I know I’ve been posting a number of previews for Darkspore. My time will come in terms of getting a preview up – just awaiting premission from Maxis before doing so – don’t want to step on anyone’s toes when it comes to breaking any NDAs!
While the genre is traditionally steeped in fantasy, Maxis’ latest takes a more contemporary approach in its setting. Akin to recent blockbuster sci-fi franchises, Darkspore arrives with a fully crafted universe filled with backstories and diverse planets, all fighting against relentless, mutated virus consuming its many alien races. The damage, however, is already done – you play a Crogenitor, a member of a long-dead race woken up from cryogenic sleep to discover that the Darkspore has practically taken over the galaxy. With the help of an on-board AI piloting your drifting spaceship, you construct heroes from the fragments of DNA remaining on board and send them on missions to stop the mutated army from total domination.
It’s comes with a dark, moody and strikingly different feel to the family friendly Spore that we all know, and compared to its peers in the genre, it’s structurally different too. While the likes of Diablo featured a familiar hub world and dungeons to return to, Darkspore adopts a simple arcade-like structure, with each planet featuring four missions that end in a boss battle. Each stage is perfectly suited for quick game sessions, lasting around 15 minutes in length with simple, linear layouts to abide to. The gameplay itself is also cheerfully straightforward, requiring players to reach the teleporter at the far end of the area once you’ve taken out enough enemies, and occasionally, sticking to a single zone to wipe out advancing hordes. Elsewhere there’s the standard co-operative play online – for up to four players – as well as two-on-two PvP to put their warriors to the test.