Darkspore: A Strange but Unique Action RPG Title

After some unstable DNA snafu, hordes of creatures called Darkspore have overtaken the galaxy. You must awake from hyper-sleep and create an arsenal of creature weapons to fight them off. Or something like that. Honestly, the story isn't really what this game is all about. More on that later.

Released on April 26, 2011; Darkspore is Electronic Arts and Maxis Studio's take on the hack and slash, action RPG genre. The game uses features from the award winning creature editor system from the 2008 game, Spore. Players add weapons and gear to their creatures using this editor, and have the ability to vastly customize the look of each hero. You are a Croginator. A master of genetic manipulation. Over the course of the game you create an army of genetic heroes, or living weapons. At each Croginator level, of which there are 100, you may unlock one new living weapon. During the action, you can freely switch back and forth between 3 of your creature creations. This allows for a bit of strategy while planning the perfect squad for the mission you are up against.

Darkspore gives you all the hacking and slashing, the loot collecting, and the boss farming that you could hope for in an action RPG... and it does it all in beautiful otherworldly settings. The twist is your arsenal of creatures, how you outfit them and how you arrange your squad to best attack your foe.

• Collect dozens of heroes from 5 genetic types and 3 character classes.
• Customize and upgrade your heroes with loot collected throughout the game and the powerful creature editor
• Fight solo, Co-op or pvp
• Build a squad of 3 heroes and switch on the fly, allowing for great game-play strategy
• Dynamic AI switches the hordes tactics during gameplay to keep challenges unexpected

Darkspore is indeed unique. There are many things that Darkspore is, and many things that it is not. The game may not appeal to all players, but for me... there is just something about it. Something that keeps me playing.

Darkspore Is:

• A fluid action combat game, with hordes after hordes of dangerous foes
• A loot collector's dream
• A great game for those that wish to farm bosses over and over again
• Both a single and multi-player adventure, plus a way to get your pvp battle arena fix

Darkspore Is Not:

• A deep or immersive role playing game
• A quest oriented or story driven saga
• A game that offers a variation of game-play
• A game that pretends to be something it's not

Darkspore is simply a hack and slash grind fest. Kill as much as you can, over and over again and hope for good item drops. Essentially, these are the most basic components to an action RPG and Darkspore does a great job of making these components your main goal. Unfortunately, it doesn't do much of anything else. The game never really even pretends to draw you into the storyline. There is a story, narrated by a rather monotone computer voice... but I've skipped past each dialogue as I've progressed through the game. I don't normally do things like that, but in Darkspore it doesn't really matter.

What matter is, that you unlock your heroes and equip them with the best drops you can. Often times this means replaying levels (threat levels as they are called) in hopes for better drops. You will collect loot throughout the game, and at the end of each threat level a random number generator, "rolls" for you in hopes that you get a rare purified item. By chaining threat levels you can maximize your rolls to four, and add percentage chances that your rolls will be higher. This alone adds a bit of fun for loot collectors... however it also adds a bit of insanity as if you die during a threat level, all of the rolls that you have chained together are lost.

As you unlock and equip your heroes, you begin building squads. You can eventually have three squads of three heroes each. You can only go into battle with one squad, but are free to switch to any of the three heroes in that squad at any time. This is something I really have enjoyed. The game gives you a preview of the types of enemies you will be facing in each threat level, so you want to pick a squad that is best against that specific enemy. I find that I'm constantly using different squads and different heroes, and this makes the combat seem somewhat fresh each mission.

Darkspore allows users to equip and customize their heroes using a modified version of the Spore Creature Creator engine. This means that you can take all of the loot you've found and place it on random parts of your heroe's body. Change the sizes, the colors, angles... whatever you wish. Personally, I felt this was a bit gimmicky. After about 5 minutes or so of playing around with the editor, I decided to just throw the equipment in the standard locations and get back to the action. The customization is there for those who want it though, so if you want to spend hours creating the coolest look for your creature, you can.

As I said, the story line is almost non-existent and quests are minimal. So if you are looking for an epic Diablo-esque saga, you won't find it here. What you will find is pure action. Tons of loot, and a simple yet deep squad strategy system. These things alone seem to keep bringing me back. I wanted something more from the game... yet I'm still pleasantly surprised. Darkspore is somewhat of an enigma that way. There are so many things that could make this game better... yet I'm more than happy putting in a couple hours every few nights trying to get those rare purified items.

I have not yet tried the pvp battle arena. I'm waiting until I finish the campaign, so I can't speak around that. Please leave some comments if you've tried the pvp. Please leave some comments on the game in general.

In conclusion... there is something about Darkspore that speaks to a deep and primal part of my gaming soul. The basic tenants of kill, level, loot... which to my thinking mind, are too simplistic for pc games of 2011... feel just right. Maybe it's knowing that my objectives are so simple? Maybe it's the gambler in me, hoping for that great roll at the end of a level? Whatever it might be, there is something soothing about Darkspore. Until the games single minded path no longer soothes the savage beast, I'll be grinding away my free time.