Darkspore Reviews
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Dealspwn, 5/10
Darkspore is a strange beast. It's not got enough personality to be an interesting loot game and the treasure you grab is less than interesting in itself. It's not a bad game really, it just lacks any spark. The storyline is pedestrian and although a quick glance at Wikipedia reveals each character has a back story, you'll not care one jot about them. Each one is as interchangeable as the next depending on the situation. If you'd been able to create your own, perhaps this would have been different and a more personal connection with the action could have been established.
Gamefreaks takes the scoreless route and comes to a disappointing conclusion
Darkspore feels like a game with a lot of unrealized potential. On the positive side, they included a polished hero customization element, and produced a sometimes clever and complex co-op RPG. However tedious level grinding and a lack of a refined PvP multiplayer element seriously detract from the overall quality of the game. Not bad for a first attempt at the genre, but far from being a good game.
el33tonline, 3/5
Darkspore was a big letdown because of the expectations of what it could have been and by what it was not. Ignoring any sort of hype, or link to the original Spore, you will find a very enjoyable experience in Darkspore, sucking you in for hours on end, trying to get to that last boss creature, or not being able to wait to unlock the next hero creature. Few gamers with an open mind will be disappointed.
Vr-zone, 7.6/10
Darkspore shapes up nicely as an attempt for casual gamers to pass off some time as a hack-and-slash title. Story treads on a thin side with the core gameplay backing it up. There is plenty of fun found in customizing your heroes wargear and how they look. Battle gameplay is straightforward with your left-click on the mouse for attacks and hotkeys for different skills.
It is an enjoyable title to play with friends, especially in trading tips and hero design with each other giving some value to replyability as you try to get different items in the game.
Stategy Informer, 6.4/10
Despite that pull though, too much of Darkspore plays out much like any other action-rpg, but with a general repetition and lack of inspiration in setting that unfortunately relegates it to the middle of the pack. Yes it's essentially the same gameplay mechanic as Titan Quest or Diablo, but the combat flow and world design are what set those games apart as something special. Too much of Darkspore is simply humdrum and played out by the numbers despite the genetic modifications, and the lack of any semblance of a decent plot culls any connection that might have been to the universe and its back-story. Even the ace-in-the-pack creature editor is hampered by a zoomed-out view that often renders your lovingly placed oddities as a mere frenetic blur of colour.
