Ace of space
If you haven't already entered the brilliant Spore metaverse, this brilliant expansion pack provides an excellent opportunity to get with the plan. Spore's creator, Will Wright, is a gaming legend who first made his mark in 1989 with Sim City, a game in which players were asked to build and look after a fully-functioning metropolis. Not content with city-building, Will went on to simulate the entire globe with the release of Sim Earth in 1990, then began to focus on people rather than property and planets, creating the most successful computer game of all time, The Sims.
Not a bad run of success, then. But rather than rest on his laurels, Will forged ahead and created Spore, a game that takes players further back along the evolutionary chain and enables them to create whole new species from scratch. Spore lets you take single-celled organisms and grow them into intelligent creatures that form societies and civilisations which not only live and work together on solid ground but, ultimately, head off into space, to conquer other galaxies.
Take to the stars
Thanks to this splendid Spore expansion pack, you can now enjoy the game on a whole other level. Spore: Galactic Adventures enables players to take their creatures on a role-playing adventure, by turning their creations into Space Captains.
Spore: Galactic Adventures enables Spore players to take their creatures on a role-playing adventure.
The newly-minted Space Captains can then embark on any number of quests, in order to gain experience and level-up. These adventures are varied and can involve engaging in combat with giant space creatures, solving puzzles, racing and carrying out co-operative tasks.
More space, more stuff
As you'd expect from any decent expansion pack, there are loads of new items to enjoy. The new creature rewards include energy blades, there are fresh dance moves, the ability to hover, stun charms, a jump jet and many others. But this expansion pack boasts yet another killer feature, namely the ability to create limitless new adventures.
Spore's developers have included a comprehensive adventure creation tool that enables players to make their own fun.
In a startling act of generosity, Spore's developers have included a comprehensive adventure creation tool that enables players to make their own fun. So once you've cracked the Maxis-designed adventures, you can then start to terraform planets, placing creatures and buildings where you want them, adding goals and coming up with your own storyline. Once created, a homemade adventure can be shared online with the rest of the Spore-playing community. This, essentially, makes Spore: Galactic Adventure infinitely replayable and, as such, extremely good value for money.
GAME's Verdict
- New Role-playing mechanic
- Variety of challenges
- Lots of bonus stuff
- Create your own adventures...
- ...and share them online
- If the original game didn't press your buttons, this expansion probably won't either.
Review by: Simon 'Amoeba' Kirrane
Version Tested: PC
Review Published: 24.06.09