I really wish Maxis luck with DarkSpore…I hate to see what happens if the game bombs.  I don’t think EA will give them any more chances if it performs below expectations.  At least if it does, then more than likely Maxis will go back to their money-making series:  SimCity.  Here’s Kotaku’s preview of DarkSpore from GamesCom 2010:

Darkspore was created using the robust creature creator and procedural animation engine developed for Spore, but that’s where the similarities between the two end.

Because the game uses the Spore engine, players can customize their characters much more than with the typical game. That also means placing the items you get in battle anywhere on a creature. Armor placement, in particular, has a surprisingly high degree of freedom.

The game includes three classes and five fighting styles. The classes fall along the typical archetypes found in role-playing games. The Sentinel is a very strong, melee-centric character similar to a tank class. The Ravenger is like a rogue with very fast movements and the ability to dodge off-setting how fragile they can be. And the Tempest is like a mage or priest, specializing in area effects and healing.

The game’s different types of characters change the way a character attacks and defends.

Kotaku – I played DarkSpore and I loved it