Yay! Finally! It may not be the full version of Spore, but the Creature Creator (trial version) is now available for download for both Mac and PC. You can grab your copy from here. The trial version has has 25% of all body parts to create your crazy creatures.

The full version of the Creature Creator will be available on the 18th of June (12am CDT) for both Mac and PC and contains all body parts to choose from when making your creatures. It costs US$9.95. Unfortunately, it looks like only the PC version has a direct download at this stage. Mac users who purchase from the EA store will have to buy a physical copy on disc and get it posted.

Before trying it, I was under the impression that the Creature Creator (especially the full version that costs $9.95) was just a gimmick to get impatient fans (like me!) to fork out money while they wait for the full version of the game. Having played it for a couple of hours, I can say with confidence that this isn’t the case at all. The Creature Creator is absolutely awesome and I think everyone should give the trial a go at least. Features include building your creatures from selected parts, painting them different colours, getting them to perform different animations, and being able to save your creatures and share them with other players. You can also take screenshots and record video from the game interface itself. It even allows you to upload your videos directly to YouTube. Here’s one I made earlier today:

The Creature Creator really has me excited for the full retail version of the game which will be released on September 7th of this year. Somehow, it doesn’t seem so far away anymore.

Update: It looks like Mac users will be getting a direct download for the full version of the Creature Creator afterall. The EA Store has a link to GameTree Online, TransGaming’s online game sales site. Currently it says ‘Coming Soon’. Whether Mac users will be able to purchase and download at the same time as PC users remains to be seen.

Update: The Mac version of the Spore Creature Creator became available for direct download early this morning (28/06/08). Grab your copy here.