Spore Creature Creator

Title
Developer
Publisher
Genre
ESRB Rating
Demo Release Date
Full Release Date
Platforms
Official Website
Demo Download Size
Review Date

Spore Creature Creator
Maxis
EA
Character Editor
Everyone
17th June 2008
17th June 2008 Buy Now
PC (Reviewed), Mac
http://www.spore.com
205MB
30th June 2008

What did I think before playing?
Spore is huge in both anticipation & scope and this is the first taste we all get of Will Wright's latest brainchild.

What is included?
This is almost a demo of a demo. You get about 25% of the body parts available in the full Creature Creator, which itself is just a part of the full edition of Spore. You also get access to the Sporepedia to view other people's creature creations and upload your own to share. Screenshot and video recording are included, with the ability to upload direct to YouTube built in.

What did I think afterwards?
The engineers at Maxis must have spent a long time getting the interface for the creature editor just right. Simplifying down the interfaces you see in Maya and 3DS Max to a consumer level which is fast, intuitive and responsive is a remarkable achievement. My abomination is in the screenshot above, looking particularly pleased with itself.
The Sporepedia only showed me my creations and those from Maxis. I'm not sure if I should be able to see other user generated content here at the moment.
The YouTube integration didn't work for me, but I have visited YouTube since and I think it is because I hadn't linked my YouTube account to my Google account, so when being prompted for an email address in game, it was never going to work.
There isn't much more to do in this after you have fiddled with you first character though, apart from do it again... and again.

Would I buy the full game?
Well, I'm itching for more, but from Spore itself rather than the Creature Creator. I would have liked to have access to more body parts, but this is a demo. But as I have said I feel like it is a demo of a demo. I don't see the value in purchasing the full Creature Creator. Still, I suppose it is a way of making some money and introducing a more casual audience to the world, (universe?) of Spore without overwhelming them with the full game's from-bacteria-to-the-beyond flow, ("See how easy it is to play this game? You can be even more creative in the full version!"). So, no to Creature Creator but yes to Spore for me.

Demo Pros
Easy intro to the world of Spore, play God in 5 simple steps, integration with YouTube and the ability to upgrade to the full product online.

Demo Cons
Limited resources to play with and really a demo-of-a-demo.

Demo Rating 6 / 10

Thoughts after playing the full game?
If I play the full game I will put comments here about whether I feel the demo was representative of the final product and if I am happy with the purchase.

Sales Figures
If I can find sales information about a game after it has been released I'll add that here. It may be useful to track demos to sales performance.