the developers used in the creation of their adventures. The only limit to the adventures is your own imagination. Even though this tool is not for everyone, as it does take much time and effort to create great adventures, it is nice to have the option to try it.

Attack of the killer snowmen

The only bad thing to having all this new content available is that it is very tedious to search though the Sporepedia. There is so much content that gamers have added over the past year it is near to impossible to find one particular item that you are looking for. The best case scenario is that gamers will have to go through a couple pages to find their desired item. Hopefully the developers will upgrade the search engine to give better results, because as time goes on it will be a disaster to search through this.

The graphics have not changed for this expansion, but that is not a bad thing. The graphics still are great with its cute take on life. While this might disappoint some players that the graphics engine wasn't updated, they have to remember that Galactic Adventures will be the first time players will have a look at the game in the third person perspective since the creature stage. The animation still remains a blast to see in action, especially when gamers start putting weapons on their creatures.

Spore: Galactic Adventures is rated for Everyone.

The system requirements are:
Spore to be installed
Windows XP with Service Pack 1 or Windows Vista
2.0 GHz processor
512 ram
4 GB of hard drive
128 MB video card

Gameplay: 8.1
Spore: Galactic Adventures is a great addition to the game that really expands an already massive game into new areas.

Graphics: 8.1
The bright and colorful graphics are still pleasing to the eyes.

Sound: 8.0
The music is hardly existent in this game, but there are times when it does come into play which gives it more emotional meaning. The alien grunts and chirps will still bring a smile to your face.

Difficulty: Easy
The missions are very easy to play through. The only difficulty is when you are on really long missions and die and have to start all over again.

Concept: 10
The power and control that the developers gave to the players is still unmatched. In fact the adventure editor is the same one the developers used to create the missions provided in the game. So the adventures are literally only confined to players imaginations.

Overall: 8.0
Spore: Galactic Adventures is one of the most unique and innovative games I have gotten to play. The amount of customization is unbelievable. The adventures that players can embark upon are fun to play and chocked full of humor. I can only wait with deep anticipation and my imagination as to what the next expansion pack will contain.