When the Spore Creature Creator hit last summer, there was about a week in which the Internet was completely overrun by a host of bizarre aliens -- most of them with a strong resemblance to a certain set of genitalia. Subject matter aside though, it was quite popular, and it seems that Maxis was taking notes. Spore's first expansion, titled Galactic Adventures, builds heavily on the game's design mechanics by fleshing out the space stage and dropping in a powerful adventure creator. All of a sudden, the Spore universe seems a lot bigger.
This is due in large part to the fact that the space stage is no longer confined to spaceships. In Galactic Adventures, creatures can finally beam down to individual planets and start gunning down hostile lifeforms, picking up cash and experience in the process. The goodies are then used to power up the new Captains, which are Spore's designated explorers.
My Captain, according to the backstory I drafted in my mind, is the best-of-the-best of the Broodax race; a race that's devoured many a world in its quest for galactic domination. After accepting a mission for the neighboring Kadith, I spend some time carefully outfitting Captain Kreacher for his first planetside adventure. Besides the expected hats, helmets and packs, Kreacher could also use rocket packs and other goodies. My loathsome alien bug monster ultimately sports a fedora and a backpack because, well, it seems cute. I imagine the folks at Maxis are positively delighted.
Both the structure of the adventures, and the combat itself, seem to have a great deal in common with the average massively multiplayer game. The spaceport hub where I select adventures is populated with a host of non-player creatures -- all of them bearing familiar-looking exclamation marks. Once I actually begin the adventure, I discover that fighting mostly consists of targeting an enemy with a click, then following with a few clicks on abilities like "Bite" or "Strike." Also, like in MMOs, preparation is a virtue -- my poor Broodax's only weapon is its razor-sharp mandibles and the Strike ability, which makes it easy pickings when he gets surrounded. To even the odds, I'd need to do something like pick up one of the new plasma weapons lying around.
In the meantime though, there are other adventures to have, thanks to the "Quick Play" function. A quick click on the new "Galactic Adventures" tab on the main menu brings me directly to the Quick Play area, where a series of pre-built missions are available following a brief tutorial in the festive "Adventure Town." Like most developer-built missions, these are designed to show off the possibilities within the included Adventure Creator -- another prime selling point (I'll get to that later). Sure, they're well-made and entertaining (particularly the one featuring two sides locked in a massive conflict), but I also don't find the pre-selected Captains particularly interesting -- I missed my Broodax.
I actually find myself spending a great deal more time with the Adventure Creator, which is every bit as robust as the rest of Spore's customization tools. With the help of Maxis' handy checklist and a range of pre-made planets, I quickly whipped up a battle royale between my Broodax Captain and a host of hostile aliens. Nothing particularly fancy, but enough to get a good sense of the editor's scope.
Like Little Big Planet, I imagine that Galactic Adventures will quickly develop a cadre of elite mission designers who will be responsible for the bulk of the missions. They'll have a pretty nice suite of tools to work with, which I'm sure will be a great help in making adventures that I can't even begin to imagine. With the ability to string together separate "acts" to create a larger adventure, I imagine that there will be as many story-driven epics as there are missions that bring to mind the genitalia-driven days of the first creature creator.
There's room for all sorts of galactic mayhem in Galactic Adventures, with the binding principal apparently being that everything is accessible and fun. At the same time though, I get the sense that Spore has picked up a great deal more depth since my last jaunt around the universe, thanks in large part to the Adventure Creator. With missions being quite easy to pick up thanks to the Sporepedia, I imagine that hours and days will be filled simply in sampling the inevitable deluge of adventures. I'd better go get my Broodax ready.
