In the beginning there was...

When it was first released 20 years ago, Populous was a groundbreaking God Sim, spawning an entirely new genre of gaming. Since then it’s been re-released on a variety of platforms in a variety of incarnations and to varying degrees of success …

Which begs the questions: with all the God Sims that we’ve experienced since the dawn of Populous, does the granddad of them all (now being released on the smaller screens of the Nintendo DS) still have the power to strike down upon those that imitate with great vengeance and furious anger.

The power of creation in the palm of your hand, sort of

The basis of Populous is a simple one which puts you in the role of a God. You must win the hearts of the people by helping them shape their physical world through a variety of miracles (i.e. flattening the land by creating an earthquake to help them build houses). Where the game becomes more interesting is the inclusion of Demons, who are the mirrors of the Gods - a bit of Ying and Yang if you will. With the Demons included Populous became a one-on-one match between Gods and Demons who are both trying to win the devotion of the people and amass the most land – albeit for very different reasons.

The two screens show the same view, but in different ways. The top screen shows you the land, people, houses, bodies of water and other features in detail. The touchscreen shows the land in a more strategic way, almost like a blueprint. As you change details on the touchscreen, the upper screen will reflect this change to the environment.

The more houses that are built the more people will pray to you. As more people pray to you, the more energy you gain. And the more energy you gain the more power you have to perform miracles and acts of godly destruction. The secret is not to waste your miracles. Acts such as volcanoes and tidal waves should be reserved for the apocalypse, because when the timer runs down that is what happens. During an apocalypse both sets of people (yours and the demons’) will meet in the centre of the map and fight it out to the bitter end. If one of your people is standing at the end of the fight you are the winner.

Populous on the DS is not just a re-release of the classic. It has been given a few tweaks here and there. Populous features different lands that will give the God different advantages and disadvantages, from weird fairytale-like environments to gothic horror inspired landscapes to plain old grass lands.

Do unto others

Populous also features a Multiplayer mode for up to four players to flex their god like muscles. This can break friendships though; I worked really hard on a little civilisation to have my “friend” erupt a volcano in the centre of it. On the flip side though, when it’s you who’s dishing out acts of destruction, it is really fun.

Populous DS does everything it can to re-capture the feel of the original Populous with a few new ideas thrown in. The slight downfall is that it does feel slightly dated. But – and it’s a big but – if you are looking for your first God Sim game and don’t know which one to start with, start here. It may well feel dated by today’s standards, but Populous set the tone for every God Sim out there and what better place to start than at the beginning!

GAME's Verdict

• Populous is now portable.
• It feels easier to play due to the Stylus and touchscreen.
• The slight Face lift that Populous has received.

• It does feel dated compared to newer releases
• More detailed animations would have been super - especially in fights
• Having my village disappear under a flow of lava

Review by: Tom "All-Powerful" Daly
Version Tested: Nintendo DS
Review Published: 05.03.09