Darkspore Previews
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VideoGamer:
Who are your enemies? Well, the story is that the Darkspore are a race of creatures that have gone to the dark side thanks to a rapidly mutating virus. This is a virus created accidentally by the most brilliant minds in the galaxy, the Crogenitors, while experimenting with E-DNA used to make their warriors more powerful. And the result is a war. The Crogenitors are nearly defeated by the Darkspore, and you play the role of a surviving Crogenitor who has been kept alive in suspended animation. Your job is to reconstruct an army of warriors, the Genetic Heroes, using stabilised E-DNA and take out the enemies.
And to do that you have three basic classes. Sentinel, Ravager and Tempest, which in order take over the roles of tank, melee fighter and ranged magic. Beyond those three classes you have five races which determine the abilities of each character. The Quantum genesis race can instantly transport across the map, for instance, and Plasma genesis wield fire and so on. And it has an effect on how you deal damage: you'll deal less of it if you're up against the same racial type and vice versa.
Co-Optimus:
As I clicked and moved my ranged character around the screen I came across a shielded enemy encampment. Since it was shielded my attacks didn't do anything against it, so I quickly switched into a melee/tank class character that looked a bit like a fire golem and charged in. Switching characters on the fly offers some unique bonuses - the character you sub out slowly generates health back for one. Depending on which characters you choose you also get three shared abilities - so while each character has three base abilities, its their fourth ability that any one of your characters in a squad can use. This becomes crucial for things like healing and the other support abilities.
These abilities are earned by collecting parts and DNA (think gold) scattered from killing enemies and destroying objects on the missions. The item drop system in co-op is a first-grabbed, first-served basis, so make sure you play with folks who play nice with others. While you won't earn experience to level up, the more powerful parts you earn and attach to your character in the editor increases that character's level. Your level determines which missions you are able to go on earn more loot and continue the story. The base maps on the missions are all static, but the game's AI Director will randomly generate certain parts of the maps as well as enemies and defensive structures. It'll also scale and tweak what enemies are in the levels depending on the number of players present.
And Digital Spy:
It wouldn't be a dungeon crawler without its love of loot, and it's here where Darkspore offers another interesting twist. Rare finds are awarded at the end of the mission, with their chances of exclusivity boosted by completing each of the three simple objectives; keeping your party alive, finding three obelisks and defeating all enemies. You can choose to cash out and take the item, or gamble and go on to complete the next stage - populated with far harder enemies - to double your booty. Of course, dying means you'll lose the lot, and since the game is at times tough already, it's a big risk to take. But for those well acquainted with the genre, such a challenge is no doubt a welcome one.
Loot is also where the Spore part of Darkspore comes in. New weapons and equipment can be slapped on to your hero using the franchise's Creature Creator onto a position of your choosing. Aside from colouring your champion in a range of colors and patterns, there is little else on offer in terms of customisation. Fun as it is to plant all available accessories and helmets onto an alien's face, it lacks the customisation and the home-grown feeling of seeing your creation come alive like it's predecessor, especially since these customisation options aren't easily noticed on the battlefield. Of course, equipment boosts both a hero's stats and their level, so it's worth ducking into the editor on a regular basis for that alone.
