I finished STALKER last night after a lengthy session. Since I had done the side-quests to get background info on "Strelok's Gang", I got to experience the real ending. Just when I thought the game was finished, it opened up to have one final series of set-piece battles.
http://uk.pc.ign.com/dor/objects/735340/spore/videos/sporecreation_tool_demo.htm l;jsessionid=1xlm69dl9ha83 Looks pretty cool. I think I will buy it on the strength of this...