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.

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.

Some expansion packs offer more of the same, but Spore Galactic Adventures is not one of them. In fact, it adds an entirely new facet of gameplay to the original game's space stage: adventures that beam your captain onto a planetary surface and send you on a short series of quests.

Fantastic adventure creation tool inspires the imagination; Successfully brings the charm of the creature stage to the space stage; Leveling up your captain adds a nice sense of progression; Online sharing tools are unparalleled

Some tool imitations and other creation issues; Sensitive collision detection and texture pop-in

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

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

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

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?

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!

So Spore : Galactic Adventures has finally hit store shelves, after much anticipation and hype, drawing comparison to Sony's Little Big Planet .  I've gotten a lot of play time with it, and I'm sorry to say that I'm less than impressed.

Planetary Adventures