Spore Sparkles, But Gameplay's a Little Dim

Most critics are positive about Spore, but you’ll likely get a different answer from each about why. Troy Wolverton, writing in the San Jose Mercury News, found the game “engrossing,” though he wonders whether it will live up to the “massive hype.” In the New York Times, Seth Schiesel criticized some of Spore's gameplay, but called it “probably the coolest, most interesting toy I have ever experienced.”

Matt Vella, in BusinessWeek, thought gameplay was great, the creature-creation application revolutionary, and the addition of user-generated content a real bonus. But the graphics? “Spore isn't an unqualified success.” Vella, though, did give the game the highest possible honor. “Eager fans cavalierly referred to it as the ‘God Game’ or ‘Sim Everything,’” Vella writes. “Will Wright & Co. really have created just that.” (More Spore stories.)