Very addictive off the bat, but repetitive in some places, and the 5 different phases of gameplay seem unequal
So let's begin. The Cell phase was instant fun, and although it felt entirely like a casual game, I was charmed all the way through its short game time (you can run through this phase in less than an hour). Creating your cell seems limited, but it makes sense as well, given that mother nature had very little to play with in this portion of history. What is disappointing, however, is that you only have 6 unlockables in this phase, meaning that the options for the creation of your cell are largely cosmetic, with a few additional items that alter your gameplay strategy.
Then you grow legs and go to land. And, like the majority of gaming consumers, I immediately set out to be the baddest carnivore my planet had ever seen. Making friends with the odd tribe was interesting, but for the most part, I derived much pleasure in making other species extinct (by wiping out between 3 or 8 members of that species). The rest of this portion is geared towards growing your brain and finding new parts to unlock for your evolving creature. Then when you've had enough of collect-em-up gameplay, you move on to the Tribal stage.
Now, the tribal stage was my least favourite part of the game, because it seemed centered on the exact goals of the previous stage, but with a different control interface. In other words, you progressed by either killing rival tribes, or befriending them. Only now, you have spears and didgeridoos, instead of teeth and dance moves.
Then there's the civilisation phase, which again engenders the same gameplay goals of the previous 2 stages, only this time you have vehicles and diplomacy at your disposal. But what irritated me about this phase is that as soon as you progress to it, you immediately have to design your new Town Hall and new Vehicle in quick succession. By this time, I was all "Creator"d out, but it didn't stop there: you have to also design a new Factory, Entertainment (building), Boat and Air Vehicle. So you do all that, claiming geography through either military, financial, or religious means, and then the planet's yours.
Which brings you to the Space phase of the game, and this is where it gets interesting. I get a strong sensation that Spore was ultimately about 2 things: a galactic civilisation simulator, and how a microbe came to be in that position. It's fine, but the game gets overwhelmingly complex as soon as you enter the space race. To its credit, the game does give you as gentle a transition as possible, but there is simply so much to learn to do, and sometimes not enough information on how to do it. As such, you'll probably have to work out how to adjust the atmosphere of a planet in order to colonise it yourself. Worse, sometimes you are given a mission that takes you to another planet, without even the slightest hint on how to find that planet. Admittedly, this is rare, but it's still bloody irritating.
But by far the worst 2 crimes of the space mode are the micromanagement of your colonies (who are too stupid to equip factories and laser turrets without your help), and the fact that your colonies -- and allies -- get attacked far too frequently. So, instead of discovering your way through space at your leisure, you are constantly reined in to fight off attacking hordes because the people on those planets are incapable of defending themselves.
But those are the niggles. I also found the space phase to be wonderfully entertaining, with some rarities hidden in the game for you to discover. And finding a black hole/wormhole randomly within the game is truly satisfying.
The one thing I'll say about Spore is that, because each task presented to you seems reasonable and easy to achieve, you'll want to play for an extra 5 minutes, then 5 minutes more ... until 4 hours have passed! I also found the first and last portions of the game to be the most entertaining, so the middle ground felt like a bit of a grind, but the beauty of such a game is that everyone will have their preferred part of the game.
It's also gorgeous and very charming, and there is enough in there to keep the hardcore gamer interested ... if he or she is willing to look for it.