Team play
Darkspore is greatly influenced by other more successful games, yet Maxis seems to have tried to rewrite certain aspects of the rulebook for no reason: simplifying the gameplay so much so it could almost be handheld game and then complicating the enjoyment of levelling so it becomes almost frustrating and irritating.
Let's get out, this really isn't working. Sauna anyone?
Maxis obviously wants you to play nice, as Darkspore is all about co-operation, but I found it hard finding three other players. The matchmaker was a let down as it often left me completing chains solo. So be warned, you’d probably have better luck sending shouts out in the chat lobby.
The PVP is at best disappointing, at worst soul destroying. Balancing seems like pretty obvious thing to overlook. Maxis needs to fix this or people just won’t bother. It all seemed to be which player had the best gear without even a nod to skill or strategy. Indeed, Bloodline Champions does the top down mouse pointing PVP with much more class and elegance.
Green me up, grotty
Verdict
All that said, I found Darkspore intriguing and pleasurable. The wealth of customisation options and the core battle system kept me playing long enough to almost forgive the thin storyline and this may well be enough for others, the alternative for me being to visit the pub in anticipation of the wonder that will be Torchlight 2 ®
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Darkspore
COMMENTS
HoN/DOTA/LoL?
contrary to what Heff says, its not really anything like HoN/DoTA/LoL. well, you control a hero from a top down view. thats pretty much it. the DoTA clones are all about pvp - the pve in them is just thrown in for something to level up on. in this, its the pvp thats fairly pointless - no rewards as far as i'm aware, and the balancing leaves a lot to be desired.
the main part of the game is much more akin to games like diablo or titanquest, in that you slaughter hordes of enemies, then a boss, then lots of enemies, etc, then swapping some gear around to fight better.
the character-switching is a nice touch, and makes it so that your 'character' is actually the whole squad (especially given that they share some abilities), and you have to make sure that your 3 heroes together work well.
i dont recomend playing it solo though, goes best with freinds.
So have the got rid of the dodgy DRM?
...like I said have the got rid of the DRM that got them sued yet?
Spore Engine
It uses the Spore engine, but its not like Spore, its an Action-RPG / Diablo style / hack and slash. Instead of the normal classes and skill trees, there are 25 basic heroes and 4 versions of each with a different "#2" ability.
nostalgia lane, Im afraid
this is more, "lets use the Spore engine to bodge up another DOTA / HoN clone. we'll try and work in a storyline (and fail. hire a writer, maxis, fucks sake) and elements from crawlers like Dungeon Siege and Diablo" (random loot with a save-it-to-upgrade-it system) its much more modular, equip-items-to slots than Evolva was.
Played in since Beta, on and off, and its... ok. It still feels unfinished and clunky, and the single player is a miserable waste of time. multiplayer is more fun, but... well, if you're want to play fun multiplayer, there's better more immersive examples in every other genre, and in this specific one, you're already playing HoN or DOTA and you're not leaving for this.
pretty poor offerings from maxis these days. 'The Sims', Spore and darkspore. Its been a while since a city-a-like, and societies was just dreadful, it would be nice to see them re-imagine sim-farm, or sim-life, or any of their early titles, rather than push forward uncompetitive and unimaginative titles like this one :/
Confused....
So this is an RPG ? Reading the review I thought it was an RTS at first !
If this confused me then it's bound to confuse other people. I've been playing long enough to have played Sim City 1 in its day and I remember Spore but never played it.
Maybe I missed something but there is an assumed knowledge of Spore here
