JoyStiq – DarkSpore preview from EA Showcase 2010 That’s right — although based off of Spore (but running on a brand-new engine) the game won’t have you controlling your own creations. The Creature Creator does return, however, and is used in customizing the placement of the various upgrades. When choosing to beam down from your starship to a planet, you will see a lineup of enemy types that you’ll encounter. This gives you and your friends enough information to decide which three characters from your collection you’ll want to deploy. The trio can then be switched between on the fly, albeit with a brief cool-down period afterward. The idea is to use the characters’ various abilities strategically against what the Left 4 Dead-inspired “AI director” decides to toss your way. Darkspore’splayer creatures also have certain abilities that, in multiplayer, can be used by everyone playing. Creatures with a “haste” ability will automatically make nearby players move faster, for instance. As you can probably tell, Maxis isn’t venturing very far from established territory with Darkspore, although it is a relatively unexplored space for the developer. This can either work in its favor, should it use its fresh set of eyes to spot unique new gameplay possibilities, or work against it if — as is the vibe I’m getting now — it decides to stick pretty close to familiar genre conventions. preview here
