“Spore” revolutionizes traditional gameplay

Maybe God got it a little wrong. The species of the world all have something that could be… Maybe God got it a little wrong. The species of the world all have something that could be added. Perhaps squirrels would be better with spikes on their backs. Cats would definitely do better with laser vision. Who hasn’t ever wanted humans to have an extra pair of hands for carrying groceries or performing extremely impressive stunts with manual transmissions? Either way, Will Wright, the creator of the new video game ‘Spore,’ thought that adding the know-how of the computer age with the creativity of the average computer user would greatly increase the efficiency and general splendor of the universe’s flora and fauna. Perhaps the world cannot fully appreciate the changes some users make, but at least each user will be able to enjoy his minions while he plays. ‘Spore’ boasts the power of creating not just one creature, but an entire race of creatures with the ability to micromanage and eventually evolve them. Starting with a one-celled organism, ‘Spore’ gives the user the ability to design a species and ultimately lead him to conquer the universe through space travel. In addition to designing the creature, the user is given the power to micromanage the creature’s behaviors and its possessions. Using a series of creator tools, players can design architecture, ships and other accessories to aid their species in conquering existence. The main interest is that the game is described as a ‘massively single-player’ online game. Users who create specifically ridiculous creatures or who have specifically interesting buildings or ships can easily share them with other players. The online ‘Sporepedia’ allows other users to view and download designs they are interested in. Building designs, ships and creature properties from other users can then be easily implemented into another universe. ‘Spore’ is also unusual because it is fully capable of ‘sandbox’ play. This allows the user to postpone or even cancel upgrades, while manipulating the in-game physics engine ‘mdash; in the case of ‘Spore,’ users can stay in specific sections of a creature’s evolution. Players who do not want to play ‘Spore’ for the simple goal of evolving a powerful race can remain in specific-race time periods and explore all of the interesting things the ‘Spore’ engine has to offer. Nonlinear gameplay is made possible in modern games by the overabundance of computer performance on the average computer. After all, the modern dual- or quad-core processor is capable of managing the lives of a few creatures spreading across the galaxy. It may even be able to handle checking e-mail while it’s doing it. ‘Spore’ promises to be the ultimate in nonlinear game play, as it allows not only micromanagement of an entire species, but it also provides the ability to track the species through a full development cycle until the player’s minions are masters of the entire universe. ‘Spore’ promises to provide an excellent bridge between multiple video game genres. Although it requires some strategy, it is not strictly a real-time strategy game in the same sense as ‘Age of Empires.’ In the same way, although it promises to be a good game, it does require a good amount of strategy and is designed for players to work toward the ultimate goal of projecting a species to universal conquer. ‘Spore’ is available now for purchase. The main DVD includes not only the game and multiple creator tools, but also a series of informative videos that give an introductory player all the skills required to take the strange creations to the forefront of reality.