Darkspore Previews

EA/Maxis’ recently announced action-RPG Darkspore continues to roll in previews and impression pieces from the Comic-Con in San Diego. GameSpot.

The game will offer five different playable races, or “genesis types,” which determine the basis of your characters’ attacks: bio (plant- and organic-based attacks), cyber (robotic attacks), plasma (fire- and lightning-based attacks), necro (death- and poison-based attacks), and quantum (time- and space-based attacks). It will also offer different playable classes that roughly correspond with the archetypes you’ve seen in other such games, such as the sentinel, a “tank” class (which fights enemies in up-close combat and is tough enough to soak up damage); the tempest, a “mage” class (which fights with ranged attacks from a distance and is too fragile to sustain a frontal assault); and the ravager, a “rogue” class (which uses surprise attacks and stealth to do battle). In any mission, you’ll control only one hero at a time (though you can instantly switch to one of your other two characters if you need their powers or are getting too beat up), but interestingly, certain powers that belong to your heroes will remain “universal” to your team and can be used regardless of which hero you’re currently controlling.

Destructoid.

The story feels cookie-cutter. It is as though it only exists to service the expectation that because a game has RPG elements, it needs to have something resembling a plot. Thankfully, the story elements will be unobtrusive at worst. Unlike many titles of it’s ilk, Darkspore is dispensing with the idea of acquiring quests from NPC characters in some sort of overworld. Plot elements will be conveyed through rendered cutscenes at specific points between levels.

No, Darkspore is all about distilling core concepts from genres of gaming and, like the genetic wizards of its exposition, blending them to make a different beast. On the most basic level, it is a game of “left-click to kill” where you contend with swarms of enemies that fall before your might. Elemental effects take on a crucial role, with enemies being weak and resistant to the attacks of your Living Weapons.