Populous™: The Beginning

I wish Bullfrog was still around because they consistently made the most enjoyable and creative games I've played in my life. I haven't bought the GOG version of Populous: TB because I still have the CD, but this is a must have for anyone who loves god-sim games, terraforming, and strategy that does admittedly involve some race to hit hotkeys to start building, but also a well placed spell at the right time. The core game has some pretty challenging scenarios, but once you beat the game, you have to really challenge yourself with the Populous: Age of Chaos mod (Google it for download). Absolutely great game, highly recommended.

This game is amazing! I played it on ps1 and have made it so far and then i found it on gog and dungeon keeper as well, but it seems to not want to work even though dungeon keeper worked and it had the same requirements. this is still brilliant and i am hoping this works on another pc or laptop.

i've been playing this game for what seems an age xD, it was the game that introduced me to gaming, the game that without a doubt has had the most influence on my life, and too this day i still hop on the mess around in the infamous last World, to lay waste to my enemys. if you like God-sims this is definitely the game for you, but take your time with it, explore the game and dont use cheats if you get stuck on World 15 ;)

This game was incredibly cool for its time. By then, nobody ever made 3D spherical terraformable maps and I'm sure it's not easy to find something like that even now. Yes, the graphics are too simple yet beautiful and comfortable at the same time. Maybe the only drawback nowadays is not having a skirmish mode vs the AI but the campaign is more than worth it. Some maps can be achieved in many different ways (I still remember one of those, where I leave the starting area and move to an island which i keep extending with the spells) Give it a try and enjoy the campaign. It may be boring the first 4 or 5 levels but once you get tools to use the terrain in your favor, it is much more enjoyable. And some worlds are incredibly difficult, like the one in which you have to rescue your shaman in 15 minutes only using your followers like a commando.

When Populous: The Beginning was announced back in the late 90's many people were skeptical. Not only was it created without Peter Molyneux, it also largely abandoned the concept of the original games. Rather than a god-sim this is "just an RTS". But what an RTS it is! Rather than being another Warcraft or C&C clone this one went its completely own, novel and brilliant way. Base building is simple and resource gathering almost non-existent. The center of the game is the incredibly powerful shaman unit who is each player's avatar. She starts off weak, just able to throw fireballs but as the campaign progresses she becomes so powerful that The Beginning puts any god-sim to shame, eventually being able to let fire rain, volcanoes explode and simply shape the world. But a shaman requires followers to gain mana and even she has her limits and won't be able to stop a huge army of warriors. The result is an incredibly fun, dynamic and chaotic game about huge battles and insane destruction. The view of an enemy's village going up in flames and being torn apart by tornadoes while warriors and simple villagers massacre each other never gets old. Neither does using a fireball to catapult the enemy shaman into the sea. The campaign is long, the missions diverse and the multiplayer timeless. The game not only plays well, it also has beautiful unique visuals and music which hold up to this day and provide a hauntingly alien yet beautiful atmosphere. Also the technical execution is mindblowingly good for a game this old and aside from the occasional pathfinding problem there's nothing I can complain about. It can be honestly said that there has never been anything like Populous: The Beginning before or after (although Sacrifice had some similarities), as a result this game is perfectly timeless and absolutely deserves to be played. To me it's not only one of the most original but easily best games ever made, both in singleplayer and multiplayer.