Let me start by saying that I have scored this purely on my enjoyment of the game. I wish I put in half marks cause this game is neither 3 nor 4 really. But its better than a 3 hence the score.

I am going to put this very very simply. Its a simple good fun game with many, many, many issues. I really enjoyed the story. I always have fun hacking and slashing through floods of enemies. I really enjoy when a game makes me feel like i am some sort of almighty beast whom no being on earth can destroy (ok this game didnt really do that but i was stronger than most). I like collecting loot and looking different to the other people playing. You have to love the sound when you pick up a particularly useful peice of armour or a weapon. Its pretty satisfying.

All that said I have to be fair. Every good thing in the game seems to have something broken. The story was enjoyable but I think they forgot to explain a few things. Alot of details are given through inferance. I usually like this subtle method of letting the player learn about the world. The problem is that by the time you figure out the particular detail the “A-Ha” moment has long passed and you find yourself working on the next piece of the puzzle. I am starting on a second runthrough now and alot of what i see makes a good deal more sense. I dont want to go into specifics cause event though it is based on a well known mythology its still nice to not have everything spelt out for you.

As for the hoardes of enemies, It is a pitty there isnt much variation and any variation that is there seems to be a complete change of enemy type at the most inexplicable moments. For absolutly no aparent reason the enemies will stop being the small scurrying “goblins” and become taller beefier “Dark elves”. Admittedly there isnt much of a difference, the elves are just taller tougher versions of the goblins and they all die pretty well, i just wish i knew why they changed at those specific moments or even just an explanation of exactly what the hell i am fighting. eh, To be honest everything is just a target for your sword or gun anyway.

Which brings me nicely onto the fighting system which is both a stroke of genius and flawed sytem in one. On one hand its novel use of the right stick to target enemies is fun if not entirely intuitive. I wish there was a way to have it be the camera control and the attack control. its annoying in places like the aesir where you cant actually do anything with that stick, its just useless. even swapping to camera controll here may have been an option. The other problem is the fighting system itself and the balance of powerups and the like. This Game WANTS you to go into melee combat. If you prefer guns and select a character which is supposedly meant to mainly use guns you will not be able to build up combos, develop Ruiners or even unlock some of the achievments. I wouldnt mind except the they have a stand back and shoot character, the commando, and you get no replacement for the benefits you would get from hand to hand combat. its the little things that get me.

Then there is the problem with dying. I did this alot. I even got the achievment for 100 deaths. so i have had to watch that stinking valkerie animation OVER 100 TIMES!!! It wasnt fun. I would prefer an XP hit or somthing, but there is another punishment in that your equipment breaks so they have no excuse for making you watch it. I have gotten distracted while waiting and ended up dying again after spawning cause i wasnt paying attention. How annoying is that? The pace of this game would have been seriously improved if you could skip that scene. that and the ability to sprint through empty areas

So in conclusion. great game. Loads of fun. One of the first that had me going “just one more level” in a long while (bar spore that is). Get it, especially if you can pick it up in game for €25 like me, including the preorder bonus armour sets.

I got the demo for this little as soon as it was released and about 20 seconds after creating my first creature I went straight to the site and bought the game. Though to be perfectly honest its more of an investment than a purchase because i get the price taken off  the full game when it finally gets to a stage that i can buy it. For anyone who doesn’t know I have been following this game since Will Wright’s talk at the 2005 Game development Conference. Just another 70 odd days to wait before I get my hands on Spore but the Creature Creator will more than tide me over. The game is the most simple thing you could get your hands on. Following the instructions of ronseal’s marketing department this game does exactly what it says on the tin. All you get to do in this game is create creatures. But you can create any creature that your twisted mind can conjure up. There are some limitations on the overall complexity so giving your creature 47 legs will pose some problems but other than that you can make anything that takes your fancy. At the time of writing this post there were approaching 1 million different creatures in the sporepedia. This is an online resource of creatures created by users and shared. Each one is unique. There may be similatisies but the variations are incredible. This is all down to the control scheme.

Making your own little monster is simple, intuitive and above all fast. withing 1 minute of starting the game you can have your own multilimbed abomination running around on screen shouting and dancing and punching to its heart’(s) content. Of course to really craft something special you will need time. Each and every part of your creature can be manipulated. there is no rules on where anything can be placed. no set shoulders, hips or neck. All that is set is that there must be a spine of indeterminate length and a mouth to allow the creature to feed. of course multiple mouths are not a problem either and size is not set. A quick roll of your mouse wheel and the selected part or part of a part can be enlarged or shrunk. There really are no limits on the variations that can be created.

What really Makes this game though are the finishing touches. While already accomplishing what it set out to do the development team went that bit further and added in a few extras. The first is the ability to instantly post a video of your creature to You tube from within the game. This has caused You tube to be flooded with peoples videos of their characters, including a few unsavoury ones.

A quick verdict - BEST GAME EVER. Or its is at the moment anyway, my opinion on that is prone to rapid and unpredictable change. The most staggering thing here is that this is only one aspect of a much larger game which will allow for even greater variation and interaction. come on 70 days time, I’m sick of waiting