Spore Reloaded

[Dervacumen]

So I loaded this on to my daughter's computer over the weekend at her request since she really enjoyed the beginning stages and creation tools a couple of years ago.  I watched her play for a while and eventually found a reason to sit down with it again.  Man, I really enjoy coming back to this game.  It's got all kinds of modes and it's so accessible.  Just TRY getting past the cell stage without dying.  It's not easy to do.
I did try this on the Wii and IMO it sucks compared to the PC version.  I can spend hours just ... playing.

Anyone else still have this around?  It's worth another go.

[RayB]

Wanted to play it, but never did because of the DRM

[Daniel270]

Same... DRM ultimately spoiled it for me as well.  I tinkered with the Creature Creator until I used up my logins.  Then shelved them.  Never bought the full version.  Still would like it, if the DRM were removed and the game didn't require logging in to play.

[WhereEaglesDare]

There are DRM free versions available.

[Dervacumen]

Just wondering what aspects of the DRM put you off?  Admittedly, all DRM can put people off, including me.  But specific to this game?

[RayB]

Just wondering what aspects of the DRM put you off?  Admittedly, all DRM can put people off, including me.  But specific to this game?

It had some crazy over-reaching / invasive / "does stuff to your computer" nonsense that just crossed the line for me. I haven't bought a PC game since, except for a couple via Steam.

[SavannahLion]

Wanted to play it, but never did because of the DRM

Ditto.

You do realize that Steam in and of itself is a method of DRM as well? Valve still owes me a copy of HL because of it.

Which reminds me, I should check to see of Valve got off their lazy asses and fixed the problems the original Beta users are stuck with.

[Samstag]

You do realize that Steam in and of itself is a method of DRM as well? Valve still owes me a copy of HL because of it.

Steam has never tried to take control of my PC beyond protecting Steam games, like Starforce and Securerom have done to me.

If Steam ever starts acting like malware I'll drop it too.

[Vigo]

Spore is fun to pick up every once in a while, but it is really a fundamentally flawed game. The creature creator is really fun to play with, but the game itself is on the very weak side. It's pretty much a sample platter of different games like Civilization or Populous, but each of the game styles it takes after, it doesn't do a good enough job with - you end up wishing you were playing the game you were reminded of.

You also end up not caring about making your creature look good, but rather just attach all the parts that give your creature the stats you want, and by the latter half of the game, they want you to design so much stuff that you really stop caring completely (buildings, cars, outfits for your creatures, etc.). I really also wish there were a few more ways you could tweak your creature, you are forced to make them symmetrical, and the low complexity limit they put in is pretty annoying. It's still is fun, but for a game that was delayed by like 3+ years, you would expect a little bit more in-depth feeling of a game.

[Dervacumen]

Spore is fun to pick up every once in a while, but it is really a fundamentally flawed game. The creature creator is really fun to play with, but the game itself is on the very weak side. It's pretty much a sample platter of different games like Civilization or Populous, but each of the game styles it takes after, it doesn't do a good enough job with - you end up wishing you were playing the game you were reminded of.

You also end up not caring about making your creature look good, but rather just attach all the parts that give your creature the stats you want, and by the latter half of the game, they want you to design so much stuff that you really stop caring completely (buildings, cars, outfits for your creatures, etc.). I really also wish there were a few more ways you could tweak your creature, you are forced to make them symmetrical, and the low complexity limit they put in is pretty annoying. It's still is fun, but for a game that was delayed by like 3+ years, you would expect a little bit more in-depth feeling of a game.

I agree with a lot of this, and submit that it is fundamentally a creation tool with a game built around it.  There is a patch now that removes the symmetry requirement and that I wouldn't know about because I haven't installed it yet.
It's kinda like a jack of all trades game and I like it for that reason.  I find part of the challenge is making my creature look good while still requiring all the stats you want.  Once you've taken a few planets the creation thing gets in the way and almost breaks it.  It's hard to continue on to the center of the universe a second time.

[Dervacumen]

Just wondering what aspects of the DRM put you off?  Admittedly, all DRM can put people off, including me.  But specific to this game?

It had some crazy over-reaching / invasive / "does stuff to your computer" nonsense that just crossed the line for me. I haven't bought a PC game since, except for a couple via Steam.

I wish I had your resolve.  I thought that too but finally gave in and glad I did in this case.  I have a love/hate (mostly hate) relationship with Steam.