GameSpot – Darkspore germinating at Comic-Con

The basic gameplay is a sci-fi action-RPG, but players will have to focus on acquiring a stable of new creatures, and then implementing squad-based tactics in the way they use them. As with other action-RPGs, boss battles, loot collection, and co-op play will also play a role.

Carrington, whose previous experience at Wizards of the Coast had him designing Magic: The Gathering features, explained how he looked to the collectible card game’s color system as a way to balance creature types in Darkspore. He accomplished that by implementing five different genesis types of monsters: Bio, Necro, Plasma, Cyber, and Quantum. Each type has its own color and visual effects so players can tell at a glance what type an enemy creature is.

He also went into some of the abilities of each monster type. Bio specializes in healing, poisoning, and growing stronger. Plasma uses energy and lightning attacks, while Necro deals in the supernatural and undeath, with an emphasis on attacks that damage over time. Cyber monsters have homing attacks and area-of-effect attacks, as well as the ability to lay traps. Quantum monsters are teleporting specialists with the ability to “blink” around the battlefield quickly.

DarkSpore ComicCon preview at GameSpot