Spore, The Year's Most Anticipated PC Game

From the team headed by Will Wright, creators of The Sims, comes Maxis's next wild burst of imagination, Spore. It's a game, it's a toy, and it's the most intriguing computer gaming experience to come along in years.

Matt Peckham, PC World

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EA released its Creature Creator back in June for $10--a shrewd move that has prompted Maxis's online creature database to balloon to more than 3 million submissions. Shrewd, because Spore folds other players' creations into your own universe as you play (it's even possible to bump into earlier incarnations of your own creations as you slink from the tidepool and explore your starting planet).

By getting the Creature Creator out early, EA ensured that a vast array of fauna would be available to populate hard drives even as Spore lands on store shelves.

Some players may observe others' creations and be intimidated by their complexity, but Spore rewards function over form. All you need are the same skills you'd employ in playing with Mr. Potato Head. Body parts comes with clearly labeled benefits, and abilities like "bite," "jump," and "strike" are more important than your creature's physical morphology.

It's possible, for instance, to create a critter with parts and pieces in all the wrong places that turns out to be far deadlier than a sleeker and more obviously streamlined animal, though the game comes chock-full of vanity options for experts and patient amateurs who want to create something extraordinary.