Darkspore Developer Blog: Planets

Maxis gameplay engineer Michael Arsers has penned the first in a series of developer blog entries on Gamerzines, with this initial entry providing a closer look at the game's planets.
Darkspore is set in a sci-fi universe filled with strange alien worlds, most of which were shaped by the Crogenitors. This ancient order of scientists would often experiment on planets, sometimes with unexpected results. One such world was shattered by gravity experiments that resulted in a black hole. The patched together remains of this planet are now called Zelem's Nexus. On the other side of the galaxy, a once thriving world had succumbed to a devastating ice age. In an effort to reheat the planet, the Crogentiors created a bizarre world of ice fields and plasma rivers known as Cryos.

As you fight to rid the galaxy of Darkspore, you'll travel to six of these alien worlds. The first five that you encounter are the homeworlds of the five genesis types in the game. Every creature, be it hero or villain, belongs to one of these types: Bio, Necro, Plasma, Cyber, and Quantum. The influence of these types can be seen not only in the environments, but also in the enemies residing on each planet.