Spore 2

Spore 2 is a 2015 multi-genre single-player fantasy god game developed by Maxis and designed by Will Wright. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh operating systems in July 2015. Unlike the first game, Will Wright elected not to have Electronic Arts publish the game, as EA's tight deadlines led the initial release being riddled with bugs that took seven patches to fix, and even then, were not fully fixed. Instead, Sammonds Games was made publisher for the sequel, and was also heavily involved in development.

The game is similar to the first one, but with many differences and additions, the most notable being the inclusion of the Aquatic Stage (scrapped in the first game and partially restored via modding), as well as new features for existing stages such as infantry in Civilization Stage, dogfights, capitol ships, space stations, and a more Elite-based approach in Space Stage, immensely-improved scientific accuracy, and more.

Gameplay
Gameplay is similar to the first Spore, but many, many leaps and bounds have been made to the point the game feels different from its predecessor. One feature players will immediately notice is the addition of a Story Mode, which chronicles the evolution of a creature created by Sammonds Industries CEO, Andy Sammonds, named Thrawn the Killer (evolving from a cell named Maw the Mauler, a cell created by Prima Games as an example cell in the strategy guide of the first game). Otherwise, there is very little difference to the main screen, aside from a new UI. Like in the first game, spinning the galaxy really fast will cause pictures of the various members of the Maxis and Sammonds teams to appear from the center of the galaxy.

Stages
Like the first game, the game is divided into stages. The sequel, though, adds two new stages: the Molecular and Aquatic Stages.

Molecular Stage
The first stage. Depending on whether the player chose proteins or panspermia, this stage is optional, but is rather short and easy, even on hard difficulty. If the player chose proteins as their birth method, the Molecular Stage is played, but if he/she chose panspermia, the game will show the familiar comet impact opening cutscene and go straight to the Cell Stage.

As with the concept for the Molecular Stage in the first game, this stage is based on Tetris. The goal is to join proteins together to create your cell. There are three trait cards that can be earned: Alkaline, Acid, and Neutral. Alkaline will make your initial cell a herbivore, Acid will make it a carnivore, and Neutral allows you to choose. At the end of the stage, players are taken to the Cell Creator.

Cell Stage
Veteran players shocked by the newness of the Molecular Stage will likely be relieved when they find the Cell Stage hasn't changed much. However, the stage is longer, and a bit more in-depth than in the first game.

If the player completed the Molecular Stage, they can make their cell look however they want. But if they selected panspermia as their method of birth, they will have to use a pre-made cell.

As in the first game, progress is made by eating to gain DNA Points. The food items from the first game (meat chunks, plant matter, eggs, prey-sized cells) are still present, but there are several new foods, such as plankton, blood, worms etc. Sticking to the scientific accuracy, you may be forced to go into the Cell Editor to adapt to environmental change, such temperature shifts, food pattern changes or disruptions, and sea levels.

Once the progress bar is filled, the cell grows a brain (as in the first game), and goes to the Aquatic Editor to begin the Aquatic Stage.

Aquatic Stage
Once the Cell Stage is complete, the action moves to the Aquatic Stage. The third-largest and third-longest stage in the game, this stage involves your cell growing into an aquatic organism and becoming whatever organism you decide, such as a fish, whale, shark, squid, crab, eel etc. When the stage begins, you are taken to the Aquatic Editor to change your cell into a basic fish. After exiting, an event akin to the Cambrian Explosion occurs, and a huge amount of life enters the scene. You can either be a solitary creature, or live with a school or pod of members of your species. Parts are found by killing other organisms, as in the Cell Stage; additionally, certain parts may also be unlocked automatically and required to be placed on your creature in response to various changes, such as temperature shifts, food pattern changes or disruptions, extinction events, and other changes.

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