Spore
I'm glad I learnt from Black & White. The most awaited game in years; such media hype. The trailers, it all looked so promising. I even built a new computer when B&W came out specifically to handle it. A brand spanking new 1GHz Thunderbird. At least it helped my CS score...
I haven't played much on Spore yet, but I'm already floating around in space wondering really what the point is. I flirted briefly with the other stages, the dullest being the land animal stage, as it was very repetitive.
After discussing the game with some friends, we get the impression that it's several games stuck together, without too much consideration to what it wants to achieve.
The big push is evolution and playing a deity position hinting your species in your chosen direction. Until the rapidly arrive space-age. Then you *are* the ship pilot... huh?
The evolution part also doesn't really seem to happen. If you eat lots, and generally trump all the other species you get some new style of pre-defined "things". But there is no evolution. You can wipe out your entire creature and start again each stage. I did it twice!
I was hoping for frequent "tweaks" and generic mutations - say every time you currently get to edit your creature. Instead it kinda seems - loose. I play one game with one character, and a different game with another. All the effort I go into for one creature has no benefits for my Freelancer esq space-trading game at the end.
The object editor is pretty spinky, although I have yet to figure out how to put building blocks of vehicles side-by-side horizontally. But this just seems like "my first modelling program".
I might get £20 of entertainment out of it. Nowhere near the premium £30 it goes for in shops, or the £40 RRP (£40? You're having a laugh).