Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6427 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Electronic Arts
• Platforms: Windows 98, Windows 95

Amazon.co.uk Review
Build your community, your religion, and your warriors, and lead them on a battle to rule planet after planet. Sit above each world--graphically accentuated by a curved landscape and small figures--and direct each of your tribe members in worship and war. Populous: The Beginning lets you control the elements and its peoples in a fight to become a god.

Your most powerful tribal member is your Shaman, able to summon swarms of insects, call down lightning bolts, and conjure up tornadoes to aid in the battle against neighbouring tribes. She leads your people in a struggle for ultimate power through religious conversion and frenzied battles. She and her tribe are your pawns as they combat neighbouring warriors and preachers, ultimately destroying the enemy Shaman.

To boast that this game has biblical proportions is slightly grandiose, but Populous: The Beginning definitely appeals to the control freak in all of us. With more of a mythical than biblical background of gods and goddesses, Populous: The Beginning provides interesting strategic challenges, along with visually interesting animation. For those of us ready to conquer not only the world but also other planets--and weren't satisfied with Civilisation or Age of Empires--Populous: The Beginning offers another opportunity in the strategic struggle for power. --Madeleine Miller

Manufacturer's Description
Achieve your destiny--become a god! Start as a shaman. Create and train tribes of warriors, preachers and fire warriors. Explore a unique 360-degree, rotating globe in full 3-D. Annihilate enemies with devastating spells: lightning, tornadoes and earthquakes. Transform the world, shaping land and sea. Tame wild men and tribesmen in beautiful worlds. Make them worship the ground you walk on. Conquer the world over the Internet, local area network, or modem.

Key features:

• Real-time 3-D game world
• 360-degree rotation
• 25 worlds
• Extensive 3-D accelerator support
• Quality music and sound effects
• Supports up to four players via the Internet, LAN or modem
• 22 awesome spells, including lightning, swarm, hypnotism, erosion, firestorm, earthquake, volcanic eruption, at your command, faithful braves, warriors,preachers,fire warriors, spies, command boats and balloon

Customer Reviews

Dont read this Review, Just order the Game Now
Like noted earlier by someone, I also bought Simcity 3000 and noticed its demo. And boy I was impressed. The theme the atmosphere the interface, everything is a work of masterpiece. The sound track while starting and leaving the game is so impressive and well done that it takes you to that imaginative world.

In general this game is very relaxing, you don't have to brace your self to play like any other big title which becomes horrendously difficult and irritating at certain levels and you exit to windows with utter frustration. But like any other real time strategy you have to be quick in the beginning so that you are not caught with your gaur down.

Back to Populous, from tutorial to earlier levels games builds up nicely and gives enough time to get used to interface and units. Unit responses and actions are so funny that it can give you hours of fun. Braves do every thing in double time and then in fighting the way braves, warriors and preachers slap each others faces and use fists & front kicks is a real treat after a boring or rough day. The game is never punishing like some strategy or god games can be as the whole game play is so fun from starting up to getting ready for final assault on enemy. Most hilarious parts are when some one is kicked or shot while trying to climb a mountain and he comes rolling down or slips into the water.
The game gives advantages to units who are on higher grounds. My First priority is to build watchtowers at the ridges of mounds making a choke point. This way the enemy shaman cannot outrange the flame warriors and normal troops are just duck shoot. It is a treat to see them being knocked off the ground when they are hit by the fireballs. The AI is intelligent enough to realise the difficulty and seeks alternate routes to attack. Killing enemy Shaman is a great achievement.

Shaman's spells are funny and entertaining. My favourites are the swarm and fire blast. Seeing enemy screaming out of their huts and jumping and crying or being tossed into the water after getting hit by fireballs is bitter sweet when enemy shaman has done that to my population earlier.

This game is a welcome escape and relief from exhausting and intensive games that you find now a days.

Now enough of this... order this game now

Utterly Brilliant
This game is a must have for any avid PCgamer, If you want a game that combines brilliant graphics with stunning gameplay then this game is for you. Each level has a unique task that must be completed using the new magical spells that you get everytime you pass a level. Try finding the cheats on the internet to create absolute chaos in this mystical world. With spells that create anything from a house to a volcano you'll never get bored. This game is never easy but once mastered will keep you challenged all the way to the end. There is no need to play the first level of this game for ages to get the hang of the interface because the levels increase in difficulty as you near the end of the game, This game will keep you amused for weeks and you can play the game again and again to try out some knew spells and obliterate the opposing shaman.

A challening and graphically beautiful game
I bought Sim City 3000 and noticed the demo for Populous the beginning, so I tried it. Well all I can say is, I was hooked! The game is quite challenging, but certainly not impossible (which is how I like it). I enjoy defence more then ofence and trust me, during the start period of each mission you need to defend more then ofend.
The graphics are beautiful and I'm suprised it can run on small spec machines! The spells (all 25 of them) are very beautiful.
One of the best things about the game is the discovery. You start with one spell, and basic buildings. You must progress if you want to get better spells (volcano and angel of death are the ultimates). The game is real time, so you need to be quick. It is also like rock paper and siscor, preachers (they convert units) are good verse warriors, fire-warriors are good verse preachers, warriors are good verse fire-warriors.
If you want a good game that will be rewarding as it progresses through the game, get this!