- March 7, 2024
- Bullfrog Productions
Populous™: The Beginning
Platforms
About
In "Populous™: The Beginning," become a god by controlling your shaman and leading your tribe to conquer 25 planets in a 3D world. Unleash devastating spells, harness natural disasters, and shape the planet while managing your followers' tasks for ultimate victory. Your apotheosis awaits!











- Populous: The Beginning is a nostalgic classic that combines real-time strategy with god game elements, offering a unique gameplay experience that still captivates players today.
- The game features innovative mechanics such as terrain manipulation and a variety of spells, which enhance strategic depth and provide satisfying gameplay.
- Despite its dated graphics, the game runs well on modern systems with community patches, and it has a supportive online community that keeps the experience alive.
- The game suffers from significant compatibility issues on modern systems, particularly Windows 11, leading to crashes and loss of save files.
- Controls and AI are outdated, making gameplay frustrating at times, especially for new players who may find the lack of quality-of-life improvements challenging.
- While the nostalgia factor is strong, many players feel that the game does not hold up well against modern standards, leading to mixed feelings about its current release.
graphics
48 mentions Positive Neutral NegativeThe graphics of the game are widely regarded as dated and awkward by modern standards, with many users noting issues such as crashes and graphical glitches. However, despite these shortcomings, the game is celebrated as a cult classic that was revolutionary for its time, particularly in its use of 3D graphics and dynamic camera angles, which contributed to an immersive gameplay experience. Many fans express a desire for a remaster that retains the original gameplay while updating the visuals to contemporary standards.
“The transition to 3D graphics was revolutionary at the time, offering an immersive experience that was ahead of its era.”
“The innovative use of 3D graphics and terrain manipulation influenced future game designs and remains a benchmark in the genre.”
“Fantastic underrated gem of a game that was way ahead of its time in terms of graphics and gameplay.”
“Whether it's not launching, weird graphical problems, etc., it just seems it doesn't run well.”
“There have been some crashing when changing the graphics and some settings reset every time you launch the game, but it has always been like that so don't worry about it.”
“Crashes upon hitting new game, graphics options cannot be changed even though the options menu says I have changed the resolution.”