Populous: The Beginning

by Electronic Arts

Product Features

• Action strategy game that lets you control nature
• 25 different worlds with beautiful 3-D real-time environments
• Annihilate enemies with spells such as lightning, tornadoes, and earthquakes
• Transform your worlds by shaping the land and sea, and commanding its inhabitants
• For 1 to 4 players, via Internet, LAN or modem

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004S3AI
• Media: CD-ROM
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,594 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: PC

Amazon.com 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 neighboring 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 neighboring 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 Civilization or Age of Empires--Populous: The Beginning offers another opportunity in the strategic struggle for power. --Madeleine Miller

Product Description

This software is BRAND NEW. Packaging may differ slightly from the stock photo above. Please click on our logo above to see over 15,000 titles in stock.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's time to become a god, May 20, 2000

By 

"scotty_g" (Victoria, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Populous: The Beginning (CD-ROM)

You are the shaman the leader of a primitive tribe, if you are to realise your dream of becoming a god, you must defeat your foes and conquer all 25 worlds in the solar system. To conquer the worlds you must use your minions, spells and houses. You could send a few fire warriors by boat for a devastating sea attack or send spies to burn their houses or say what the heck and use the volcano and wipe out their whole tribe. Build huge cities complete with civilian houses boat shacks, churches, spy huts, guard posts and many more. Have faith in the elements as you use 26 unique spells like the Tornado, Earthquake, lighting and Meteor shower spells. Then send your braves, warriors, fire warriors, priests and spies into battle against the enemy.

I must say that Populous is the best computer game I have ever played. With 25 highly detailed 3D levels you will find yourself playing until late at night. You can have your attacks as basic as you want to as complex as you want. The really good thing with this game is that not only do you have the normal close up view but you can have a view from outer space which is excellent when you want access your options before going into battle. Even though I haven't yet done it, you can your play friends or strangers over the Internet. I feel if you want to get the most out of populous you must have "direct 3D rendered" it just makes the game 3D accelerated and the landscape is more detailed and as just more clearer but if you don't direct 3D it doesn't matter that much. I take my hat off to bullfrog with an anther superb 3D strategy game. I can't wait until I play Dungeon keeper 2 which another bullfrog game. If you like Populous then look out for Dungeon keeper and Age of Empires they'll be up your ally. 5 stars.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A five-star game!, November 29, 2000

By 

Bryan Sebrell (Salem, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Populous: The Beginning (CD-ROM)

Populous: The Beginning is a great game, and does't have any downsides. You control a tribe in their quest to promote the Shaman to God. To achieve this, you must guide the tribe through 25 levels, destroying any enemy tribes in the way. There are many types of followers: braves, firewarriors, preachers, Shamen, warriors, and spies. The Shaman is the most powerful follower; she can perform 15 spells, such as volcanos, lightning, tornados, and earthquakes, as well as four very powerful spells, Armageddon, Bloodlust, Teleport, and Ghost Army. Each spell has its own use, to guard followers, attack enemies, and other uses. There are three enemy tribes: Matak (green), Chumara (yellow), and Dakini (red). Levels can have one, two, or all three enemy tribes that you must destroy. In each level, there are Vaults of Knowledge, Stone Heads, and/or other special things to help you. Some may give you new spells, others can destroy parts of the enemy. You can also build buildings, but your braves must build them for you. All of the buildings have different uses, such as training followers to be warriors or other special followers (except the Shaman), or to reproduce new braves, to increase the size of your tribe. Overall, this game is great, and has no flaws, yet it is difficult, especially the levels toward the end, so I would recommend this game to people who have patience, lightning-fast reflexes, and intelligence to form strategies.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Really cool, March 18, 2001

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Populous: The Beginning (CD-ROM)

This game is a really good buy. Not only do you get to build villiages but you get to destroy your enemies by eroding the land under them and watching them run around like idiots when you cast a spell that involves a swarm of bees. Plus there are a full 20 levels of this. Just to give you a sense of how much these people thought of you can control a warrior that shoots fireballs out of his hands, a freaky lady wearing a mask called the shaman that can cast spells from lightning bolts to conjuring up a flying dragon that eats up people then spits them back out again. If you like the age of empires series then you will probably like this game just as much.

2115|R2MO5S1AZTTEL9;2115|RRZH8HSYRN7UA;2115|R2P1S7Q1FZ1D3O;