Ludography
59/100
Players8 ratings
60/100
Critics3 reviews

Where to get it

Darkspore cover

2011 · Maxis · Action role-playing · Beat 'em up

Darkspore

Darkspore was a video game that borrowed creature editing technology from Spore. It was described as "a fast-paced, science fiction action-role-playing game in which the player battled across alien worlds to save the galaxy from the mutated forces of Darkspore". In addition to the creature editor, the game featured a unique squad-based mechanic, various multiplayer options, and a player versus player arena. The game was released in North America on April 26, 2011 for Microsoft Windows, and in Europe on April 28, 2011.

Released
26 April 2011
Platforms
Windows
Genres
Action role-playingBeat 'em upRole-playing
Developers
Maxis
Publishers
Electronic Arts
Series
Spore
Modes
MultiplayerSingle-player
Perspective
Bird view / Isometric
Themes
ActionScience fiction
Engine
proprietary engine
Country
United States
Age ratings
CLASS_IND 14PEGI 16ESRB T
Entry
#8 in Spore
Composers
Junkie XL

About

Darkspore was a 2011 video game that borrowed creature editing technology from Spore. It was described as "a fast-paced, science fiction action role-playing game in which the player battled across alien worlds to save the galaxy from the mutated forces of Darkspore". In addition to the creature editor, the game featured a unique squad-based mechanic, various multiplayer options, and a player versus player arena.

The game was released in North America on April 26, 2011, and in Europe on April 28, 2011, for Microsoft Windows. Darkspore's multiplayer servers were shut down permanently on March 1, 2016, making it unplayable due to its always-on DRM.

›Story

The Crogenitors were a race of scientists that established a massive empire encompassing an entire galaxy. Many of them performed secret experiments on the populations they oversaw. Being masters of genetic manipulation, they used their knowledge to create a personal army of genetic heroes, called Living Weapons. However, the discovery of an experimental amino acid that bonds to DNA changes everything. Capable of achieving a millennium in terms of evolution in a matter of hours, it has an immense potential to manipulate life to levels never achieved before.

Unfortunately, E-DNA proves to be unstable. All of the test subjects who came in contact with it were transformed into uncontrollable genetic mutants soon named The Darkspore. Fearing these new creatures, the Crogenitors throw hero Xylan into exile for his behavior and negligence, outlawing the use of E-DNA. Xylan fakes his death.

Believing himself able to control the power of E-DNA, he injects it himself. This act transforms him into the Corruptor — a mentally unstable, extraordinarily powerful mutant who can master all Darkspores. Determined to get revenge on the other Crogenitors and conquer everything, he gathers allies and strengthens the E-DNA mutagenic power. Afterwards, the Corruptor begins conquering planets of the Crogenitor empire, infecting them through the use of E-DNA bombs, and destroying Crogenitor fortresses with his mutants and war machines.

As the game begins, the player takes on the role of one of the last Crogenitors. Starting with only a few heroes, the player's goal is to purge the Darkspore from the galaxy, planet by planet, moving ever closer to the ultimate goal of destroying the Corruptor forces.

Keywords

  • aliens
  • evolution
  • bloody
  • space
  • steam
  • heroes
  • digital distribution
  • platform exclusive
  • pre-release public testing
  • customizable characters
  • polygonal 3d
  • loot gathering

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Story

The Crogenitors were a race of scientists that established a massive empire encompassing an entire galaxy.

Many of them performed secret experiments on the populations they oversaw. Being masters of genetic manipulation, they used their knowledge to create a personal army of genetic heroes, called Living Weapons. However, the discovery of an experimental amino acid that bonds to DNA changes everything. Capable of achieving a millennium in terms of evolution in a matter of hours, it has an immense potential to manipulate life to levels never achieved before.

Development

Darkspore was developed by Maxis, being the first game they made after Will Wright departed the company. After an internal Spore technology review, the developers were closely surveying the comments left on the forums. Ultimately, their decision was to build up a game that is centered around different creatures fighting together, with co-op gameplay getting the main focus. The fundamentals found in Spore allowed for very quick prototypes, and the team became aware that action RPG was very suitable for the technology.

Maxis added "spore" to the title as a homage to the technology that was running it, but the main idea was to create a standalone work that wouldn't be viewed as an expansion pack nor a sequel to Spore. The early designs were inspired by Magic the Gathering and Pokémon Trading Card Game, and the developers thought they needed someone with an experience in that segment, which led to hiring Paul Sottosanti, a designer from Wizards of the Coast. A team formed of 40 people included the people that worked on previous Maxis games, along with several freelancers.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
Windows26 April 2011North America · Europe 28 April 2011

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Collections3 collections

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.