While 2008 has not been an overly eventful year when it comes to blockbuster PC releases, ever since February or so when the official release date announcement was made confirming a 2008 release, everyone knew this was only ever going to be one particular PC game's year anyway. I of course refer to Spore, which is without a doubt the most hyped and anticipated PC title in recent memory, and probably not so recent memory if you disregard games from the FPS genre. With the game now established on retail shelves, Spore has unsurprisingly progressed from extremely wanted to extremely well selling, and for good reason - this is PC gaming darn near it's best. However, while Spore deservedly shoots up the "all time great" power rankings at the speed of light, I can't help but feel perhaps our imaginations got the better of us leading up to release, and perhaps all the "evolution simulation" talk may have hard coded some unrealistic expectations.

So what exactly is Spore, you may ask? Of course, you'd have to be some sort of cave bound hermit without a DSL line who probably isn't reading this review right now to not know what Spore is, but just play along anyway. Spore, as the back of the retail box puts it, is "your personal universe in a box". From the very early stages of life, you can mold and morph your creature and creations all the way from organism chaos to intelligent beings capable of space travel and exploration, flying in ships and living in buildings that you also create. In many ways, you can basically think of Spore as a much grander (and more relevant) version of The Sims, mixed with traditional RTS/strategy game elements to add a bit more substance.

In fact, if you have ever played one of the many The Sims releases out there for PC, then Spore will feel quite familiar the first time you fire it up as everything from the UI to the style of the gameplay shares a similar design and theme. It is clear that, much like The Sims, a lot of energy has been directed by Maxis at making Spore appear very easy and simple to navigate, successfully making what may otherwise be an intimidating game instead a very accessible and user friendly game. After all, simulating a universe is a pretty complex and involved thing, but Maxis have very carefully crafted a game that appears to be anything but, at least with the User Interface anyway. However, don't confuse this simplistic and minimalist approach to UI elements such as the main menu as catering for the casuals, as the game's UI is also extremely powerful.

Take the three major gameplay modes accessible from the main menu, for instance. First you have 'Play', which is obviously the way you start new games or continue saved ones. However, rather than rummage through screen after screen just to setup your game in traditional boring menus, all you have to do in Spore is simply select a home planet from the animated galaxy that makes up the main menu background, whether it be a new blank planet to start a new game, or a planet you have already used to continue a saved one. This sort of simple but effective design is what Spore is all about. The other two modes accessible from the main menu are similarly well designed and implemented, seeming so simple and yet allowing for so much power, whether it be the in-game community hub found in the 'Share' mode, or the extremely impressive creation capabilities of the 'Create' mode.

And it is this 'Create' mode that really sets Spore apart from what we've seen before in gaming, and that's to put it modestly. For those that downloaded the free Spore Creature Creator a few months ago, or even bought the more complete version, you'll already be very familiar with the capabilities of Spore's creature creation subsystem. For those who didn't check this free download out before, you'll be in for a surprise when you fire up Spore for the first time because the creation possibilities in this game are endless - literally. Or, at least, as close as you'll get. Take for instance the fact that the online 'Sporepedia', which is a library of creations from users uploaded in-game, already has millions upon millions of creations, mostly all very unique from one another. There is so much control you can really let your imagination loose, and not just for creating creatures either - space ships, vehicles and buildings can also be created, which come into play during the later stages of the game. If there is one example of a perfect blend between simplicity and power in Spore, it is definitely found in the game's creation mode.