Darkspore anyone?

[Lint of Death]

This game rules. It's absolutely, drop-dead fucking gorgeous, an excellent challenge and it only gets more fun the fuller your party is. Wasson, Jboy, Master Blaster and myself all have this game. Y'all should join us!

Let's do it.

[Hawkzombie]

Sure!................

If someone buys me a copy :p

[Karak]

So I admit, this game is interesting BUT I play games maybe 20/7 litterally that many hours if I am not working out or shooting people. That means singleplayer has to be good and I am hearing some sorta crappy stuff about single. How would you rate it? because 50 is alot to pay for just multi.

[Lint of Death]

So I admit, this game is interesting BUT I play games maybe 20/7 litterally that many hours if I am not working out or shooting people. That means singleplayer has to be good and I am hearing some sorta crappy stuff about single. How would you rate it? because 50 is alot to pay for just multi.

Single player and multiplayer are very similar, actually. You play through the same levels either way, it's just whether you have the co-op experience or not. (And, of course, PvP is multiplayer only if you go that route) The times I've played by myself I actually have a much better time absorbing the incredible audiovisual environments.

Here are the major differences when playing alone:

Enemies are less dangerous, e.g. they have lower hit points. Difficulty scales with the number of players.
You do not encounter certain enemies that require teamwork to overcome.
You might gain somewhat less loot and xp.


The learning curve is pretty gentle - I find the first ~10 levels or more to be pretty easy, and you don't unlock all the fundamental mechanics until you beat something like the 6th level - but it definitely gets harder. The enemies in this game, in terms of behavior and abilities, are some of the most advanced or varied I've ever seen. I believe they still have the feature that replaying a given level results in a more randomly generated experience so you won't get bored if you need to improve your heroes before moving forward.

Each level is about 10-20 minutes, so you can play in short bursts. Then, you can spend ages making your heroes all pretty if you want :)

The only catch to single player is that you still need to be connected to the Internet to play.

[Karak]

Single player and multiplayer are very similar, actually. You play through the same levels either way, it's just whether you have the co-op experience or not. (And, of course, PvP is multiplayer only if you go that route) The times I've played by myself I actually have a much better time absorbing the incredible audiovisual environments.

Here are the major differences when playing alone:

Enemies are less dangerous, e.g. they have lower hit points. Difficulty scales with the number of players.
You do not encounter certain enemies that require teamwork to overcome.
You might gain somewhat less loot and xp.


The learning curve is pretty gentle - I find the first ~10 levels or more to be pretty easy, and you don't unlock all the fundamental mechanics until you beat something like the 6th level - but it definitely gets harder. The enemies in this game, in terms of behavior and abilities, are some of the most advanced or varied I've ever seen. I believe they still have the feature that replaying a given level results in a more randomly generated experience so you won't get bored if you need to improve your heroes before moving forward.

Each level is about 10-20 minutes, so you can play in short bursts. Then, you can spend ages making your heroes all pretty if you want :)

The only catch to single player is that you still need to be connected to the Internet to play.
Ok here is the thing. The IGN reviews states that single player becomes FREAKISH HARD due to being alone. But I am seeing here...you do not think that? Cause If that's so I am buying it. I just don't want one of those games that you feel your forced to play a specific way due to a bad design decision.

[Lint of Death]

Ok here is the thing. The IGN reviews states that single player becomes FREAKISH HARD due to being alone. But I am seeing here...you do not think that? Cause If that's so I am buying it. I just don't want one of those games that you feel your forced to play a specific way due to a bad design decision.

Fake edit: I'll try some of the later levels (that I've already beaten) solo today and let you know how it goes :)

The game gets hard, period. I've played through the first 20 levels by this point, got my account to level 18/100, and I am feeling genuinely challenged. The thing is, I almost never feel like it's an unfair challenge - that if I had the right squad makeup, or used my abilities differently, or actually moved my hero around to avoid all the incoming projectiles, the challenge could be surmounted. Sometimes it comes down to not having good enough gear, because it's possible you just haven't found strong items for the heroes you like, but I can confirm that replaying a given challenge level results in a randomized experience. In this way, you can always be playing right on the edge of your abilities, and have a bit of variety in that challenge.

... Can you tell I've been reading Reality is Broken lately?

Late edit: I did levels 16-20 with my three squads of definitely-adequately equipped heroes. While it was certainly hard, and one of the randomly generated bosses nearly bested me*, I never lost a single hero (you have 3 heroes in any given stage). I earnestly believe it's much more about your tactics and strategy than equipment - and the PvP data Maxis collected from beta supports that claim -, but of course that has its limits :p

*It was a Hypno Mantis, for those in the know :mad:

[Karak]

Fuck whatever. I bought it.
Jezuz I have no willpower when it comes to games anymore.

[Lint of Death]

Fuck whatever. I bought it.
Jezuz I have no willpower when it comes to games anymore.

Ooh, I just tried adding you as a Steam buddy. If we play together sometime I can give you handy tips :D

Edit: dammit, there's like more than a dozen Karaks and I don't even know which one received the invite. How do I find the real you? Edit edit: I think I found you in the CoG group.

[Karak]

Ooh, I just tried adding you as a Steam buddy. If we play together sometime I can give you handy tips :D

Edit: dammit, there's like more than a dozen Karaks and I don't even know which one received the invite. How do I find the real you? Edit edit: I think I found you in the CoG group.

That would be awesome.

I have the Green Samurai as my pic, you can also try to search me as Malanthrax.

However, I still haven't got Darkspore to even start yet. The patching process is right out of the dos days. Looking at what it is doing and how it is doing it in process explorer is a lesson in how NOT to patch things. Going on hour 3. I bet a good deal of it is because it is always connected online which then sets off a ton of my firewall/security settings and process interrupting programs. Jezuz.

[Karak]

Jesus
EA says my email is in use so I ask for a password reset and get "Email doesn't exist."
An EA logic loop.
Fuck it. Sent them a ticket email. Same old shit that happened with the original spore. That one took over 4 months for them to resolve.

[Lint of Death]

Ugh, that sucks. I assure you the game itself is extremely well put-together once you navigate whatever transgenerational witch curses you seem to suffer from.

Edit: The EA account you can add to your stalk-list is DustManEXE.

[Karak]

Ugh, that sucks. I assure you the game itself is extremely well put-together once you navigate whatever transgenerational witch curses you seem to suffer from.

Edit: The EA account you can add to your stalk-list is DustManEXE.

Ok I will when I can. Sigh.

[Exodus]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-05-03-darkspore-review

This is Darkspore in a nutshell for me.

[AliasRomanian]

Fuck whatever. I bought it.
Jezuz I have no willpower when it comes to games anymore.

This has got to be my favorite post of ever. :).

[Lint of Death]

Ok here is the thing. The IGN reviews states that single player becomes FREAKISH HARD due to being alone. But I am seeing here...you do not think that? Cause If that's so I am buying it. I just don't want one of those games that you feel your forced to play a specific way due to a bad design decision.

OK, I know you bought the game but I've made some progress in the second-tier difficulty to elaborate a bit more on the "freakish hard"ness. I never tried the first tier's end boss solo, but that seems like it would be hard as hell (as it should be), as it was super tough when I played with Blaster and ACfromDC. We still beat it on the first try, but I can see how it might be worse solo.

As for the second-tier difficulty (invasion), the challenge rises considerably. A variety of enemies with unusual or even seemingly useless abilities start getting put together to create a cohesive and lethal whole. However, I have played the first few levels both solo and with a group (2-3 total players, not yet 4), and honestly single player does not feel any harder. The only exception to that is if you encounter an elite enemy whose randomized attributes make him a near-perfect counter to your squad - you won't have a friend to cover for you in your moment of need.

Hopefully a patch will adjust things slightly, but on the whole I like the difficulty as it is. You get a lot of replay value out of any level you are capable of beating because the next time through will be a random level + assortment of enemies, and eventually you'll develop the skills you need to tackle harder levels (and find loot that makes your favorite or most useful heroes more viable in the process).

[Acidpoptart]

For anyone interested, the game is on sale for $25 on Amazon download today.

[CappinCanuck]

For anyone interested, the game is on sale for $25 on Amazon download today.

The disk version too is going for $29.99.
http://www.amazon.com/Darkspore-Pc/dp/B003X0LG1Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305422594&sr=8-1

[Lint of Death]

The four of us are still playing quite avidly - almost made it to Apocalypse mode! - and I'm still happy to recommend the game. Don't be afraid to ask me to join ya even if you're new, 'cause te way the game works I can play with you during the early stages just fine, my heroes get downgraded to your level and I get rewards that are more appropriate for my true level.

Get well soon Karak :(

[Lint of Death]

Darkspore is on sale on Steam for $30, that's well worth it :D

[Hawkzombie]

Sure!................

If someone buys me a copy :p

This still applies :p

[Abyssion]

I'm considering grabbing this, but I kind of want Dungeon Siege 3... though I might try and wait till that is on sale. I'm in dire need of a loot fest for some reason.

[J Arcane]

I'm considering grabbing this, but I kind of want Dungeon Siege 3... though I might try and wait till that is on sale. I'm in dire need of a loot fest for some reason.
Dungeon Siege III is a lot more fun.

[Lint of Death]

I'm considering grabbing this, but I kind of want Dungeon Siege 3... though I might try and wait till that is on sale. I'm in dire need of a loot fest for some reason.

They both have demos now, so you can find out for yourself! Hooray!
(You do get a bitchton of nice loot in Darkspore btw, and no game lets you do more with it - almost any item in the game can be turned into a vanity part and slapped onto a hero to make the ultimate phallic masterpiece)

[Abyssion]

Yeah, I found out a bit after posting that that there was a demo out now for it. Sorry >_>

I'm going to download it out now actually and see how I like it.

Edit: A 5.6gb demo, really? *sigh*

[Abyssion]

So I got to try it last night and it turns out they have you download the entire game but then let you play a decent sized portion of it. I think I might have to choose this over DS3 since it seems to have a higher replay value.

Also, the fact that DS3 isn't a very long game and has no new game +, why would someone make a lootfest without multiple difficulties is beyond me.

[Lint of Death]

So long as you enjoy the fundamental gameplay of Darkspore, replay is what the game does best. It has a bunch of features that make replaying the same level, joining lower-level friends, and new game + all fun to do. For example, with new game +: you'll quickly see that almost every enemy is built around at least one goofy gimmick. In the latter two difficulties, they start being put together in increasingly evil ways.

I didn't realize DS3 had no new game +! I'm pretty surprised just how much that game is departing from its predecessors. I did buy both, because I really wanted DS2, so I can't say I'm so loyal to Darkspore in that dilemma.

[Karak]

Darkspore is on sale on Steam for $30, that's well worth it :D

Update:
So I did buy this a while ago and played a bit. Here is my real issue with it, at least at first. I can't seem to shake that there is no real loot to be had. I know that sounds funny but I am so accustomed to say, Torchlight or Diablo that it seems a bit weird.

Just trying to see what I can latch onto as a reason to keep playing. It looks cool and all but I don't know. I haven't "felt" it yet.

[Lint of Death]

Update:
So I did buy this a while ago and played a bit. Here is my real issue with it, at least at first. I can't seem to shake that there is no real loot to be had. I know that sounds funny but I am so accustomed to say, Torchlight or Diablo that it seems a bit weird.

Just trying to see what I can latch onto as a reason to keep playing. It looks cool and all but I don't know. I haven't "felt" it yet.

You got your eye working again? Maybe I can join you tomorrow or something! :)

As for the loot thing, um, I honestly don't understand what you mean - perhaps if I knew how far along you are, I'd have a better idea how much you've been able to experience thus far. I'm trying real hard to imagine in what way the loot in this game falls short of Diablo and Torchlight, and the only thing I can think of is a lack of unique, pre-designed item sets.

[Abyssion]

I keep getting disconnected... Not being able to finish a level is hampering my ability to enjoy this game. I really need a wired connection in my room someday...

(it's probably more of a personal issue than the dev itself, but I do wish there was a single player mode where I connect and not jump into any lobby but can play by myself uninterrupted and then when I turn off the game my data is uploaded to their servers)

Edit: So I just copied the game from my desktop to my laptop, and I guess it is my desktops connection being crap, it does fine downloading stuff, and I've played sanctum without much trouble. I seem to be playing it fine on my laptop but I don't like the idea of it overheating.

So I guess I have to a) deal with it on the laptop or b) drill a hole through a wall and run some ethernet cable to my room, which wouldn't make a person in my household happy lol.

[Acidpoptart]

The game is on sale on Amazon Game Download for $11.99. If anyone has been waiting for a nice sale, seems like a good opportunity to jump on this.