Achtung, baby! German mags give Spore disappointing scores
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Sep 2nd 2008 at 1:30PM }
We're not currently aware of when the North American embargo on reviews expires, but the European one is allegedly up this Friday, alongside the game's release in the region. UK mag PC Gamer was apparently given the all-clear by EA to release its review early, doling out an impressive 91. It'll be very interesting to find out what the European outlets think of the game later this week.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Hickeroar @ Sep 2nd 2008 1:37PM
metacritic.com is showing it with a 100, 91, and 90 already, so not all is bad.
Roto13 @ Sep 2nd 2008 1:41PM
That doesn't mean a whole lot. Companies let reviewers review their games earlier in exchange for positive scores all the time.
We'll see when the game hits and everyone is allowed to have an opinion. :P
seasidebaz @ Sep 2nd 2008 1:51PM
Yeah, but then again, GTAIV got straight 100's...
WhoMe @ Sep 2nd 2008 2:03PM
"That doesn't mean a whole lot. Companies let reviewers review their games earlier in exchange for positive scores all the time."
EXACTLY. We all know this happens. Hell, Dan "Shoe" Hsu recently posted stories about this on his blog/site.
I mean, the post even says "UK mag PC Gamer was apparently given the all-clear by EA to release its review early, which gave the game a 91". That means exactly what you think it means.
Positive coverage will get the all clear, while anything lower than a certain number (90%?) will just have to wait.
Regardless, I didn't think this game would be the second coming anyway. There's been some... weariness growing with the people who got to play it a couple of times for preview purposes. The sentiment was that it just wasn't exciting (anymore).
The creature creator didn't float my boat either. It was fun for a full ten minutes, but then I quickly lost interest. I thought that would be the most interesting part about the game. There's also huge parts of the game we haven't even seen at all yet or very little.
Tiptup300 @ Sep 2nd 2008 2:15PM
The main thing you should always disregard are previews. They say how godly a game is, then you actually buy it to find out it's poop.
Top Cat @ Sep 2nd 2008 7:19PM
PC Gamer UK is the best game journalism money can buy. Bar none.
For example, in the very same issue of the Spore review there is an extensive interview with one of the devs of the new Stalker game...which receives a 60s score in the issue and is labelled "dissapointment of the year".
There's no bias going on here and every PC purchase i've made has been based on the magazine. At least over here, there's no better yard stick for PC games.
GoldenS1104 @ Sep 2nd 2008 1:38PM
To be honest, I'm not that excited for Spore other than the create your own animal, vehicle, etc. part. From what I've seen the game itself doesn't look too interesting. Just the creation stuff. I might stick with the creature creator.
Al2x @ Sep 2nd 2008 2:39PM
I've gotta agree, I tried the Creature Creator demo and it was pretty sick in the customization field, but I just don't see how there's so much hype behind a game that virtually looks exactly the same as the Sims.
Bass Masterson @ Sep 2nd 2008 3:09PM
The guy has been doing nothing but Sims and Sims knock-offs for over a decade, yet he's still considered a 'god of gaming' and someone worth listening to. It bottles the mind (you know, when your mind is all confused and it's like it's trapped in a bottle).
zuburi @ Sep 2nd 2008 6:12PM
It seems like Maxis/EA are designing their games specifically for expansion pack sales. You like the creature/vehicle creation? I'm sure they'll be more than happy to sell you additional parts in an expansion pack. Along with clothing, new world types, new spaceship parts...
The Sims had seven expansion packs. The Sims 2 had eight. You can't tell me that they're not holding back on some ideas in order to make an expansion pack out of it.
EZ @ Sep 2nd 2008 1:41PM
PC Gamer UK given the "okay" because of the high score?!
CONSPIRACY!
jk.
Now that that is out of the way, hopefully it won't be too complex and demanding for people. While a "sim-everything" game seems fun, how long could that fun possibly last?
I'll end up getting it regardless.
Mr.ESC @ Sep 2nd 2008 1:48PM
Well PC games here, unless they have "Games for Windows" in the box, usually arrive a month and sometimes a year later.
Heck WOW arrived this summer.
Then again I'm more hooked into consoles right not but I have to upgrade my PC since this one is good for work, studying and youtube but not for anything else. kinda like a MAC Kekeke lol.
Courtney @ Sep 2nd 2008 1:48PM
Anybody read German? I would like to know the reasoning behind the numbers, or if they were just throwing out low enough ratings to get some attention and hits.
Courtney @ Sep 2nd 2008 1:52PM
Helps if I follow the link. The "summary" of the review noted these as against the game:
No real depth until the fifth stage
Uneasy mix of simulation and strategy
It’s easier to wage war then to be diplomatic
No “one more go” aspect
It would still be nice to have some context to judge those generalizations.
Professor Lario @ Sep 2nd 2008 2:32PM
"It’s easier to wage war then to be diplomatic"
Wait, they lowered the score because of this?
#1 - don't base a GAME on your 'how society should run' ideals.
#2 - Just like in real life...
Haggard @ Sep 2nd 2008 5:39PM
I think maybe what the reviewer was trying to say is that there's no point in the diplomacy feature because just going in with an assault rifle is far easier.
If they made it so that there was some real value in not killing everything on screen, the game might be deeper.
zuburi @ Sep 2nd 2008 6:06PM
"No real depth until the fifth stage."
See, this is what I had a feeling about. The first two stages seem like pointless minigames. Hopefully they won't take too long and will be skippable if they're boring.
Space exploration looks tits, though.
Rantrev @ Oct 13th 2008 3:19PM
Ugh, have to use youhide because I'm STILL unibanned across all of Weblogs Inc for no reason, they won't even respond to my emails.
I had to disagree with this though -
"It’s easier to wage war then to be diplomatic"
Well after quite a while with the game now, that is just the opposite of the truth, war is about even until Civ, when it is difficult, and Space? Fuhgetaboutit, War is not only a pain, and increasingly difficult the deeper you get, but extremely expensive and a massive time sink, whereas peace is a bit touch and go, but much easier to maintain and let be, letting you move on and expand where an aggressive player would be puttering along.
CesarSalad @ Sep 2nd 2008 1:49PM
Men I'm really looking forward to this. There hasn't been that many good computer games lately. I hope its not all bad.
kelder @ Sep 2nd 2008 1:51PM
It looks like a nice idea but me and my two brothers are worryed as to how the late stage game playees,ie after the "ohh shiny" has worn off.
deaftly @ Sep 2nd 2008 1:52PM
U2 friggin sucks.
Mr.ESC @ Sep 2nd 2008 2:00PM
No that's not true,they have some good songs...
JAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJA ROFL.
(Serious note I believe I heard one in the radio a long time ago that was actually good)
Bass Masterson @ Sep 2nd 2008 3:12PM
No, U2 friggin' sucks. The OP is right. I accidentally heard their 'Miracle Drug' song when I was looking for the AC Newman song of the same name. "Freedom has a smell like the top of a newborn baby's head!" = retch.
Shagittarius @ Sep 2nd 2008 4:37PM
I hate U2 as much as the next guy but i gotta admit "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Bullet the Blue Sky" are pretty great.
Ken Shammy @ Sep 2nd 2008 1:54PM
I've always been skeptical of this game's ~greatness~ so we'll see how it turns out.
Blazur @ Sep 2nd 2008 1:55PM
But how has Gamespot vote the game??
robothouse @ Sep 2nd 2008 4:51PM
How do I shot web?
Sora @ Sep 2nd 2008 6:52PM
THEN WHO WAS PHONE?!
Admittance @ Sep 2nd 2008 2:00PM
its ether spore or mercs 2 for me this week more in favor of spore though
Walsh @ Sep 2nd 2008 5:08PM
Is it me or has every preview hyped game released so far gotten ok to terrible reviews... way to go journalists.
Jonah Falcon @ Sep 2nd 2008 3:07PM
Yeah, Halo 3, The Orange Box, Call of Duty 4 and BioShock - which were the most heavily hyped games in recent years - all have Metacritic scores of 94+.
WiNG [Life in a Game] @ Sep 2nd 2008 2:08PM
What? Germany didn't give a game that's about creating the ultimate race a 10/10???
(btw I'm half Jewish German so, it's almost excusable)
Sagan @ Sep 2nd 2008 2:09PM
Gamestar is shit. I don't know how good PC Games is right now.
Gamestar is shit, because they have a rating scale that goes like this: Give a score from 1 to 10 in graphics, in sound, in AI, in atmosphere, in controls etc. and add them all up.
So they simply determine how good a game is by adding up all the elements of it. Of course that is bullshit. A game like Spore is bound to get bad scores in the graphics department (not as good as Crysis) and sound (no epic soundtrack). And probably in a lot of other stupid categories that I don't remember right now. After all they have to come up with 10 categories for each game: There is always at least one stupid among them.
Because of their scoring system they rate superficially polished bad games as good games (Gothic 3, Paraworld, Dark Messiah) and good games as bad (Sins of a Solar Empire, probably Spore)
FSK405K @ Sep 2nd 2008 4:25PM
Actually, Spore is expected to have good music since it's done by Brian Eno. A lot of people, not me, know who he is and think he's pretty talented.
Kovah @ Sep 2nd 2008 2:21PM
Europe is allowed to put it up their reviews on thursday. Mine was up on monday, but was taken down again.
S7R1k3R @ Sep 2nd 2008 3:40PM
I have this game in front of me right now, I work retail so I am thinking if I should buy it or not. It doesn't look all that great.
Blazur @ Sep 2nd 2008 4:16PM
Do it, and then report back your findings here!
Sub @ Sep 2nd 2008 2:59PM
I'd be worried except, you know, they decided to rate the game not counting the creature creator. The creature creator is practically half the game.
Mookie @ Sep 2nd 2008 3:02PM
I don't know how many other people caught it, but I loved your Klavier Gavin impersonation Alex...
sickbeat @ Sep 2nd 2008 8:29PM
Nice Remarque reference, although I must admit the disappointment of Spore is not so nice. I had high hopes. And that's the problem with high hopes, when they hit rock bottom, they hit it hard. But then again, reviews are just opinions, so, eh, I'll end up getting the game regardless of what they say.
Jonah Falcon @ Sep 2nd 2008 3:09PM
There's always going to be low scores from some reviews because they don't like the genre, the theme, the presentation, the developer, or just don't like it.
Example: Ben Croshaw will shit on every first- and third-person shooter. He just doesn't like FPS.
ogvor @ Sep 2nd 2008 4:55PM
That 91 tells me more than the 70s because it's an exclusive review. That means EA only allowed them to review early if they approved. With a score like that, something tells me that they would probably have given it something lower but they wouldn't have gotten the exclusive review with an 80 or 70 something. That 91 tells me they were a little hesitant in their adulation.
Top Cat @ Sep 2nd 2008 7:26PM
Understandable opinion, but i can't overstress the strength of PC Gamer UK.
As i mentioned in a reply to another poster (above) the mag has a reputation for putting integrity over exclusivity etc.
As for the 91%, they have a mini review that breaks down where the game scores and where it doesn't...but i don't want to get sued for posting that ;)
Walsh @ Sep 2nd 2008 5:10PM
I meant all games coming out this fall season ding dong.
So far we have Mercenaries 2, Stalker Clear Sky, and now Spore getting hammered in the early reviews.
IIRC Call of Duty 4 wasn't hyped that much, came out of nowhere. Also Halo 3 was awful.
scharthak @ Sep 3rd 2008 12:54PM
I´ll try and translate some of the test in PC Games on the 5 phases - however, bear in mind that i am not perfect in english ;)
Phase 1:
"The basic idea is brilliant"
"after half an hour the cute fun is over"
This part sounds very good except for the fact that it is rather short.
Phase 2:
"Here you see the whole magnificence of the creature editor"
"The possibilities are almost unlimited"
"While exploring the motley (? very colorful) land mass the game flow shows to be disillusioning monotone"
"The first excitement of your own creature cutely strives through the world disappears when you meet other species. Sing, dance, fight - this happens automatically and mind-boggling simple on the push of a button, without the lure of challenge"
Phase 3:
"In the very simplified mix out of The Settlers and Populous 3 you have few more to do than to send you creature - now covered in clothes - off to search food, build a few huts and to either pursuade or exterminate other tribes. There always is a funny look when these weird creatures face each other, but real fun doesnt come up through this"
Phase 4:
"The low point awaits you in the 4th stage of evolution when spore becomes a shallow RTS game"
... after a listing of standard RTS game mechanics and a hint on the exemplary controls ... "This lacks challenge even for those who else never embark on strategy"
Phase 5:
"Here the player gets clobbered over the head with the vast amount of explorable sun systems and planets, it becomes more and more difficult to keep track"
"To get other peoples as allies you do missions for them - mainly errands which have the need to search planets. There is also fights, by mouse click you release laser beams and rockets on enemy spaceships - more twiddly (? complicated?) than entertaining"
"In this phase spore offers some challenge if you want to mnaster all aspects of the game - battle, diplomacy, economy and development. Soon you desire more variety here, too. The only real motivation is the constant growing bar which symbolizes the development of the own tribe"
Then comes some more listings of community features and such - which can be downloaded and may appear in the own game at all times (which they called "rather cool!", but that this is only a cosmetic thing, since AI stays the same.
The end of the text:
"We keep playing: in the next issue we test if spore might surprise with more deep gameplay, something unexpected or with long time motivation on the long run. The first 15 hours turned out to be disappointing in any case - except for the creature creator the was much beautiful but few ingenious in Spore"
When reading the test you get the feeling that the game is not bad, but definitely lacks something special (hype ???), deepness in gameplay and such.
Hope this helps ;)
Riq12 @ Sep 4th 2008 2:39PM
http://www.gamestar.de/test/strategie/lebenssimulation/1948794/spore_review_of_eas_huge_construction_kit_game.html
here a link to a translated review @ gamestar.de (one of the major PC games magazines in Germany)
Paul Tinsley @ Sep 6th 2008 10:30AM
I don't like the way they manipulate these reviews. I can't post any ratings or reviews on Gamespot, but there are ratings and reviews already there. It seems almost everywhere I turn online, reviews spring up but nobody in the general public has the ability to say something honest. It's a travesty.