MEGamers Writes: "As far as PC games go, The Sims series is probably one of the longest running and most lucrative franchises to date. The ability to create your own little universe and populate it with your heart's content gives plays a nice warm fuzzy feeling – until they go ahead and unleash an earthquake or flood on the innocent inhabitants. Playing along the lines of The sims, Electronic Arts has set the gaming world abuzz with the upcoming release of its game Spore. Although mentioned several years ago, we didn't really get a lot of information on Spore until earlier this year. By potentially giving players the ability to create anything in the Spore universe – from creatures to buildings to vehicles, Spore truly does unlock your creativity. I had a chance to try my hand at the Spore Creature Creator, and found myself churning out creatures like there's no tomorrow.
If you're thinking that designing a creature means mapping out its DNA or other such complexities, think again. EA has designed the Creature Creator with a extremely simple 'drag and snap' interface. You're initially given a medium sized 'blob', which you can stretch and elongate to form your creature's body and neck. The left hand side of the screen presents you with plenty of body parts to choose from, with each body part changing an attribute of your creature. For example, if you drag a mouth with has flat teeth, your creature becomes a vegetarian, while sharp or jagged teeth makes it a carnivore. Snap on limbs, colour your creature, name and tag it, and you're done in a matter of minutes. What makes Spore Creature Creator truly enjoyable is that it doesn't set any limits on what your creature should look like."
Bored at work? Why not make a creature with a penis-shaped head? EA has released a new web-based version of their Spore Creature Creator.
Eurogamer writes: "SHODAN may have been scary, but she's got nothing on Lucy. The fun-size pocket robot orangutan may now be consigned to Cyberlife Research vault, but the artificial intelligence comprising her virtual brain - which her creators hoped would see her through real-life kindergarten - is of a level of sophistication that makes Looking Glass' amalgam of clever scripting, voice-acting, and cut-scenes look utterly prehistoric. And while she certainly wasn't blessed with SHODAN's looks, either - in all honesty, she looks like a cross between Estelle Getty and Chucky the Lakeshore Strangler - there's little doubt Lucy's probably the better dinner party guest."
GameSpot writes: "EA and Maxis' Spore generated a good deal of buzz from the moment it was announced at the 2005 Game Developers Conference. On the commercial-gaming side, the game represented the latest effort from celebrity game designer Will Wright, one that was backed by the substantial resources of publishing powerhouse Electronic Arts."
