Darkspore
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EA swiftly returns Darkspore to Steam
Darkspore is back on Steam, following its recent removal from the digital distribution service over service issues. EA moved quickly yesterday after a post from a moderator of the game's official forum claimed "[Darkspore] is for almost all intents and purposes an abandoned title." It was a significant concern, given that the always-online Darkspore had an error preventing the majority of its players from accessing it. The publisher later stated the moderator was not an EA employee Late yesterday EA told us it had resolved the problem and it was in the process of relisting Darkspore. The game continues to have a 65 Metacritic and lukewarm reviews.
Darkspore removed from Steam following server complaints
Electronic Arts' Darkspore has been removed from Steam, likely due to server-related issues that make it unplayable. The top-down action RPG, which requires an always-on connection, has suffered from server problems since launch in 2011, according to Polygon. The latest missive on the game's official forum thanks players for supporting the game, and says the connectivity issue has been resolved. It concludes, "We will continue to support Darkspore, so feel free to continue to discuss the game here." Darkspore continues to be available on EA's Origin digital distribution service. Curiously, an earlier message on the forum (since removed) suggested an end of support for the game. "Darkspore is no longer developed. It is for almost all intents and purposes an abandoned title," it read. It went on to urge customers to contact EA customer support for any technical issues and that "Error Code 4" had arisen for the "majority" of Darkspore players. Update: A representative for EA informs us: "Steam is in the process of relisting Darkspore on their service. It should be returning in the near future." "Maxis continues to support Darkspore and its servers. We recently resolved a problem where players were having issues connecting to the game." The representative continued, "The [initial] post in question came from a moderator who is not an employee of EA. That post has been updated to reflect accurate information. Players experiencing technical issues should contact help.ea.com for customer support."
Steam: Darkspore 40% off for Midweek Madness
Don't pay more for 'spore -- at least that's Steam's motto of the day, as it puts the Maxis developer action-RPG hybrid Darkspore on sale for 40 percent off its normal asking price. From now through 4PM PST / 7PM EST on Thursday, June 16, the PC-only title is going for $30, down 20 bucks from the MSRP. Steam is also offering an eight-pack of the multiplayer-enabled game for $90, normally $150. Our review said that Darkspore was all right, but had "a lot of room for improvement." Now at least one way to improve it has been addressed: make it cheaper.
Darkspore heading to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, resume indicates
Darkspore appears to be headed to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, courtesy of developer Naked Sky Entertainment (Microbot). Twitter-based internet detective Superannuation spotted a reference to the port in level designer Jordan Patz' resume (PDF link), which says he "worked with Maxis to modify Darkspore for release on Xbox/PS3." Though EA has never officially announced the title for anything other than PC/Mac, a recent interview on GameRant with Maxis executive producer Mike Perry indicated that the game could be ported to consoles if the community demanded it. It seems, however, that plans were already underway. When contacted, EA offered a "No comment," and we've yet to hear back from Patz or Naked Sky Entertainment.
Darkspore review: Give it a hand
If Diablo and Pokemon had a baby with Spore as the midwife, you'd ... well, you'd probably be scarred for life if you looked directly at it. But you'd also end up with Darkspore. This sci-fi themed hack-and-slash role-playing game puts you in the role of a Crogenitor, a near-extinct race of advanced beings once responsible for seeding the galaxy with engineered life. Long ago, a figure named The Destroyer experimented with an unstable form of genetic engineering called E-DNA. Using it, he created an army of powerful mutant creatures called Darkspore that went forth to conquer the known galaxy. Awakened from hypersleep, your role is to assemble a collection of heroes, modify them, and take it back.%Gallery-99913%
Darkspore open beta client now available for download
It's been far too long since you've played god with the genetic makeup of poor, defenseless cryptozoological monsters -- why not dip your toes into Maxis' dark, action-RPG followup to Spore, obviously titled Darkspore? The game recently entered open beta, allowing players to dungeon delve through the first few levels until the beta client goes kaput on April 22. The retail release is scheduled to follow on April 26. You can download the beta client on our sister site Big Download, but you might want to check out the minimum system requirements posted after the jump before you spend all of that precious bandwidth. It's the currency of the future, you know? Like dirt and paper in Waterworld.
Darkspore goes into beta on Steam, available as 3-for-4 preorder
The beta client for Maxis' Darkspore is now available on Steam -- you can click through on the preorder page to install and check it out. We liked the look of the game both in the intial preview and in our look at PvP, so if the idea of taking some Spore creatures out for a Diablo walk appeals, go give it a shot. The beta features both four-player co-op and either 1v1 or 2v2 PvP as well. Steam is also offering a deal on preorder -- if you buy four copies of the game, you can get them all for the price of three. So if you've got three buddies who enjoy playing the beta with you, you can all get the final game for a nice discount when it hits.
Darkspore delayed until April 26; open beta planned
Darkspore's evolution toward retail maturation has been stunted, and the game won't crawl out of the development ooze now until April 26 in North America (and April 28 in Europe). Previously, its birth date had been set for March 29. Along with EA's delay announcement on the game's forums, the publisher announced that an open beta for the edgier take on the Spore franchise would begin sometime in April. It would seem the company is still making sure all the mandibles and exoskeletons are reticulated properly for the game's four-player co-op, squad based PvP and robust hero editor.
Massively Exclusive: Darkspore reveals the Viper
Unless you're relatively new to gaming, you've undoubtedly heard of Maxis -- the developer behind the The Sims. Maxis and Electronic Arts have decided to use concepts from Spore to create a brand-new dungeon-crawling isometric online RPG called Darkspore -- and we've secured an exclusive first look at the Viper hero that gamers will be able to play in this upcoming title. With venomous damage-over-time attacks, enormous blades built into its muscular body, and the ability to add even more spines covered in poison, this beast is deservedly subtitled the "toxic ravager." It's got lots of damage, lots of carnage, and by the looks of it, lots of fun! While this is one of those borderline-in-the-MMOeque-neighborhood type of games, we understand the world is persistent, and players will be able to gather gear and customize their characters as they level up within the powerful Spore engine. Darkspore will feature both a single-player mode and groups of four players in the basic co-op multiplayer modes. We haven't heard concrete numbers on PvP battles, so perhaps the game will cross into the truly massive at that point. For now, you can check out the exclusive video for Darkspore's newest hero, Viper, behind the break.
Darkspore spawning March 29, new hero editor trailer
EA's Darkspore – which takes all the cuddly out of Spore and replaces it with a massive dose of Diablo – will crawl out of the primordial development ooze at Maxis for a March 29 release date, as revealed at the end of the latest developer diary, which explores the game's hero editor. Pay close attention at 1:15 in the video to see what's flashing when discussing the region of the hero's body which represents "offense." Odd. We haven't thought about underwear as offensive since the time we saw a grown man wearing Dora the Explorer Underoos (it can't be unseen). %Gallery-106625%
DarkSpore dev diary sheds light on squad-based PvP
Another DarkSpore dev diary has been released, this time explaining how the game's PvP system works. We had a chance to look at the unique squad-based PvP earlier this year, but now you can see how it plays out in handy video form, without all the hassle of reading words.
Darkspore trailer offers a glimpse at four-player co-op
Not only are friends great when you need bail money at 4 a.m. (don't ask), but they're also good for fighting monsters and stuff in Darkspore. At least, that's what we hear from people who actually have friends.
Darkspore producer diary is downright looticrous
This new Darkspore producer diary from Maxis is all about loot -- how to find it, get it, and then strap it on your oddly-shaped appendages. The catalysts and cash-out systems look particularly interesting, mixing up the ceaseless looting with an alluring meta-game.
Darkspore PvPreview: Arms and legs thrashing
Darkspore's been introduced to us as "Spore meets Diablo," and seeing it in action reinforces that early pitch -- the game has six abilities on a bar across the bottom, and health and mana bars on either side, while characters that appear as if they were generated in Spore hack and slash their way across the screen. But what EA really wants to do with Darkspore, says Michael Arsers, software engineer on the title, isn't just clone an action RPG with Will Wright's funny toys. They want to answer that question everyone had after Spore originally released. "A lot of the criticisms on Spore," he told me recently, "were that there were a lot of cool tools, but where's the game? And that's what we were trying to get at here." So you might be forgiven for thinking Darkspore is the product of some weird genetic mashup of game genres -- it basically was. "The team that started this production was a very core gamer, WoW arena/DotA kind of crowd, and so we really wanted to take the creatures from Spore and put them in a hardcore game," Arsers said. "We have this great Creator technology, so how can we leverage and make a core game with that?" We've already heard a bit about the singleplayer side of the title, but no true hardcore game is complete without some player-versus-player (PvP) action, and so Arsers was excited to show off the PvP Arena mode that he and the team are working on.%Gallery-106625%
Darkspore now accepting beta applications
Anxious to sample the Warrior Within-like change going on with Darkspore? EA is now taking beta applications, where the lucky winners will get an early taste of the next installment in the fledgling Spore franchise. There's no word when the beta will launch, but all you have to do to get on the list is hit up this link and drop in some details about yourself. If you're worried about the CIA or some other scary government agency getting hold of said personal details, we'd suggest adopting the Rusty Shackleford approach, otherwise known as: using a false alias.
Darkspore screens filled with spore creatures, totally dark
In case you were wondering about the validity of Darkspore's "darkness" or its inclusion of Spore creatures, these screens from Gamescom should more than clear that up. An ice level? Check. A fire level? Totally. What, you wanted a water level? Nope. Wait a sec ...
Dragon Age 2 featured in EA's GamesCom lineup
EA has announced its lineup for GamesCom, both to be shown on the show floor and behind closed doors, and Dragon Age 2 is on both lists. If you plan to attend the August 18-22 event, you'll be able to meet (someone's version of) protagonist Hawke for the first time. Other games on the floor include Rock Band 3, Darkspore, the newly dated Crysis 2, and Star Wars: The Old Republic. Meanwhile, EA will have private showings for Bulletstorm, EA Sports Active 2, EA Sports MMA, The Sims Medieval, and more. Perhaps press will get an opportunity to interact with whatever Epic's "Bulletstorm-sized unveil" is -- though we don't necessarily want any of our colleagues' heads to explode. See the full list of showings after the break. Your head will ... be perfectly fine, but intrigued!
BioWare writer taking lead on creating Darkspore's story
It seems the assistance which the RPG experts of BioWare are providing to Maxis on the development of Darkspore isn't exactly all that thorough. EA recently explained to Destructoid that BioWare's Malcolm Azania, part of the writing team for Mass Effect 2 and its "Kasumi - Stolen Memory" DLC, is filling the role of lead writer for the genetically engineered action-RPG. So, it's not so much "help from BioWare" as much as it is "help from one dude from BioWare" -- still, considering the strength of the storytelling in BioWare's catalog of titles, it sounds like they picked the right one dude to bring on board.
BioWare lending Maxis a hand on Darkspore development
We suppose the Sims franchise has a few elements in common with the role-playing genre -- after all, it's about character improvement and, more often than not, all of the characters are startlingly, impossibly attractive. Still, it seems Maxis is getting a helping hand on Darkspore development from a more experienced RPG developer -- according to Gamespot, the studio's Comic-Con panel revealed that fellow EA studio BioWare is helping out on the project. The capacity of this help is still unknown, but based on BioWare's strong roots in the genre, we strongly doubt they've been brought in to offer backrubs to weary programmers. We've contacted EA to find out more about this partnership, and to find out whether we can expect Darkspore to contain any romance sub-plots leading to tastefully directed sex scenes. Update: The scope of the studio's assistance seems to be limited to the hiring of BioWare writer Malcolm Azania (Mass Effect 2, "Kasumi -- Stolen Memory") to fill the role of lead writer for Darkspore.
Preview: Darkspore, Maxis' 'Spore meets Diablo' action RPG; coming Feb 2011
Last week saw the release of DeathSpank, a game I wasn't alone in likening to "Monkey Island meets Diablo." Presumably in an attempt to avoid missing the "meets Diablo" bus, Maxis is preparing to give the PC gaming world Darkspore -- a.k.a. "Spore meets Diablo" -- in February 2011. It's a new Spore game, albeit one focused on combat. It's described by publisher Electronic Arts as a "sci-fi action-RPG," but you might describe it as "not really what you were hoping for from Maxis." Still, the studio Will Wright built (and later left) seems to be trying its best to work the idea – an idea it's had since wrapping the original Spore, we're told – into something that will satisfy a more hardcore, multiplayer-focused PC gamer. %Gallery-97777%
