“Highly anticipated” is a descriptor used often in gaming. Almost every title has that stamped on it, Game Guy finds. At best, a fraction of them deserve it.

The multi-platform god game “Spore” has been called that, and it’s probably warranted. “Spore” allows players to control the development of life, starting from a one-cell organism all the way to walking, breathing, space-exploring creature. And any title that lets you play God like that is bound to generate broad, high interest.

Publisher Electronic Arts announced Tuesday that “Spore” will arrive for PC, Mac, Nintendo’s Wii and DS, and mobile phones, on Sept. 7. Rumors last year put the release date closer to March or April.

On the other hand, there’s another EA property called “Mass Effect” that came out last fall for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and now is heading for PCs in May. This space epic also has received “highly anticipated” status by critics who were wowed by the Xbox 360 version and expect the same rich experience on PC.

Yes, well Game Guy isn’t similarly inclined. The action role-playing game set in space has a unique enough premise — manipulating the universe’s dark energy for good or evil — mixed with intergalactic politics and robust characters. In other words, a well-designed space soap opera.

Game Guy liked the story, loved the potential. Space-vehicle control issues and quirky mechanics in some of the planetary environments rubbed some of the edge off, though. He hopes these are addressed in the PC version, but at the moment he’s not anticipating, even “highly,” that they will be.