[stuff]... I was expecting Spore to be the ultimate sandbox simulation game but it turned out to not even really be a simulation game at all. ...[etc.]
This is the true problem with Spore.
Instead of it being a sandbox-type simulation game it just simply isn't even a simulation game at all.
It is simply a repetitive mess of levels, barely connected by your creations, which are barely used afterwards.
Even Pong can be less repetitive....
Even if you get to choose what your paddle and the ball looks like each time you play, Pong is still Pong.
But at least Pong changes depending on where the ball bounces... Spore, never really changes.
If you went Carnivore, Agressive, Military, or any other 'paths' the only real difference is 1 'super power' which again doesn't really affect gameplay at all. Just one example of Spore's redundant dynamics.
Whatever happened to simulation? Whatever happened to the procedural stuff?
If Maxis think Repetition = Simulation, then they've been REALLY lucky to get this far.
What I really want to know is.... Why did Will Wright not take a slightly more authoritative role in the game's development?
He should have foreseen this coming. How did none of them foresee this?
Or did they simply not have any ideas on how to fix it before EA forced the release? Was that really the problem?
I'd rather have waited 3+ more years for a Spore with good simulation and good gameplay than the Spore we have now without either.
Do any of you guys really think expansions are going to solve Spore's REAL problems?
Because for myself, I'm probably going to wait until 'Spore 2' gets some reviews... if they ever make one.