It was described as "a fast-paced, science fiction action role-playing game in which the player battled across alien worlds to save the galaxy from the mutated forces of Darkspore".

Fearing these new creatures, the Crogenitors throw hero Xylan into exile for his behavior and negligence, outlawing the use of E-DNA.

DNA helixes can be collected during gameplay from Darkspores or destructible objects, or obtained by selling pieces of loot.

HelpEDNA is a puzzle text adventure, in which the player is a contact that has begun receiving messages from an unknown character.

In addition to a product key registration, Darkspore required a persistent, broadband internet connection and an EA account in order to play the game after installation.

This combined with Darkspore being removed from Steam led to concerns that EA had abandoned the title and it would no longer be playable.

The move attracted criticism, with Techraptor stating that the failure to migrate away from the always-online requirement before the server shut down was tantamount to "banishing the title from gaming history".

Ultimately, their decision was to build up a game that is centered around different creatures fighting together, with co-op gameplay getting the main focus.

The fundamentals found in Spore allowed for very quick prototypes, and the team became aware that action RPG was very suitable for the technology.