Spore Galactic Adventures

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Decent but expensive expansion pack to fun sim game.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Not yet rated

Kids say

Not yet rated

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that 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.

  • 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.
  • You play as a creature visiting other planets and learning about other societies and species.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Creatures can "mate" with others, which involves the two bodies being close to one another and hearts appearing over their head.
  • Not applicable.
  • This is an expansion pack for the Spore game, so it is a way for Electronic Arts to rekindle interest in original game.

What's it about?

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.

 


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.

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.


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What families can talk about

  • 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?


This review was written by Marc Saltzman
Adult
December 5, 2010
 

Flag as inappropriate 
Teen, 16 years old
June 26, 2009
 
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.

Flag as inappropriate 
Kid, 11 years old
August 7, 2011
 
One of the best games ever made
This is so great, I used to play it SOO much. The best part of it is that you make missions to expand the universe you live in, and you also play them! A++

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This review was written by Marc Saltzman
Platforms:Windows
Available online?Available online
Genre:Action/Adventure
Developer:Electronic Arts
Release date:June 23, 2009
Price:$29.99
ESRB rating:E10+ for Animated Blood, Comic Mischief, Fantasy Violence

This review was written by Marc Saltzman

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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