This is one of my all-time favorite games! Every RTS I've played since has been judged against Populous: The Beginning. This game has it all: resource management, a good selection of simple balanced units, town building, (including strategic use of landscape and defensive structures) a balanced escalation of magical attacks and technological advances, (boats and hot air balloons ftw) and minion control that I find lacking in some modern RTS games. For example the ability to assign multiple directives at once to a group of units (i.e. collect resources then build building WITH gathered resources) as well as assigning patrol routes for guards. The fact that this game has been made available to modern PC gamers is a blessing. Thank you so much for the nostalgia!
