bean19
05-02-2011, 10:41 AM
If you are a Diablo fan to the point that you scratch it with every Diablo-clone-itch-scratching game that comes out, then you should definitely pick up Darkspore. The key innovation in Darkspore is the ability to quickly switch between different squad members (basically tag-in or tag-out) to be able to use different skills based on the situation you are in. It takes place in a sci-fi setting filled with aliens that tend to look like mixes of humanoids and bugs.
http://www.co-optimus.com/images/upload/image/Darkspore%201.jpg
Game art is often subjective and for me it feels like I'm playing with someone's toys rather than creatures that exist somewhere in a wartorn universe, but that may be due to the game's terribly written story. As you move through levels, players are shown short videos that provide exposition on the war between the Progenitors and their vile creations who have taken over the universe, the Darkspore.
However, I led with the bad as the gameplay is a lot of fun. Being able to quickly switch between squad members gives you a larger variety of skills to use than players usually see in Diablo-clones. Plus, each member of your squad has one group skill that may be used by all characters in the squad. This makes choosing squad members who compliment one another really important.
While this creates an opportunity for strategy, I found that most of my choices were made based on what loot dropped because Darkspore doesn't have shops. That's right, you get what the game's drop generator gives you and you like it. This means that sometimes I might want to take along the robotic tank Titan because his group skill does excellent ranged aoe damage at a decent power cost, but if I don't get loot that Titan can use for several rounds, he may become underpowered and not usable. To be fair, you do have a weapon shop, but it is not like a normal Diablo-clone weapon shop that randomly generates a list of weapons including amazing rare items so that selling trash loot becomes a meaningful way to earn currency towards these items. Instead, the weapon shop in Darkspore has "green" (Uncommon) weapons of an item level roughly appropriate to your Cogenitor level. This allows you to at least provide your characters with a standard attack that is decent, but your skills will be pitifully underpowered if you are running with old gear in the 5 other item slots that are equally as meaningful as your character's weapon slot.
You may be wondering what the designers have you do with all that extra money you aren't spending on items? Well first, they make trash loot sell for about 5% of what a comparable weapons costs in the fixed item level weapon shop. Next, they tax players for feature unlocks. You get to a high enough level to chain more rounds together? Well great, fork over the money and you can actually use the feature. Plenty of games do this, paying to unlock features is not the end of the world. I just miss shops with random loot on them as in most dungeon crawler games, this is the consolation prize when all that drops is trash. I think to myself, "Well, all I got was crap, but at least I can use it to get something cool from the shop". Not in Darkspore. If all that drops is crap. That's what you got. Crap.
As a tradeoff, each round guarantees players will receive a rare item with an item level a bit higher than the content you are facing. You can raise this item level by chaining several rounds together (each round is an exploration map that ends in a boss fight). Additionally, every time you receive a rare item, you roll to see if you get an extremely rare item or a "purified" (read Most Rare or Epic). Your chance to receive a rare item is increased by the number of medals you earn each round for doing things like killing all the Darkspore on the level or finding all of the treasure chests (epic items always drop for a perfect 100 roll only). This is pretty fun and many players focus on "chaining" together rounds to increase the item level and rare item chance.
However, the reward system doesn't replace shops well as the drops are still randomized. Thus players can't choose between different gear to build characters toward the strengths they want to enhance. Instead, you pick the best piece of gear from what you've found and sometimes the result is that your favorite character goes lacking. This may be intentionally designed to get people to play characters other than just their favorite 3, and it certainly does that, but it also frustrated me. I can choose to play different characters if I get bored with my favorites on my own, thank you very much.
The co-op play is excellent as 4 people can play the PvE levels together. The downside is that if a player leaves or is disconnected during a chain of several levels, they may or may not be able to rejoin and thus may have lost a great deal of time and effort towards earning rare items. With "chaining" being such a core gameplay feature, the game designers failing to design around disconnects in order to grant players loot when things foul up immensely is unforgivable.
However, the PvP side of multiplayer is just a forgettable deathmatch. As players keep the gear on their characters that they've earned and because the game plays like Diablo, it is really a way for people who like bragging about their gear to actively compare it. Most people won't bother with it. This is a shame too, as a DotA or League of Legends PvP game where players buy their loot as they meet objectives and get kills would have made this game exceptional.
Diablo-fanatics should pick this up today if they've already worn holes in Titan Quest, Dungeon Siege, and Torchlight. Despite the game's flaws and failure to meet it's multiplayer potential, there are solid innovations to the dungeon crawler genre in Darkspore that are worth playing. I'd suggest everyone else give it a go when it gets to the bargain bin as there is fun to be had here.
3 out of 5 Evil Eyes
Edit: Added info on the weapon shop, such as it is. Thanks Ravenus.
http://www.co-optimus.com/images/upload/image/Darkspore%201.jpg
Game art is often subjective and for me it feels like I'm playing with someone's toys rather than creatures that exist somewhere in a wartorn universe, but that may be due to the game's terribly written story. As you move through levels, players are shown short videos that provide exposition on the war between the Progenitors and their vile creations who have taken over the universe, the Darkspore.
However, I led with the bad as the gameplay is a lot of fun. Being able to quickly switch between squad members gives you a larger variety of skills to use than players usually see in Diablo-clones. Plus, each member of your squad has one group skill that may be used by all characters in the squad. This makes choosing squad members who compliment one another really important.
While this creates an opportunity for strategy, I found that most of my choices were made based on what loot dropped because Darkspore doesn't have shops. That's right, you get what the game's drop generator gives you and you like it. This means that sometimes I might want to take along the robotic tank Titan because his group skill does excellent ranged aoe damage at a decent power cost, but if I don't get loot that Titan can use for several rounds, he may become underpowered and not usable. To be fair, you do have a weapon shop, but it is not like a normal Diablo-clone weapon shop that randomly generates a list of weapons including amazing rare items so that selling trash loot becomes a meaningful way to earn currency towards these items. Instead, the weapon shop in Darkspore has "green" (Uncommon) weapons of an item level roughly appropriate to your Cogenitor level. This allows you to at least provide your characters with a standard attack that is decent, but your skills will be pitifully underpowered if you are running with old gear in the 5 other item slots that are equally as meaningful as your character's weapon slot.
You may be wondering what the designers have you do with all that extra money you aren't spending on items? Well first, they make trash loot sell for about 5% of what a comparable weapons costs in the fixed item level weapon shop. Next, they tax players for feature unlocks. You get to a high enough level to chain more rounds together? Well great, fork over the money and you can actually use the feature. Plenty of games do this, paying to unlock features is not the end of the world. I just miss shops with random loot on them as in most dungeon crawler games, this is the consolation prize when all that drops is trash. I think to myself, "Well, all I got was crap, but at least I can use it to get something cool from the shop". Not in Darkspore. If all that drops is crap. That's what you got. Crap.
As a tradeoff, each round guarantees players will receive a rare item with an item level a bit higher than the content you are facing. You can raise this item level by chaining several rounds together (each round is an exploration map that ends in a boss fight). Additionally, every time you receive a rare item, you roll to see if you get an extremely rare item or a "purified" (read Most Rare or Epic). Your chance to receive a rare item is increased by the number of medals you earn each round for doing things like killing all the Darkspore on the level or finding all of the treasure chests (epic items always drop for a perfect 100 roll only). This is pretty fun and many players focus on "chaining" together rounds to increase the item level and rare item chance.
However, the reward system doesn't replace shops well as the drops are still randomized. Thus players can't choose between different gear to build characters toward the strengths they want to enhance. Instead, you pick the best piece of gear from what you've found and sometimes the result is that your favorite character goes lacking. This may be intentionally designed to get people to play characters other than just their favorite 3, and it certainly does that, but it also frustrated me. I can choose to play different characters if I get bored with my favorites on my own, thank you very much.
The co-op play is excellent as 4 people can play the PvE levels together. The downside is that if a player leaves or is disconnected during a chain of several levels, they may or may not be able to rejoin and thus may have lost a great deal of time and effort towards earning rare items. With "chaining" being such a core gameplay feature, the game designers failing to design around disconnects in order to grant players loot when things foul up immensely is unforgivable.
However, the PvP side of multiplayer is just a forgettable deathmatch. As players keep the gear on their characters that they've earned and because the game plays like Diablo, it is really a way for people who like bragging about their gear to actively compare it. Most people won't bother with it. This is a shame too, as a DotA or League of Legends PvP game where players buy their loot as they meet objectives and get kills would have made this game exceptional.
Diablo-fanatics should pick this up today if they've already worn holes in Titan Quest, Dungeon Siege, and Torchlight. Despite the game's flaws and failure to meet it's multiplayer potential, there are solid innovations to the dungeon crawler genre in Darkspore that are worth playing. I'd suggest everyone else give it a go when it gets to the bargain bin as there is fun to be had here.
3 out of 5 Evil Eyes
Edit: Added info on the weapon shop, such as it is. Thanks Ravenus.