Populous: The Beginning

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Description

Populous: The Beginning is the third part of the Populous series originally created by Peter Molyneux. This is the first part with 3D graphics. Gameplay also received a major overhaul; the player no longer simply has to lower and raise land to gain bigger houses which can defend themselves stronger. Now the player has to chop trees to build huts. Depending on how many men are in the house, the faster its population and the house itself grows. It's possible to train men as fighters, priests, etc. New spells can be added to the shaman's spell inventory through the act of prayer at shrines scattered all over the world. Most spells take the form of natural disasters such as tornadoes and volcanic eruptions.

Each level is represented by a tiny planet that the player can scroll around freely. Aside from the single player campaign it's also possible to challenge other players online.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Trailer

Alternate Titles

• "上帝也疯狂" -- Simplified Chinese spelling
• "Populous: The Third Coming" -- Working title
• "Populous: El Principio" -- Spanish title
• "Populous: A l'Aube de la Création" -- French title
• "Populous 3" -- Informal title
• "ポピュラス ザ・ビギニング" -- Japanese spelling

Part of the Following Groups

• EA Classics releases
• Genre: God game
• Populous series

User Reviews

Better Then The Windows Version!

PlayStation

bart simpson (2)

Critic Reviews

Svenska PC Gamer	Windows	Nov, 1998	92 out of 100	92
GamePro (US)	Windows	Jan 01, 2000	4.5 out of 5	90
Mega Fun	PlayStation	Mar, 1999	88 out of 100	88
PC Joker	Windows	Nov, 1998	87 out of 100	87
Gameplay (Benelux)	Windows	Nov 02, 1998	85 out of 100	85
PC Player (Germany)	Windows	Nov, 1998	83 out of 100	83
PC Gamer	Windows	Mar, 1999	70 out of 100	70
NowGamer	PlayStation	Mar 31, 1999	7 out of 10	70
NUKE Computer Gaming	PlayStation	1999	6 out of 10	60
Eurogamer.net (UK)	PlayStation 3	Jan 28, 2008	6 out of 10	60

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Trivia

Celebration

At the end of each level, if you win you're followers will celebrate and start cheering and dancing madly. At first they will run around crazily and start praising the heavens. However, if you have a large group of followers standing next to each other, there is a good chance that they will form a congo line and start congo-ing in unison, and more followers will continue to join at the end of the line. Also, if you have fire warriors, they will shoot fire into the sky for a display of fireworks.

Music

The music for Populous: The Beginning is encoded as MP3; several music files can be loaded into Winamp (or your player of choice) and played!

Awards

• Computer Gaming World
  • April 1999 (Issue #177) – Runner-up as Best Strategy Game of the Year
• PC Player (Germany)
  • Issue 01/1999 - Best Remake in 1998
• Power Play
  • Issue 02/1999 – Best Real-Time Strategy Game in 1998

Information also contributed by Matt Neuteboom

Related Web Sites

• Populous: The Beginning (Unofficial homepage for Populous: The Beginning.)
• Populous: The Beginning (EA Europe Populous: The Beginning site)
• Wikipedia: Populous: The Beginning (Information about Populous: The Beginning at Wikipedia)