Populous: The Beginning

THE BAD:
It takes too long to save and load - but what can you expect from such an enormously capable game?

SUMMARY:
Who among us has never dreamed of being gifted with Godly powers? The power to control entire Worlds, summon mighty creatures and shape the land as you please? Well, in Populous: The Beginning, you can do all of those things and more.

The control system is fantastic - the Square button fires off your spells, the X button selects objects, the Directional Pad controls an entire rotatable globe, and the Shoulder Buttons rotate can your view and bring up menus from which you can command your Followers, select Spells and select Buildings for construction.

The flexibility of this game is unbelievable. Feel like giving your enemy a sneaky little taste of your power while making your final preparations for a full-scale, 100-man invasion? Send a Spy in and set fire to one of their buildings. Fancy watching some gladiator-style combat between your tribe and the others? Cast a spell and bring up an immense battle arena and send your Followers into battle. Interested in extreme weather? Call up a few blasts of Lightning, summon a devastating Tornado and finish the job with a Fire Storm. Want to turn the enemies' territory into an enemy-free, geological haven? Send their beach land into the sea, flatten their hills, cause an earthquake and call up a mighty volcano.

Among the various types of Follower are the humble Braves who can construct buildings, give you more Mana than other types of Follower and also reproduce more quickly, Warriors who are trained in the art of hand-to-hand combat, Preachers who can convert the enemy Followers to your side, Fire Warriors who wield fire to attack their enemies, and Spies, who can disguise themselves as Followers of any other Shaman and access enemy structures - before promptly setting them on fire.

There are also two types of Vehicles to command - Boats will ferry up to five Characters, including your Shaman, over any body of water which isn't unfeasibly narrow - just be careful, because they are very vulnerable to capsizing in especially rough seas, and can occasionally run aground, especially if they are in the range of specific Spells. They will also burn if they are in a Fire Storm for too long, and if they are hit by a Tornado, they are all but doomed in most cases. Hot-Air Balloons are slightly more reliable - a Tornado will usually only blow them off course a litte bit, and since they fly, there isn't a lot else that can hit them! The downside is that they can only carry two passengers at any one time - but still, that just makes it all the more strategic!

All in all, Populous: The Beginning is a fantastic game, and definitely one which I will recommend if you can locate a copy of the game.

THE BAD:
Angel of death is pretty cheesy, not enough people play it, a 200pop. limit

SUMMARY:
This is the most awsome playstation strategy game I ever played. Only thing I did not like is the constany hours of playing when I made one mistake on a level causing a stalemate between me and 2 enemies. I also didn't like the constant music I had to hear. Otherwise I LoVe it!!!