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- Jan 2, 2007
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Well, I never thought I'd see this: An actual expansion pack for Spore that qualifies as an EXPANSION pack. I figured we'd just get tons of "Stuff packs" like what The Sims 2 has been getting for the past few years. While I'm going to adapt it into most of my reviews, I'm going to be throwing out the "Story" rating category since the game HAS no Story other than how your game plays out or the story you script in your adventures.
Design
If you've played Spore, you can get an idea for what Galactic Adventures is right off the bat, as it plays and controls much like the creature stage and is designed in a similar manner in which you interact with over creatures. However, the design here is much less monotonous since they are objective based missions rather than just impressing or killing off other creatures to evolve. Each "adventure" has an objective and progress in a linear fashion, which does feel strange for a Spore stage, but it's actually not a bad thing because it means that it has more focus and that was one of the few crippling flaws of Spore is that each stage was maybe a little too "free" yet oddly limited. There are plenty of fun adventures here, and while some aren't designed great or have glitches, more often than not, they are quite entertaining.
8.8
Graphics and Audio
Just like the base game, the graphics are colourful and fun, while they may not have the greatest detail in the world, all the different creatures represent an art style, be it the art style of you, another player, or the designers. The game never gets tired to look at because all the different creatures are such a joy to see, whether they be funny, scary, or just downright.. well... alien. The animations are still good, but they still suffer from the same clipping issues as well, even more so when characters try to interact with walls.
As far as the audio goes, once again, it draws mostly from its base game. There are some new sound effects for special weapons, but otherwise all the voices/accents you have probably heard before. The music is a little better, sounding less like a disjointed jumble of notes and actually occasionally having a structure. The tunes are upbeat and catchy, though nothing particularly outstanding. The auditory department is okay, though I wouldn't mind the ability to customize accents/voices a bit, the powerful creation tools lead me to believe they could easily dump in a Soundforge like tool to bend pitches and other such things to make a little more variety in the language and accents spoken, since I doubt there is a universal galactic language, especially when the game already says you have a translator. But now I'm just nitpicking.
8.0
Gameplay
As mentioned before, the Adventures control exactly like the creature stage. You walk around and move the camera in the same way, you pick and use moves in the same way, but there are upgrades and the addition of actual weapons to add to the previously limited repertoire of abilities. The objective based gameplay is fun, and as I said before, it adds a little more cohesion to the concept, which in a way makes the Adventures one of the best parts of the already fairly good Spore package. Don't worry though, it still brings in the customization and sharing aspect of the base game. You'll never run out of adventures to play, while there are only so many built into the game, they added another new creator tool to build your own adventures. It works well, and it does have a slightly steeper learning curve, but considering the simplicity of the spore interface, that steeper learning curve isn't necessarily that deep, what is deep, is the customization. Naturally, you can also download new adventures for free from the online Sporecasts. There are some bugs occasionally, but overall the adventures are fun to play.
8.9
The Bottom Line
Spore fans, this one is for you. It's a very fun expansion, that like any good spore creation, keeps on giving through the wonders of online sharing and more. The game is fun and retains Spores charm, and it integrates seamlessly into the Space stage of the game, meaning you can continue on from your previous save games and then hop into the adventures. I heartily recommend it to Spore owners who want more from their game.
Overall score: 9.0
Design
If you've played Spore, you can get an idea for what Galactic Adventures is right off the bat, as it plays and controls much like the creature stage and is designed in a similar manner in which you interact with over creatures. However, the design here is much less monotonous since they are objective based missions rather than just impressing or killing off other creatures to evolve. Each "adventure" has an objective and progress in a linear fashion, which does feel strange for a Spore stage, but it's actually not a bad thing because it means that it has more focus and that was one of the few crippling flaws of Spore is that each stage was maybe a little too "free" yet oddly limited. There are plenty of fun adventures here, and while some aren't designed great or have glitches, more often than not, they are quite entertaining.
8.8
Graphics and Audio
Just like the base game, the graphics are colourful and fun, while they may not have the greatest detail in the world, all the different creatures represent an art style, be it the art style of you, another player, or the designers. The game never gets tired to look at because all the different creatures are such a joy to see, whether they be funny, scary, or just downright.. well... alien. The animations are still good, but they still suffer from the same clipping issues as well, even more so when characters try to interact with walls.
As far as the audio goes, once again, it draws mostly from its base game. There are some new sound effects for special weapons, but otherwise all the voices/accents you have probably heard before. The music is a little better, sounding less like a disjointed jumble of notes and actually occasionally having a structure. The tunes are upbeat and catchy, though nothing particularly outstanding. The auditory department is okay, though I wouldn't mind the ability to customize accents/voices a bit, the powerful creation tools lead me to believe they could easily dump in a Soundforge like tool to bend pitches and other such things to make a little more variety in the language and accents spoken, since I doubt there is a universal galactic language, especially when the game already says you have a translator. But now I'm just nitpicking.
8.0
Gameplay
As mentioned before, the Adventures control exactly like the creature stage. You walk around and move the camera in the same way, you pick and use moves in the same way, but there are upgrades and the addition of actual weapons to add to the previously limited repertoire of abilities. The objective based gameplay is fun, and as I said before, it adds a little more cohesion to the concept, which in a way makes the Adventures one of the best parts of the already fairly good Spore package. Don't worry though, it still brings in the customization and sharing aspect of the base game. You'll never run out of adventures to play, while there are only so many built into the game, they added another new creator tool to build your own adventures. It works well, and it does have a slightly steeper learning curve, but considering the simplicity of the spore interface, that steeper learning curve isn't necessarily that deep, what is deep, is the customization. Naturally, you can also download new adventures for free from the online Sporecasts. There are some bugs occasionally, but overall the adventures are fun to play.
8.9
The Bottom Line
Spore fans, this one is for you. It's a very fun expansion, that like any good spore creation, keeps on giving through the wonders of online sharing and more. The game is fun and retains Spores charm, and it integrates seamlessly into the Space stage of the game, meaning you can continue on from your previous save games and then hop into the adventures. I heartily recommend it to Spore owners who want more from their game.
Overall score: 9.0
