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Darkspore |OT| Gimmie the loot gimmie the loot gimmie the loot

kamspy

Member
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Plot

The Crogenitors were a race of unrivaled scientists and had built a large galactic empire. They had mastered mutation and used their knowledge to create an army of genetic heroes, that became known as "Living Weapons". But the discovery by Crogenitor Xylan of the E-DNA, an experimental amino acid that bonds to DNA, changed everything: it was used to weaponize life itself, and it was capable of achieving millennia of evolution in hours. However, the E-DNA was unstable and all of the subjects who came in contact with it were transformed into a genetic nightmare and connected with a hive mind known as "The Darkspore". The E-DNA rapidly turned into a virus that spread all over the galaxy, killing everything in sight. The end result was war. All genetic heroes were slaughtered, almost all Crogenitors were killed, and the Crogenitor empire dissipated star by star. Six surviving Crogenitors were put in cryogenic pods. Xylan was thrown into exile and E-DNA usage was outlawed. In his exile, he injects himself with E-DNA and becomes The Corruptor, master of the Dakspore. Five of the surviving Crogenitos were sent to planets with surviving genotypes, accompanied by the AI network HELIX, and tasked with constructing new Living Weapons untouched by Darkspore. The final surviving Crogenitor was left asleep indefinitely, awaiting the moment when the HELIX network had stabilized the E-DNA. After 1000 years the HELIX succeeded. The 7th Crogenitor was awakened and began to gather the new Living Weapons, strengthening them with the stabilized E-DNA.

Starting with only a few brave heroes, the Crogenitor Insurgency, as it became known, grew to the size of a small army. The Insurgency raided all Darkspore strongholds, discovering more comrades along the way. They grew ever closer to their ultimate goal of purging the Darkspore from the galaxy...

In the end, the Corruptor's hideout is located on the ruined desert planet of Scaldron. After an epic battle that reflects the other boss fights, the Corruptor, master of all genesis types, is defeated, and he explodes into a burst of white light and his roar of anguish slowly echos away. After his demise, all that remains of him is the mask of Xylan, lifelessly laying on the ground.

HELIX then informs the player that without their leader, the Darkspore forces are splintering; The mutation mines orbiting Verdanth were shot down, the sun finally arose on Nocturna, the energy fields on Zelem's Nexus were restored and repaired, the technology on Infinity was reclaimed by the natives, who proceeded to eradicate the remaining Darkspore, and the ice that has been plaguing Cryos for centuries is finally starting to melt away. The game then zooms back down to Scaldron where Xylan's mask lay dormant on the ground, but one of the mask's eye holes flickers red before the screen fades out...

Characters


The heroes or "Living Weapons" are divided in five genetic types: Plasma , Quantum, Bio, Cyber, and Necro. Plasma genesis deals with fire and electricity, Quantum genesis deals with time-space and matter ability, Bio genesis deals with plants, animals, poisons and life-force, Cyber genesis use bullets and energy beams, Necro genesis deals with death, darkness, fear, souls, and twisting reality. A subdivision of the heroes divided them in Sentinel, Ravager and Tempest heroes. Sentinels are bulky beings with high defense and melee powers but are very slow, Ravagers have balanced stats and high speed, Tempests are heroes with ranged attacks and support abilities. Although there are only 25 basic heroes, the player will be able to create 3 other "genetic variants" of each hero raising the number of total heroes to 100. Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta variants exist, each of them with a unique ability different for each genetic types. The Darkspore enemies also follow the genetic division, but have different ranks.

Zrin - Zrin was a lowly criminal and was kept in a prison on Cryos until the Darkspore mutated his guards, leaving Zrin to slowly die. When he was at the end, Crogenitor Ptyron appeared before him and painfully transformed him, gaining the power of Plasmagenesis. His left hand and minor circulatory system became engulfed in a biological plasma, enabling him to manipulate magma, lava, fire and electricplasma, and incinerate almost any obstacle. He also gained incredible endurance and tough skin. The Darkspore offered Zrin Power, Fun and Revenge, and he would have gladly taken this offer if he would retain his brain, with the title of "The Sun Fist", as a Plasma Sentinel. His left hand is constantly aflame while the right hand is crossed by electric sparks, and he wears two gauntlets with short blades.[7]

Vex - Vex worked as a mechanic in Zelem Nexus teleporter system, not knowing that a Crogenitor scientist named Zelem was actually observing how the radiation from the reactors would work on the engineers. While he was trying to activate a teleportal, Vex accidentally naturally teleported into the enclave of Zelem. Scared by the horrified appearance of Zelem, Vex began teleporting casually throughout the laboratory destroying nearly everything and unwillingly making his powers stronger stronger on each shift becoming a Quantum Ravager. When the Darkspore attack he uses this ability to fight them gaining the title "the Chrono Shifter". He uses two swords set on his forearms.[8]

Sage - Sage, a scientist who initially warned the Crogenitors about the power of E-DNA, was forced to watch as his home world, Verdanth, was destroyed by the unstable substance. Re-engineering his bio-technology as a weapon, Sage gained healing powers and control over flora and fauna. He has vowed to free his planet from the Darkspore. He is a Bio Tempest, and appears similar to a mix between a centaur and a tree. He is now known as "The Life Forester" and his weapon is an energy cannon fixed in place of his right hand.[9]

Goliath - Goliath is a Cyber Sentinel from the planet Infinity, and a master of the technomartial order. Once forced to flee for his life as a fugitive, he found the powerful Protonic Sword, and was able to wipe out his chasers, and now defends all innocent fugitives and exiles in his battle against the mutants as "The Energy Guardian".[10]

Arakna - An esteemed and feared member of the Nocturni Legion, Arakna is known as "the Soul Collector" for her ability to harness the neuro-intellectual energy that holds identities and secrets of her fallen opponents. Feeding her thousands of young in her egg sack, she fights on to fulfill her duty in the Legion. She is a Necro Ravager similar to a spider and her weapon is a neuro based gun set on her abdomen.[11]

Meditron - An explorer from Infinity and an ex-medic, Meditron returned from a long trip to find his home infested by the Darkspore. He fled for safety and went into hiding in a crevasse called Iktotom's Skull, where he discovered an old refuge of Crogenitor Suzu and using that technology to repurpose his healing nanobots to harm and control his enemies and to assist his allies. He then encountered the Insurgency and joined them as the "Repair-Bot". He is a Cyber Tempest with six legs and use a shoot-nanobots cannon in place of his right hand.[12]

Blitz - Blitz, "The Storm Striker", armed with a pair of claw gauntlets and possessing control over electroplasma, he has traveled across the frozen lands of Cryos after the shattering of its old civilization because of the ice age, losing almost all of his siblings to start a new life in the equatorial area of the planet. There he become a leader and began to organize a new society creating bands of warriors, hunters and those who had something to contribute to society. He is ever willing to fight against anyone who threatens this newfound peace, and is determined to defeat the Darkspore. He is a Plasma Ravager.[13]

Jinx - Jinx was one of the Many Nocturni gifted with Necrogenetic powers, these were "Gifted" by the Crogenitor Ingto when he destroyed the web of life between the Bioforms and the Necroform spirits of Nocturna. These powers were far from a blessing, as many of the "Chosen" Nocturni died in their infancy,with only the Strongest surving;,Jinx was the Strongest of these.Why Jinx joined the Nocturni Legion, the military force that conquered her people, was a mystery,Some believed she was a Traitor,Some believed that she was working as a Spy and some thought that she had been brainwashed by one of the Nocturni Eternals. But eventually she broke with the Legion when she rose to the rank of commander and vowed to destroy its leadership. Jinx, and followers loyal to her, turned on their fellow commanders in a devastating betrayal. Employing powers she'd kept hidden from the Legion, Jinx hurled dark matter devastators—darma—like necrotic grenades at her former Legion-mates. Taking her finest warriors with her back to their ancestral hives, Jinx sought to liberate her enslaved people. She might have succeeded, had the Darkspore invasion not forced her to change her target from worldly to interplanetary as "The Dark Reaper". She is a Necro Tempest similar to a mosquito with four large wings and two arms and fights with a dreadful staff to channel her powers.[14]

Magnos - Possessing the natural (and mutated) ability to manipulate mass and gravity to be able to absorb radiation and cosmic rays, Magnos became the strongest wrestler of his clan defeating all of opponents in the rings of Zelem's Nexus until the Darkspore attack. He then formed a team with his mightiest opponents (the few who he let survive) to oppose the Darkspore, even being able to rip apart a Darkspore Dreadnought with their armored hands. After, he joined the Insurgency with the title of "The Binary Star Sentinel". He is a Quantum Sentinel who fight only with his physical strength and his clawed hands.[15]

Tork - Tork, also known as "The Fungal King", is a Bio Tempest from the planet Verdanth. He uses a pump-mask on his face to pump spores through a pack on his back that will put enemies to sleep. Before the Darkspore invaded, he was a scoundrel and outcast who took whatever he could from anyone until he could overpower. Crogenitor Astra, disgusted by his behavior, kidnapped him and used him as a test subject for a decade to teach him a lesson. After a decade, Astra allowed him to escape and save the rest of Astra's test subjects. He is equipped with a pair of gas cannons set on his forearms.

Titan - Titan, called "The Impenetrable", is a quadrapedal Cyber Sentinel. He has shoulder-mounted machine-guns and large feet powerful enough to cause small earthquakes with a single stomp. One of the last of his kind, Titan was an engineer on the super-polluted Infinity. Building soaring towers and vast bridges, delighting in the power of his mind to connect and create, Titan dreamed of ressurecting the ancient factory-cities to make his world alive again. But working alone for decades took its toll on Titan's body, until the day he fell to his death... Only to be ressurected by Crogenitor Suzu. For Titan, it seemed like a nightmare transformed into a dream. He remembered plummeting horribly, his body battered against steel and rock before crashing into a toxic tailings pond. And then blackness, and agony...and finally, a symphony of electrical sensation. His body surged with the energy and power of his rebuilt, Cybernetically infused body. Reborn for forces he did not understand, Titan emerged from Suzu's enclave to continue his vast project of rebuilding his word. But the Darkspore descended to incinerate those dreams. Repurposing whatever Reparibots he could find into his own personal legion, Titan shifted from ressurector to destroyer, specializing in querilla raids that taunted his enemies. Defended by his personally-designed energy sheild and conflicting consultative blasts at will against ensnared enemies, Titan vowed to wipe out the Darkspore on his world, so he could live long enough to put down the weapons of chaos for his beloved tools of order.

Andromeda - Andromeda is a Quantum Tempest. She is very humanoid in appearance, albeit sporting wing-like appendages, tentacle-like hair, four-jointed legs, and a tail. She carries around a staff and is known as "The Gravatic Warmaster". Before the Darkspore invaded, she was an elite engineer on Zelem's Nexus. She became a hero when she used her experience to avoid the collision between her floating home island Mishina and a dozen of other islands, and since that she was Zelem's favorite apprentice, calling her "his child" until he mysteriously disappeared during the Darkspore attack. She uses a staff to channel her powers.

Wraith - Wraith is a Necro Sentinel know as "the Spectre of Vengeance". He resembles a werewolf with an avian skull for a mask. He carries around a large axe as a weapon and can turn transparent to elude attacks . Before the Darkspore invaded, he was an necro guardian, one of the energy wielder beings that kept the life and the necrotic energies stable on Nocturna, something that became increasingly difficult as Crogenitor Ingto had ravaged the membrane that separates the two worlds, until the Nocturni Legion conquered his clan and forced him into the hiding in one of the nearby mines. There Crogenitor Ingto forcefully granted him the necro genesis. Wraith then fled, obliterating all who stood in his way.

SRS-42 - SRS-42 certainly deserves the titles of Living Weapon and "the Missile Commander ". He is a Cyber Tempest that resembles a walking army tank. He can fire missiles that hone in on enemies and cause area damage. After having been nearly killed by a deadly neurotoxin that was accidentally released into the factory he worked at on Infinity, he was resurrected by Crogenitor Suzu as a Cyborg. His special abilities allow him to work at a distance or charge in for short periods of time with invulnerability. Being stationary for 5 seconds increases the damage SRS-42 can do to the Darkspore. He is bipedal, has no arms and is considerably less agile than Titan.

Krel - Krel is a Plasma Ravager that resembles a demonic canine-like beast. He is known as "The Living Firestorm". Seeing how desperate Krel was to protect his children on Cryos, Crogenitor Ptyron granted him the power of fire and electroplasma. Unfortunately, all of Krel's children were killed by the Darkspore, and Krel is now the last of his kind. He is the only Living Weapon that don't belong to a sapient species. He use his teeth and claws as a weapon together with plasma breath and a tri-plasma cannon set on his shoulders.

Viper - Viper is a Bio Ravager known as "The Toxic Ravager". Originally a primitive weapon maker from Verdanth, his skin was made poisonous by Crogenitor Astra. He resembles a cross between a cactus and a cricket with four arms and his weapons are a pair of wrist mounted blades that draw poison from his skin.

Maldri - Maldri is known as "The Quantum Raider" and is a very special hero. He is an extremely powerful Quantum Ravager and is very difficult to acquire in game. However, those who pre-order Darkspore will automatically unlock his gamma variant on day one. While raiding Zelem's abandoned enclave on the Nexus, he accidentally activated a laser device that gave him his Quantum powers. He use the scythe blades set instead of his hands and his legs to attack.

Orion - Also known as "The Lightspeed Tempest", Orion was originally a technician on Zelem's Nexus. One Day Zelem sent out a wave of energy from his enclave that heavily hit the Nexus' power plant's center of a near island. All in the building fled except Orion and he was hit by the energy wake granting Quantum Tempest powers. By instinct Orion used his new-found powers to avoid the collision of two highly populated islands, almost losing is life. When the Darkspore attacked he went into hiding and then joined the Insurgency. He travels with a hover-pack and two of his four hands hold a pair of energy guns.

Lumin - Also called "The Lightning Provoker", Lumin is a Plasma Tempest from Cryos. Lumin was once a hero that lead his warriors against the Darkspore. However, many of his warriors and friends were infected by the Darkspore virus and he was forced to kill them. This brought him to the brink of insanity. After finding him, Crogenitor Ptyron realized that the only hope to heal him was to give him another chance to save his his people. So he give him Plasma lightning-based powers that Lumin channeled across his staff.

Skar - Skar "The Shadow of Death" is a Necro Ravager from Nocturna. He was a member of the Nocturni Legion, but was forced into hiding after the Darkspore invaded the planet. He plans to rule Nocturna one day after the Darkspore are all gone. He is similar to centaur-like spider and his weapon is a pair of small daggers set on his wrists.

Revenant - Revenant is a member of the Nocturni Legion and is known as "Deathraider of the Stars." He was given his cosmic abilities from Crogenitor Ingto. Until the Darkspore invaded, Revenant had never faced defeat before, and now dreams of slaughtering the Corruptor himself. This Necro Tempest has three legs and uses the mystical crystal set on his head to channel his necro powers.

Arborus - Arborus is a Bio Sentinel from Verdanth. He is known as "The Veridian Protector", and was granted the power to summon volcanoes and earthquakes by Crogenitor Astra after hearing of his wish of become strong as the eternal green gods. He is a hulking being, similar to an ogre or a troll mixed with a tree with four arms and a heavy spiked wooden club.

Savage - Savage, "Lord of the Beasts", is a Bio Sentinel from Verdanth. After his parents were killed in a massive earthquake as a child, he ran into the rain forests, where he became more like a beast, especially because he possesses the rare ability to communicate with the animals. One day he was directed by Crogenitor Astra to a field of specifically designed mutagenic fungus, that transformed him, granting him of a enhanced version of his ability and making him similar of his companions. He then became the king of the local wildlife until the Darkspore conquered, where he fought alongside his powerful pet. His weapon is a pair of gauntlets on his forearms with long curved blades.

Char - Char is a Plasma Tempest from Cryos and is known as "The Blazing Inferno". He was originally an assassin who hunted criminals, but not even he could catch everyone; and when he was left to die from the wounds a team of rebels who scarred him with, Crogenitor Ptyron healed him and gave him the ability to pryokenitically attack anything he saw. He has two eyes, a tail, six legs, but no arms.

Seraph-XS - Seraph-XS also called "The Infiltrator", is a Cyber Ravager from the planet Infinity. She was originally the last Combot, the war drones used by the residents of Infinity to combat Darkspore, but was reprogrammed by Crogenitor Suzu to have free will and a personality, who hopes she will be able to one day live a meaningful life, free of Darkspore. She has four legs and two arms with an energy cannon in place of her right hand.

Non-Hero characters


Zelem - The most brilliant Crogenitor scientist. Along with the other surviving Crogenitors, Zelem created multiple Living Weapons using the Quantum genesis; unlike many of the other Crogenitor scientists, he had few qualms injuring innocent people while seeking to strengthen the resistance to the Darkspore hordes. Unfortunately, all but five of his quantum heroes perish during the first coordinated attack on Zelem's Nexus by the Darkspore, now known as "The Nexus Massacre". When the Darkspore invaded Zelem's Nexus, he tried to flee, but met his demise in the Outer Rings of the Nexus.

Ptyron - Crogenitor Ptyron is the surviving Crogenitor that landed on Cryos and is the largest of them. He seemed to be the most kindhearted of them: instead of seeking powerful beings to turn in Living Weapons, he gives them the power of the Plasma genesis to the ones who touched him.

Astra - Astra landed on Verdanth a long time ago. He appreciates the positive qualities but used even the hard ways for his goals. He created Living Weapons from the Bio genesis.

Suzu - The Crogenitor that landed on Infinity. He, like Ptyron, have a kind personality helping the suffering people of Infinity with his Cyber genesis modifications.

Ingto - Like Zelem , Ingto had no problems to perform dangerous experiments on the people of Nocturna and on the planet itself. He had ripped to instability the membrane that separates the living world to the world of dead on Nocturna.

The Corruptor - A mysterious rogue Crogenitor scientist that had been mutated into the most powerful Darkspore of all. He was the one who spread the E-DNA virus between the Crogenitor planets and sought to conquer all the galaxy.

The Player - The player is the last of the surviving Crogenitors to awaken. He has remained dormant in a cryogenic capsule aboard of one of the last Crogenitor ships for 1000 years, until he was awoken by the A.I. HELIX, that informed him of his task to create the Insurgency.

HELIX - The A.I. network of the Crogenitor fleet, HELIX was tasked to awaken the Crogenitors and purify the E-DNA, a task that succeded after 1000 years of elaboration. So it awoke the last of the surviving Crogenitors. It speaks with a soft feminine voice.

Xylan - Crogenitor Xylan is the one who discovered E-DNA. After Verdanth fell under seige, Xylan was thrown into exile and tried to transfect himself with E-DNA, and became The Corruptor, leader of the Darkspore. After the Crogenitors fled Verdanth, Xylan revealed him to be The Corruptor to all the other Crogenitors, and E-DNA experimentation was then outlawed. After this, Xylan fled to planet Cryos, where he turned Crogenitors into the Destructors, the game's bosses.
 

kamspy

Member
Abilities

Each hero possesses one basic attack, used by left-clicking; one unique ability, used by pressing 1; one variant ability, used by pressing 2; a passive ability that is always active; and a squad ability, used by pressing 3,4, or 5. The squad and passive abilities can be used by all members of the squad and can combine in sequences. Each ability, except the passive, has a cooldown time.
[edit] Planets

Zelem's Nexus – Home of Quantumgenesis. Once a peaceful planet called Nakto, it was destroyed during a Crogenitor Zelem experiment. Zelem tried to keep his home world together by creating an artificial gravity-field, but even then the planet was nothing more than a series of floating isles that continuously collided. After their takeover the Darkspore were able to perfect the gravity ring. It currently serves as the main base for the Darkspore. The fearless Crogenitor Zelem resided on this planet.

The Destructor that awaits the player at the end of the Nexus is Polaris, the Gravity Manipulator, a black hole-generating mastermind who can manipulate gravity and space time to warp at will.
Nocturna - Home of Necrogenesis. It has three moons and is constantly detached by the sunlight so it is also called the planet of eternal night. Nocturna was the second planet to fall victim to the Darkspore Seige after a barrage of Mutation Agents bombarded the planet. It is the home world of the Nocturni Legion, a fighting force led by the Nocturni Ethernals that have conquered many peoples and worlds. The main features of this planet are rivers of liquid plasma, gigantic crystalline formations, and large moving plants. Plasma storms are seen inside the mountains of the planet, and the plants and creatures native to Nocturna are usually bioluminescent. The cruel Crogenitor Ingto resides on this planet.

The Destructor that awaits the player at the end of Nocturna is Nashira, the Shadow Void, the insectoid queen who's fearsome power frightens even the other darkspore on her planet.

Verdanth - Home of Biogenesis. Verdanth was once a bright and beautiful lush world full of rainforests of jungles, but after the Darkspore invaded, the civilizations quickly turned into nothing but ruins, and the wildlife became a dreadfull danger because was mutated by the power of E-DNA. The verdanthi are both spiritual and highly science advanced society, and once a generation few of them born with the ability to compreed the animal language. The mysterious Crogenitor Astra resides on this planet.

The Destructor that awaits the player at the end of Verdanth is Orcus, Devourerer of Life, the empress of all mutated animals who can summon minions, which he can eat to regain health.

Infinity - Home of Cybergenesis. Infinity is a heavily-polluted planet covered in poisoned oceans and factories. Many of the inhabitants have either fled or perished, and the ones who remain compete for the whatever resources still remain. Most of the surviving inhabintants are cyborgs, who do not require food or water, and were able to survive the shortages of supplies. With very little defenses, the Darkspore easily conquered this planet and enslaved all the remaining natives. The kindhearted Crogenitor Suzu resides on this planet.

The Destructor that awaits the player at the end of this planet is Arcturus, the Cybernetic Colossus, a hulking robotic being who attacks with missiles and lasers.

Cryos – Home of Plasmagenesis, Cryos is a planet currently in a state of extreme ice age that had destroyed almost all of the local species and its population. Trying to heat the planet, the Crogenitor placed in its center a "white hole", a nearly infinite source of heat. However this only worsened the situation as now the planet is ripped with rivers of molten plasma but is still frozen. Harboring a unique variety of geological features, Cryos contains ancient Crogenitor technology that the Darkspore hadn't manage to discover yet. The passionate Crogenitor Ptyron resided on this planet.

The Destructor that awaits the player at the end of this planet is Merak, the Devestator, a towering golem made of lava that harnesses the power of plasmatic energy to destroy his enemies.[17]

Scaldron – Scaldron was once called Preceptum, the Crogenitor's homeworld. Life never evolved, so the Crogenitors made the planet suitable for all 5 genesis types. The Corruptor uses this planet as his hideout.
 

kamspy

Member
so yeah GAF. Add me up. User name is Kamspy.

Apparently you can't use the Steam overlay because it uses the EADM overlay. But it's pretty fleshed out. Web browser, chat, etc. The whole 9 yards.

Game plays like a mini MMO.

I'm really digging it way more then I expected. Being able to take the sweet loot you get and put in anywhere, any color on your character is another strong point. Tons of customization.
 
EntirelyDangry is my EA username for Darkspore. I've only played through the initial bit though, Risen has been consuming all of my free time.
 

kamspy

Member
Loving the reaver class. Up to lvl 5. It looks like they take the training wheels off at lvl 6. Pretty fun little game. I like being able to take a party of 3 so no one is stuck as a healer or tank the whole time.
 

Kinitari

Black Canada Mafia
Just hit level 7, this is easier than the first time around - I don't think I was paying attention in the beta. For example, I didn't know getting 3 catalysts of the same colour in a row gave you a HUGE bonus.

Rare damage Catalyst, +14% damage w/ Link Bonus? Addition 6% bonus.
 
One of the most visually interesting and unique takes on the loot 'n' level concept, and going by this thread, GAF at large gives it a miss. A shame, really. The same old fantasy pap continues to hold sway.

Had a lot of fun in the beta, looking forward to sinking a lot of time into the full version when it arrives.
 
bluedeviltron said:
I smell a bomb.

That said, definitely looks interesting. It's $30 at Frys right now, I'm wondering if it's worth taking a shot on.
Just wait, this will be discounted so heavily it'll
be kinda sad
 

kamspy

Member
Teknoman said:
It really looks cool, but how is the soundtrack?

Unobtrusive. I don't want to damn it to much with faint praise. It didn't stand out. Just nice little electro stuff on cool alien worlds.
 
kamspy said:
Unobtrusive. I don't want to damn it to much with faint praise. It didn't stand out. Just nice little electro stuff on cool alien worlds.

Fair enough. I liked it a hell of a lot, really cool synth work.
 
Glad to see an OT.

Still getting through some backlog but going to pick this up tomorrow so I don't get too far behind on the online/randoms side of things.
 
Wow, Gerstmann's Darkspore impressions on the recent Bombcast didn't paint a very good picture...and although he justified his perspective with the caveat of it only being from an hour's worth of game...you don't see much in an hour.

You could level a lot of same criticisms at Diablo, Titan Quest, Sacred etc.

As I've said before, I think the visual design - the entire xenobiological motif of the game - is one of Darkspore's strongest components, as well as building a team with complimentary aspects. I dunno...I do think many folks who passed on the game would find something to really enjoy if they dug a little deeper.
 

steadfast

Member
It's pretty fun. Not mind-blowing, but a good time killer until Dungeon Siege 3 or Torchlight 2.

The UI is kinda clunky and there's a lot going on.

I thought the whole Pokeman aspect of the heroes would be kind of cool, but it just gets tedious so I tend to stick with just 2 squads of dudes. Speaking of which, the whole squad system is pretty awesome. Being able to switch out your heroes really helps a lot and makes for some interesting combinations.
 

AwRy108

Member
terrdactycalsrock said:
So how is everyone enjoying the game? I'm thinking about picking it up today

If you love--and I do mean LOVE--the hack-n-slash, loot-whoring genre, then you'll enjoy Darkspore. Most of the reviews I've skimmed are actually pretty spot on: this feels like a fantastic foundation for something much bigger that has yet to be realized.

I'm loving the game, but it's definitely one that is extremely well suited for playing while listening you your favorite podcasts, especially since the story is pretty pointless.

EDIT: also, it's only $30 on Amazon (physical or digital), which the game is well worth.
 

Chozo

Member
terrdactycalsrock said:
Yeah, that whole squad thing is really awesome looking, but having so many playable characters worry me. how varied are they?

Kind of misleading, actually. You have 4 permutations on 25 different heroes, with the main difference being that one of their abilities is different from the other version's.
 
AwRy108 said:
If you love--and I do mean LOVE--the hack-n-slash, loot-whoring genre, then you'll enjoy Darkspore. Most of the reviews I've skimmed are actually pretty spot on: this feels like a fantastic foundation for something much bigger that has yet to be realized.

I'm loving the game, but it's definitely one that is extremely well suited for playing while listening you your favorite podcasts, especially since the story is pretty pointless.

EDIT: also, it's only $30 on Amazon (physical or digital), which the game is well worth.

Yeah I believe that you have to have a good podcast picked out while playing something like torchlight.
 
So I just installed the game, but everytime I start it up I get a pop up box that said " Darkspore is currently not available for play. Please try again during a scheduled play test." What do i do?
 
Still playing this one every chance I get to game.

Crogen level 26 now and my main heroes are around level ~70. Some crazy hard bosses and get my arse handed to me by some of those elites with Regen/Unstoppable etc.. Still thoroughly enjoy it though.
 
Would have been interested if it had been some kind of addon for normal Spore, shame they only did like 2 packs for it and moved on.

Saw that Edge gave it a 4 when I was flicking through it earlier.
 

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
I extensively played the beta and the retail just doesn't appeal to me unless it hits $10.

It's too slow paced and methodical for me.
Enemy variety up to a certain point doesn't matter.
Move speed aghhhhhhhhh. Need run. (+ move speed doesn't make up for it)

The parts it does well is the feeling that loot matters and the customization, along with having 3 whole different teams.

Does the game ever address the slow movement pace? (e.g. like +80% move speed) or the slow rate of attacks? Nothing really felt weighty.
And the game was far too easy (especially if you broke it by picking SRS-42 or using flak cannon + sage).

The game could easily be so much better. It has a very good foundation.
 
I see that this game didn't get a lot of love here on the GAF boards, but Steam is selling it for 40% off on both solo and group sales. So that makes it $30 for one copy and $90 for a four pack. Give it a shot.
 

Carm

Member
Neuromancer said:
Damn this game came out 5 months ago, and didn't even get a full page of posts. EA am cry.

Maybe next time they won't try this have to always be online bs. EA doesn't have the clout Blizzard does to get away with that. It's the only reason I never bought the game. The game itself was fun, but seemed shallow, in the beta.
 

Syril

Member
Carm said:
Maybe next time they won't try this have to always be online bs. EA doesn't have the clout Blizzard does to get away with that. It's the only reason I never bought the game. The game itself was fun, but seemed shallow, in the beta.

Wait the final game is online only? That wasn't just for the beta? What a load of shit, there was absolutely nothing in that beta that took advantage of being online all the time. Granted, I haven't seen anything in what I've seen of the Diablo 3 beta that does, either.
 
Carm said:
Maybe next time they won't try this have to always be online bs. EA doesn't have the clout Blizzard does to get away with that. It's the only reason I never bought the game. The game itself was fun, but seemed shallow, in the beta.

What's studio clout got to do with gameplay intention? It's meant for online co-op and, to a lesser extent, PvP. A real underdog. Not a perfect game, but far more creative than just another sword and shield mouse durability benchtester.
 

Carm

Member
Pylon_Trooper said:
What's studio clout got to do with gameplay intention? It's meant for online co-op and, to a lesser extent, PvP. A real underdog. Not a perfect game, but far more creative than just another sword and shield mouse durability benchtester.

You can play it as a single player Diablo clone, except you have to be online to play and saves are not stored locally. Just like D3, not everyone plays games in this genre as coop, I've never played any as coop and I've played quite a few.
 

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
The best part is you can download the Darkspore Demo on Steam and login with your Origin account.
 
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