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It went by the name Killer Tofu, an herbivore with a compulsion for killing. Sure, it had an attitude only slightly bigger than its micron length body, but the one spike bisecting the leaf eating mandibles said it all. Killer Tofu knew even the toughest enemies had their one soft spot – their mouths.

Spore hit the spotlight as one of those titles that sounded too good to be true. Starting from a single cell, you create, form, fight, and ultimately conquer the universe with your own virtual varmint. This daunting task would seem nearly impossible if it weren't for the mastermind behind the whole project, Will Wright, a man who made us fall in love with city planning and fake interpersonal relationships. While this new breed of gaming may have to travel light-years just to reach the lofty heights of The Sims, Spore delivers on that same sandbox gameplay and eye for design that made it's predecessor so popular. This time around, you're trying not to get eaten.

The Evolution of Intelligent Design

Think of it as the story of life told in five acts. From a crashing meteor, your single cell pops into existence in a raging tide pool with other single-cells struggling and clawing their way to shore. Food is the only currency this time around. Once you mate, new mutations can be added to your preemie protozoa. On easy, you won't have to consider the options of spikes versus flagella for too long. Harder difficulty setting, however, may have you tweaking modifications often just to make it through the next couple of meals.

While you can skip to any number of the stages, you'll be missing the point by not starting from the very beginning. Every stage adds a new twist to the pervious level before it, but never enough to seem alienating or ever loosing the feeling that you are playing with your creature. The stage after the cell stage, aptly named the creature stage, is where you not only begin to shape the look of your being but also its personality. With arms and feet comes the ability to communicate with your fellow beast. For those wanting a friend, a simple game of "follow the leader" can impress your neighbors. It's not enough to sing a tune. You have to be just as good as they are singing, dancing, or just being friendly. Once again, here's where the trade offs start popping up. Do you select feet that can dance or ones that can just run away?

Tribal stage takes you out of the nests and into the huts. It takes a village to raise a child or tear down another one. A growing food supply can go to feed a village or build huts to socialize with your neighbors. Along with the concept of resources come tools, clothing, and the necessity to keep your eye on more than one target. The civilization phase takes the next step in the story by doing away with silly concepts as friendship and replacing it with what really matters the most – money. Space is the final frontier, bring together all the lessons from before and watching the circle begin again as you populate, shape, and change the worlds you find.

Break them down to their main components, and Spore will disappoint the most hardened of gamer fans. Each of the levels shares a similar look and feel with other games of its kind. The creature stage acts like a point-and-click dungeon crawler without all the massive loot. Civilization stage has all the markings of an RTS with not even a third of the units you would expect. But by doing this, you miss the big part of the game - the personal journey. Beyond being able to go online and say "I made that," Spore takes in the play style of the creator and rewards you bonuses throughout your travels. Better yet, you can mix and match styles to reward you for being both a predator and a pacifists. Taking a cue from The Sims, the story you tell here is just as critical as the way you play the game.

Making Fiends

It's not easy being a social carnivore. No matter how much you dance, pose, and display; you'll never be a good singer. One particular group could never be wooed by my act. Instead of making friends, I tried to make them a meal. While on my third course, a five -story monstrosity came charging in. Picking me up in his webbed fingers, he tossed me like a rag doll and proceeded to eliminate the rest of my species. This just goes to show you – there's always someone with a better act.

Even if you lack a keen eye for design, Spore makes it easy for you to toss something together and make it functional. Multiple appendages and oblong bodies move smoothly and naturally even if your creature looks as though it hit every branch as it fell down the ugly tree. Beyond just the creature creator, this creature contraption allows you to design your clothing, houses, and even the ships you use to invade other planets. Players can fret over the smallest detail or let the game fill in every spot. Even if none of this sounds appealing, you can simple import any construct you find in your expedition from cell to God.

And that's the bit of genius that makes Spore so amazing, the community. That monkey you attacked or flaming bird you befriended may just be a creature someone else made. That civilization that's been raiding your planet for spice probably came from someone else's twisted imagination. Spore not only encourages other people to develop their own art and style but relies on it to populate other games. Players can easily share creatures and designs with only a few clicks of the button. Subscriptions allow you to instantly download the newest creations as soon as your friend breaths life into them. Even if you have no idea where to start, a helpful online newsletter points out some of the best designs popping up in the world.

The Spice Must Flow

A tenacious carnivore could probably hit the space age in a matter of six to eight hours. While the lengths of the stages don't really pose a problem, the feeling of playing a tutorial creeps in when you're playing the tribal stage. Your neighbors appear like clockwork. As one is taken care of, two more wait in the wings with their own set of problems. Moving too far away from your village will quickly put you against lofty mountains or an impassable sea. Most people, however, will be too busy trying to keep their neighbors happy while keeping the animals at bay to explore the restricted area.

Spore does such a wonderful job of making your creatures personal that it's a shame that the same level of detail isn't applied to the rest of the world. From creature to civilization stages, the face of your world changes from level to level. The family of ducks you befriended in the creature stage won't transfer over to the tribal stage. Developing relationship through the different eras might have been interesting to watch. That needy herd of deer could have become an economic powerhouse later on or just another needy group. While working hard to impress the masses might not make the next evolutionary leap, the game still rewards the player with abilities akin to their playing style.

The World According to Wright

My nemesis: one green and black spaceship with yellow tailfins. He was last seen zipping around my holding pen kidnapping something that kinda looked like a cow, this thing with spikes all over it, and pretty good recreation of Crash Bandicoot. If anyone sees this ship, please shoot it on sight.

Think of the game as an interactive Rorschach ink blot, bending and folding to match the personality of the person playing it. Friendly, vicious, and everything in between; Spore allows you so many ways to meet your goals that you'll be temped just to start over again just to see how the other half lives. Once you hit the great dark yonder of space, the game allows you so many mind boggling possibilities that you can get lost in simply rebalancing the ecosystem. Just as The Sims tapped into the human need to interact, Spore taps into a very deep and similar experience that few games dare to touch - to create and share.

Review by: Rob Manuel