10 Reasons to Avoid Spore

4 out of 5 stages unneeded

Players can pretty much breeze through the quick and utterly forgettable Cell and Creature Phases. In fact, each stage only has a small impact on the next. You end up losing useful traits like the electric zapper after the transition from water to land. Players will no longer be able to modify their creature's physical attributes when the Tribe Stage starts, and creatures immediately ditch their stone axes and woodwind instruments for tanks and radio communications once the Civilization Stage starts. Forming a civilization has less to do with building and managing an empire than it does bashing, buying out or talking opponents into submission. All of these strategies involve building enough vehicles to overwhelm enemies. There's no formal government, so none of the inhabitants care if you suddenly switch to brute force to conquer a city when bribery and persuasion fail. Spore doesn't really come together as a game until the Space Stage.

12/09/08