Darkspore

[gvblake22]

Okay, my conclusion: This is definitely a co-op/multiplayer game. It wasn't intended to be played by yourself and it will get boring pretty quick if you do. EA actually did something right making finding a suitable player easy. All you do is click on "Matchmaker" and you'll wait until someone at about your level also clicks the button. You can then play co-op with a complete stranger and, as long as they aren't completely incompetent, good fun shall be had.

There's several things I don't like (may be addressed in patching):
-Can't hide Heroes you never intend to use (there's 100 total in the game so the longer you play, the more annoying this gets).
-Can't exit/abort several dialogs. Once you click into a mission, you are committed until the end.
-There's no way to pause once you've taken a mission.

Overall, I'd rate it 8 out of 10 but only if you play mutliplayer. If you do not I'd give it a 4-6 out of 10 because you'll quit sooner rather than later just out of boredom.

Is it worth $50? I doubt it. Is it worth $20? Yeah.

Heh, this review didn't take long to formulate!
I kinda came to the same conclusion after playing the Beta. I found myself wanting to play only to see what the new worlds looked like and what the special abilities of other heroes were like. But once those things were revealed, they were not usually compelling enough on their own to keep me coming back for more.

I wasn't able to unlock any heroes past lvl 12, but I could already see that the sheer number of them was starting to get overwhelming. Like you said, there is no way to hide/deactivate a hero once they are activated in the arsenal. Compound this problem with the variety of loot that can only be used on certain hero genetic types (Cyber, Bio, Plasma, etc), and it makes trips to the editor more and more tedious/confusing.

I concur on the price. It's worth a play for <$20 out of the bargain bin, but otherwise it is a pass. Thanks for your thoughts FordGT!

 

[WhiteNoise]

I was invited too. I forgot about it though...gonna have to go look through my email.

 

[gvblake22]

I was invited too. I forgot about it though...gonna have to go look through my email.

The game has been officially launched, so the Beta isn't available anymore.

 

[WhiteNoise]

Oh...well never mind then. I guess I missed out on that one lol

 

[gvblake22]

Oh...well never mind then. I guess I missed out on that one lol

Heh, no worries, you really didn't miss much.

EDIT:
Bit-Tech just gave it a 55%.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

If anyone one wants to add me as a friend, my username is the same as here: FordGT90Concept

 

[FordGT90Concept]

We (2 of us) just got gang raped by 3 of those Omicron things that freeze you. Lame! This was the 5th on a chain too.


Edit: The more I play it, the more I like it but co-op is the key. The levels are sufficiently varied because of the randomization (you take a different path through it virtually every time and the good stuff is rarely in the same place) so they don't get old. It forces you to explore every time. I'm only up to level 18 of presumably 100.

 

[gvblake22]

I definitely liked the co-op play better than single player too (even with strangers). Glad you're still having some fun with the game!