This Fall 2008 we finally went back into the tide-pool with the release of Maxis' new game, Spore, after 3 long, hard years of waiting, and it was definitely well worth it. From 2D to 3D, you begin as a cell, the smallest form of primordial sludge and make your way from the pool of constantly growing life, onto land. There is but one other word in the English language that can be used to describe this revolutionary work of art, this word being epic. Finally, there is a game on the market that can relieve my hunger for gameplay, quench my thirst with massive storyline, and fulfill my dessert delights with a side of superb graphics, all in one diabolic combo. This is definitely the 5 course meal the gaming universe and I been longing for.

One of the things that stood out for me was the unique genre of the game. Maxis took the risk of producing a game without an existing "genre" and selling it to its many fans. If successful, Maxis would have created a new type of game, an evolution process game type. Maxis was did it. Personally, I love this new type of game. It's experimental and enormous and it keeps you wanting more. I easily topped at least 6 hours of consecutive gameplay on the day of release. As Maxis themselves have said, this is a "god game".

The gameplay of Spore is nothing less than amazing. Beginning as a cell, making your way onto land, to building a civilization, and exploring space, this game has it all. I personally like the fact that Maxis did not give the player too much power. They balanced it out almost perfectly, creating a comfortable environment for the player, and not a "do this, do that" one like many games nowadays seem to do. One perfect example of this being a Third person shooter called Gears of War. The storyline itself is stupendous, but the gameplay makes me feel very restricted. I like a sense of freedom in my games. Spore successfully gives me this feeling.

Story in Spore is supremely various. Not much is revealed until Space stage, but when it is, it will come with a bang. I was exposed to so much in so little time that it just flew right by me, leaving a mark but still allowing me to enjoy the game. Many might be turned away by the fast story and cartoony graphics, but all it does is make the game much more enjoyable to everyone. Something about pirates raiding my home planet, having disease wreak havoc in my city, or sending my entire air fleet to capture a neighboring colony is insanely fun to me. Really, this is how all games should be made from now on.

After sifting down for hours and enjoying my well-deserved meal of a game, I was awe struck. How can a game incorporate so much, and still be a great deal of fun to people of all ages or sizes? Will Wright and the development team of Spore definitely did an excellent job with it. They actually sat down, and asked among themselves, "How can we make this game fun?" Though the question may seem bland, it got the job done. Thanks, Maxis, for giving us a great game. I now regret the fact that I did not get the Galactic Edition, containing collectable memorabilia. I just hope that the future can bring more games of this new genre. But who knows? We can only hope and pray that another company dares to venture into the unknown and bring us another game like this, or even better.