Comment No hype train (Score 2) 100
It does initially feel like Spore, but when Giantbomb were talking/hanging out with a some of the developers (E3 Day 1 GiantBombcast, at around 30min in or so), they pushed the devs about what the hell you do besides exploring and they didn't go too far and promise too much. They did mention some ideas that haven't been completely fleshed out yet: combat - space and planet-level, exploring (sharing? ugh), resource mining, ship upgrading. I would personally like it if they created some giant ship-design tree that would possibly be based on what your planet(s) had. But as they mentioned, these either weren't showable, or were just ideas they had, so it's probably best to wait it out and see if they can find some good gameplay mechanics and game goals. Otherwise it'll be "201X's Spore". (although I personally didn't mind Spore at the smaller kens; it's just that I remember my last hours of Spore were playing a frustrating planetary micromanagement sim. )