GameSpot writes: "While the name of the game does share the word "spore," one thing that Maxis wanted to make clear was that this is not a sequel or an expansion pack for the PC game Spore, which was released two years ago. The idea for Darkspore spawned before Spore was even finished, and the new action role-playing game is meant to leverage the powerful editor that was created for Spore. Darkspore is a hack-and-slash RPG that is similar to Diablo but with a sci-fi theme instead of the traditional fantasy setting. We went down to EA at Redwood Shores to get some hands-on time with the game and found it to be easily accessible and quite fun when played with up to four players cooperatively online."
Darkspore is back on Steam, following its recent removal from the digital distribution service over service issues.
In the wake of the game's removal from Steam, developer Maxis has denied claims that Darkspore has been abandoned, instead announcing that a persistent play-denying issue has been fixed after months of gamer complaints.
GameZone writes, "Electronic Arts has reached out to us to clarify some confusion stemming from a game-breaking bug in Darkspore that resulted in players unable to log-in to the game and its eventual removal from the Steam store."
