Populous

Populous: The Beginning - is the third of the PC strategy god games of the Populous series, developed by Bullfrog Productions in 1998, and often considered the definitive version. Developed by Climax, a version of Populous: The Beginning became available on the PlayStation in 1999.

Oops!!!

==Expansion== Populous: The Beginning - Undiscovered Worlds is an expansion pack released for Populous: The Beginning. It was only made available in the United Kingdom, and offered 12 new singleplayer and 12 multiplayer levels. Fans of the original game have subsequently released more expansions of the game, at Populous: Reincarnated. Wildman Productions has also created some game expansions, including the new, much more challenging, Age of Chaos modification. Some of these have deep modifications which change the colours, landscape and look of the game. More to be found on these mods at Wildman Productions Website.

Key game features

Real-time 3-D game world
360-degree rotation
25 levels *Extensive 3-D accelerator support
Good quality music and sound effects
Supports up to four players via the Internet, LAN or modem
22 spells
Multiple followers can be selected with click-and-drag, and a number of hot-keys makes for more fluid gameplay.
The combination of cartoon-like graphics and the 3-D environment create an experience where the player feels they are playing in an interactive comic.
A challenging and competitive online mode where players can play against each other.

Mythos

The Populous solar system is home to 25 unnamed planets of varying landscapes, from blood-red and volcanic, to twilight sky and purple seas, to expansive verdant green plains. Unlike the worlds, the recurring enemies represented by the opposing tribes are named - the Green tribe are the "Matak", the Yellow tribe the "Chumara", and the often-dominant Red tribe are named the "Dakini". As well as the names of the tribes, we are given a glimpse at the tribe's language. The game makers also took care to give the followers of the tribe some sort of tribal language, to bring home the theme of the game as a war between primal tribes in the beginning of the worlds.

Review

Gameplay

The gameplay in Populous is excellent. You have total control over everything in the game; where you want your people to go, which spells you want to cast, where you want to build at, and you can even re-shape the land with spells. You can use boats or balloons, or make your Shaman get some excersise and walk. You can also choose which spells to charge and when to charge them.

Those are just positive things, there are also major glitches in the game aswell.

All in all, gameplay gets an 8/10.

Graphics

The graphics are pretty good. We now see much better graphics in games, but considering Bullfrog made this game in 1998, they should be cut some slack.

Still, though, the graphics are excellent.

Graphics gets a 9/10.

Strategy

Populous is a major strategy game. It is, in player's humble opinions, one of the best strategy games out there. There are many different strategies you can use to defeat your enemy. Just choose the right one.

There are different strategies for different levels. On some levels you have to get to a specific island quick. On other levels, you have to build faster. It all depends on the player and the level.

Strategy gets a 10/10!

Sound

The sound is pretty good. I must admit, there is a large variety of different sounds. In the background you will hear animals. You can hear the water splashing. You can even hear the wind blowing!

You can hear wildmen grunting and eating. When you cast a spell, the Shaman will say a different incantation for each spell.

Sound gets a 7/10.

Difficulty

Hard

Learning Curve

About an hour or two. It takes a long time to get as good as some people are, though.

Artificial Intelligence

Good. They play correctly and nicely. The AI may not be clever at times, E.G. walking into swamps constantly, they normally have pre-built bases to increase the difficulty and avoid rushing.

Total

8.5/10