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Spore Galactic Adventures

(2009, Video Games - Action/Adventure, Rated E10+, Play it on: Windows)
  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 7, age appropriate for kids over 9; suggested age 10.
  • Is it any good?

    3.0
  • Common Sense says

    Decent but expensive expansion pack to fun sim game.

In this game kids can:   battle others, create an avatar, kill non-humans (with blood), play in a virtual world, solve puzzles

Why We Rated This on for Ages 10 and Up

The good stuff

  • Ease of play:

    Not the easiest game to play, as there is quite a bit of micro-manging going on, but those who tackled Spore shouldn't have any issues with Galactic Adventures.
  • Educational value:

    The original game, Spore, required to play this expansion, teaches evolution theory and Darwinian "survival of the fittest" tactics.

  • Online interaction:

    You can create and then share your own playable missions. Plus your accomplishments can be shared with the rest of the world through your global Creature Card.
  • Messages:

    The game challenges players to tackle a number of different tasks, many relating to building a new society. But some will require combat with creatures on other planets.
  • Role models:

    You play as a creature visiting other planets and learning about other societies and species.
 

What to watch out for

  • Violence:

    There is fighting in this game, as creatures use their claws, tails, or teeth to fight against other extra terrestials. When killing an enemy, a plume of red blood can be seen, but it's hardly realistic.
  • Sex:

    Creatures can "mate" with others, which involves the two bodies being close to one another and hearts appearing over their head.
  • Language:

    Not an issue.
  • Consumerism:

    This is an expansion pack for the Spore game, so it is a way for Electronic Arts to rekindle interest in original game.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Not an issue.
 

What Parents Need to Know

This review of Spore Galactic Adventures was written by Marc Saltzman

Parents need to know Galactic Adventures, which requires Spore to play, doesn't contain anything worse than what's found in the original E10+-rated game. There is some fighting, yes, but it's not realistic because it is against aliens on another planet. There is a little blood shown in battles but it is not excessive or gory.

Families Can Talk About

Talk to your kids about the media in their life. We have more tools and tips that can help
  • Families can talk about EA's practice of selling a main PC game and then many expansion packs, or optional add-ons, that require the original disc. Do you think this is milking customers for more money or is the smaller cost appropriate given the amount of new content?
  • Spore is a game about designing your own animal species. Why did you make the design decisions that you did? Does your species become your alter ego the way an avatar does?
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More on Spore Galactic Adventures

What’s the Story?

The first expansion pack to Electronic Arts' popular evolution simulation, Spore, is now available. SPORE GALACTIC ADVENTURES adds a lot of content to the Space portion of the original game (which is required to play this add-on), including many story-based adventures and the ability to create and share your own playable missions (including collecting, combat, and exploring objectives). Players turn their advanced creature into Space Captains (and decorate them with more than 30 new items), battle intergalactic monsters in arenas, and show off their rank on a global Creature Card that shows their accomplishments and medals to the online world.

 

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Is It Any Good?

If you've been playing Spore for months and feel like it needs a shot in the arm, then you'll find Spore Galactic Adventures successfully blends in mission-based game-play (complementing the open-ended sandbox play in the original game) as you beam down to the planet surface to tackle these goals. Along with more combat, puzzles and racing elements, it's fun to create and share custom-made goals on Spore.com. New creature accessories also add to the appeal, especially for those who like to tweak the look of their space captains. But the $30 price tag seems high for an expansion pack, particularly when the full Spore game is just $10 more. While a good add-on pack, its value seems for appropriate at $20 (if not less). That said, this add-on disc proves to be a clever addendum for fans of the franchise.

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Publisher’s Details

Released on 6/23/2009, price $29.99, online enabled
ESRB rating: E10+ (for Animated Blood, Comic Mischief, Fantasy Violence)

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Most Recent Reviews

  1. Teen Reviewer Age 13
    Lives in Mississippi
    I rate this title on for age 9 and give it 4.0
    My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence

    Entertaining, but possibly inappropriate

    This is a hard game to rate, considering that it is up to the players to make missions. A player could make an inappropriate mission or creature. Maxis can ban a player for this, but with so many creations, some may slip through. Most missions involve violence, but little other questionable contet. I have encountered one use of a**, but it was by a brazilian, which may be a lighter cuss-word there, but I don't know. A strange deal was made for this; Robot Chicken missions. Why Maxis would have Robot Chicken make missions I don't know, but they are seperately rated (T). The missions are also downloaded optionally.

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