The game starts with a brief intro, with meteors flying through space, finally hitting an alien planet. The meteors are in different colours, red and blue and each one contains a strange egg. Each meteor affects the planets tribes in different ways, the blue meteor brings calm and evolves the tribes with wings whilst the red meteor causes the creatures to turn evil. The eggs are later removed by the inhabitants and then hatched. This is where you join in. Once hatched from your blue egg you will meet Meejee, one of the many inhabitants of the world and then your quest begins.

 

 

You start the game as a very simple creature with basic abilities to jump and kick. Through initial exploration and chatting to Meejee he hints at using your nest. This is where all of the creature customization takes place. You start with a simple mouth that gives you bite ability and a few leg and eye pieces, plus the ability to morph shape and colour to what you fancy.

 

The game is a massive quest and collect adventure. In each new area you visit you will meet up with the inhabitants who will have a problem. The overall aim of the game is to collect all of the pieces for their Guardian, this is done by completing their quests which range from having fights, fetching items, customizing creatures and having a song and dance. As you complete these you earn more body parts to create your own original creature. Each area has around 4 quests to complete and with the world map it is very easy to find your way around thanks to it highlighting areas of interest like new quests and also blue meteor fragments that you collect and can use as cash to upgrade your creature. There are also hidden parts and quests dotted around each area, making this a real collectors dream if you want the best parts for your spore.

 

The customizing is not just aesthetic as there are some items that have special powers that assist you in fights and even help you to reach new areas on the map. The mouth piece mentioned earlier allows you to eat but also bite in battle with the B button. As you add stronger legs and feet they will allow you to kick with a flick of the Wii-Mote and a double jump with A. As you progress and defeat creatures you are also given new weapons and items like a horn to rush attack, gills to swim, wings to glide and some helpful armour and health regeneration items.

 

To gain the respect of the creatures you have befriended you need to offer to fight them. Don’t worry though as you don’t make enemies by doing this, it is just part of their culture. Each fight is based on a 3D arena, the control stick moves you around the screen whilst you shake the Wii-Mote and Nunchuck to pull off kicks, bites, charges, spit, aerial attacks and special moves. Most fights rely on your ability to block the light attacks, dodge the heavy ones and then catch the opponent off guard and work their energy down. Each creature has a rank that you should take note of before offering them out for a scrap as if you go into a high ranked fight you will be defeated. It's not just down to skill either as they will more often than not other creatures will have a more powerful attack than you, until of course you upgrade. Don't worry too much if you lose as death isn't an option, you just get sent back to your nest so you can tinker with your character and prepare for the fight again.

 

There are a couple of other fun side quests like singing where you tilt the Wii-Mote in time with the singer to get the same pitch and a dance game involving shaking the controllers in time.

 

I am knocked back by the look of the game, the intro is of a really high quality and the animation of your little spore and the inhabitants is really smooth. Even when you design a crazy looking creature the game engine works out for you the most sensible way for you to move. I absolutely love the environments in the game, each area has its own look and feel, with a vast array of plants and landscapes, making each as alien as the next. The music that plays in the background is a soft tune that suits the alien worlds well, it will also change depending on your circumstances and at times feels like a well written movie score.

 

 

The main quest will take some time to play through and collect everything but this is really just for single players. If you have company you can take your creations into the arena and fight out against each other, this mode is simplistic and offers nothing more than a few fights over a variety of locations but it is still fun in the short term.

 

Spore Hero is yet another great EA title that is a little off aim with its target audience. The cute and weird creatures and colourful worlds are aimed at the younger audience but the customization options and gameplay will entertain even the more hardened gamer. If you look over the cuteness though there is a top game waiting for you.