Populous The Beginning

by Playstation

Product Features

• PS game from 1990s

Product Details

• ASIN: B000038ABP
• Item Weight: 8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #30,374 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

GameSpot Review

Are you looking for a game that gives you plenty of time to get sandwiches, make phone calls, and go on vacation between levels? How about a game that occasionally crashes in the middle of loading a level? If so, then Populous: The Beginning is the game for you.

Populous: The Beginning is the third game in the Populous series, and it has little, if anything, in common with the previous Populous games. Here, instead of merely playing as a god and watching from above, you're cast as a shaman, and you must directly control your followers, mostly to organize them against opposing tribes. You'll also command your tribe to build various structures, including huts where they will live, training facilities where they will learn how to fight, and guard towers, which will help you establish remotes bases of operations. If this all sounds a bit like Command & Conquer or Warcraft, that's because it plays more like those real-time strategy games than like the slower, more cerebral Populous and Populous II.

The game takes place on a small planet, which appears in full 3D so you can rotate your view to get a better vantage point. Unfortunately, the graphics are so blocky you can never really get a clear idea of exactly what everything is. The individual troops are so small that you frequently can't even tell exactly what type of unit you're looking at. Is that a brave or a warrior? You may never know....

The game's sound is decent, but the new-agey music quickly becomes tiresome. The rest of the soundtrack is composed of the battle cries and gibberish that make up your tribe's native tongue. There is also a booming voice that speaks before every level, showing you the lay of the land and instructing you how to go about completing your objectives.

It's not that Populous: The Beginning is a bad game, it's just a bad PlayStation game. The controller really isn't up to the task of commanding tons of miniscule units with any amount of precision, and the graphics are so muddy you can't discern what's going on a good portion of the time. Also, the game crashed at least once on every PlayStation we tried it on. Get the PC version, instead. It's better in every way. --Jeff Gerstmann
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc.

Product Description

This is the game Populous: The Beginning for the Playstation 1. This game may not come with the original case and instructions. We stand by our products and offer a 60 day guarantee. If a game does not work within 60 days from the time you receive it we will gladly exchange it for you

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Don't bother with this game, February 17, 2000

By A Customer

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Populous The Beginning (Video Game)

If you remember the original Populous for PC's, then don't bother with this game. It's nothing like the Original, and you will be disappointed. The graphics on this are primative, game control sux, and the game just isn't that fun to play.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Populous the begining, November 18, 2004

A Kid's Review

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Populous The Beginning (Video Game)

I loved this game for the playstation especially with the cheats. i will tell you one. in the first level click on all the trees, you will get all buildings and all spells but first go to the start menu and you will see a cheat menu.if you dont want to wait for your spells to charge up go to the cheat menu again.that will make the game brillant.

3.0 out of 5 stars Populous the game of bugs, March 17, 2010

By 

J. Dulin (Milan G.A.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Populous The Beginning (Video Game)

The game had great potential The game would probably be really fun if it didnt have so many bugs "Quirks" in it. But over all I got it at a deal so was worth the money I paid for it. the only advice I can give is it is worth playing as long as you can get it at a deal dont pay to much for it or you will be disapointed.