Populous: The Beginning - Reception

Reception

Populous: The Beginning received generally favorable reviews on release with some strong criticisms to follow. Reviewers were especially smitten with the immersive 3D graphics. Edge stated, "previous Bullfrog games have always placed gameplay above graphical finesse, but that's no longer the case." GameSpot's reviewer Ron Dulin appreciated how The Beginning was a daring revamp of the series, instead of a safe, slightly modified sequel (like the earlier Populous II). Computer and Video Games rated The Beginning as a "better play" than the original.

Complaints about the game centered on the difficulty of controlling followers, the simplicity of gameplay, and the tension between game styles. The game's AI allowed followers to automatically construct buildings, but this led to problems directing them in the midst of a hectic battle. IGN noted that with the player's followers automatically going about daily life, the replay value was lowered even with the multiplayer options. Others agreed that the automation rendered gameplay too simple, with no upgrades or serious resource management, a sentiment PC Gamer expressed when they wrote that the missions "become mind-numbingly repetitive".

Populous: The Beginning played very differently from earlier titles. Edge concluded that while the more rigid play format of The Beginning was new to the series, it had the effect of making the end result "less show-stopping". The game was caught between the god game and RTS genres, and did not excel at either. PCGamer subsequently decided the game failed to live up to the previous games in the series. More charitably, GamePro's Peter Olafson wrote: "Populous: The Beginning is not a bad game, in fact a good one; but it's a different game—one without a quintessential quality that defined Populous."