#4 - Talkin' 'Bout Darkspore

So I'm going to go on a whim here and expect you all know what the game Spore was. The one with all the creatures going into space and spending countless hours of gametime for no real reward at the end. The one that we all got pretty sick of during the space stage. Yeah, that's the one.

Anyway, as slow as that game was, the devs decided to take the parts that everyone liked, the creature stage, creation abilities and what have you, and put them into a new, stand alone game which is currently on Open Beta on Steam, Darkspore.

Basically, the plot involves you being part of some special race that controlled other races from their spaceships, and the Darkspore are creatures that have been mutated to become the evil types using an unstable experiment which turned into a virus, E-DNA. At the beginning of the game, the war has been long since over and you, with any friends you have with you, have to take back the Darkspore planets one by one.

Gameplay-wise, Darkspore is what you get when you put Spore and Diablo into a blender and set it on 'Fast Mix.' Add in mid game class changes, random drops and decent matchmaking, and you've got the fun that you would have if you were playing Darkspore. The Campaign can be Single Player or Co-op, and involves running around large repetitive maps killing everything in the way, picking up items to customize your creatures (which there is 100 of) and finally getting to the final boss waves in the end arena.
As you would usually level up in hack and slash games such as this, XP is based on your performance with the creatures, higher levels give you better items, upgrades, game modes and creatures, however the creatures level is entirely based on the gear that they are wearing. The higher level the gear, the higher level they are.
The game also has PVP mode, which I can imagine would be fairly easy to figure out, however I haven't had the chance to play it, as it is an unlockable that I haven't unlocked.

All in all, Darkspore is Maxis' new form of making a good game out of an average game. The fun I've had in this game, even though it's so simple, is only barely measurable. I suggest if you liked Spore, Diablo or any relaxing cooperative game, you should get this game. Just don't give it to your kids. It's a little gory, even for my tastes.

Plot: 5/10
Idea: 7/10
Fun: 9/10