We played a few brief head-to-head, one-on-one sessions against some Maxis staffers, and although we barely scratched the surface of the game’s depth, we got a sense of pacing in online duels. Darkspore doesn’t run quite as fast as Diablo II at its hottest–this isn’t to say it’s a slow game, but it’s not so lightning-fast that you need to keep desperately clicking just to stay alive. The game’s not-quite-frantic-but-definitely-not-slow pace gives you time to maneuver your critters out of harm’s way while also giving you just enough time to come up with your next move. You may choose to close in for the kill with a melee hero, run for your life, or use the game’s switching mechanic to immediately swap out your current hero character for a different member of your team. Switching your character not only lets you avail yourself of your next hero’s powers, but it also acts as a last-resort survival measure because your heroes have separate health meters. This means that if your current character is taking a beating and about to die, you can swap in a fresh hero with a full health meter to let your damaged character live to fight again.

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