Spore Galactic Adventures, the first full expansion to the series, tries to fill that lingering black hole left in the hearts of fans of the series. There's a lot live up to in this first big push in the Spore universe.

Endless variety of content; Very powerful and simple toolset; Very creative missions

Missions are a little buggy; Adventures only add a little to the overall game

When Spore , the brainchild of simulation game god Will Wright, hit last year, it was met with mixed reviews. Some fans loved its deep creation elements, others hated its shallow gameplay, but almost everyone seemed to agree on one thing: it certainly was a unique experience.

you liked Spore; but felt it needed more purpose

what's a Spore?; text; text

From the beginning of its legendary hype cycle, Spore was intended to be a phenomenon like The Sims , which continues to resonate because it offers an odd, compelling perspective on the monotony of human life.

The "How A Bill Becomes A Law" mission conjures up some

Your attempts to play are confused by an arcane brew of user accounts and DRM

Spore: Galactic Adventures is the first expansion pack for Spore, a game where you have the freedom to create any creature you wish – from a worm like herbivore to a giant, flying, flesh eating ball with legs, horns and eyes!

First Impressions My reaction is When Spore first came out on the PC a while back, I didn't know quite what to think of it. Was it some space-age spin-off of the Sims? Or some genetic game gone awry?

Parents need to know that Galactic Adventures, which requires Spore to play, doesn't contain anything worse than what's found in the original E10+-rated game. There is some fighting, yes, but it's not realistic because it is against aliens on another planet.

As the snaggletoothed humanoid gator gawks from the monitor, eager for his next space adventure, I wonder how I'm supposed to take this seriously. Sure, I've raised old Gatoroid from the planet Gatorade since he was nothing but a planarian -- from Petri dish to galactic conqueror.

In Spore: Galactic Adventures fans will experience deeper Space stage gameplay as for the first time space faring creatures will be able to beam down from their spaceships to explore new planets and earn rewards for completing challenging missions.

Planetary Adventures

At first you'd think getting out of the cockpit for once is such a great idea, but then you realize that it doesn't add to the atmosphere of the grim void of space. In fact most places you'll land are prettied up and cute and most missions are get this lead singer back to the band.