Populous™

A true classic RTS from the legendary Bullfrog. I hope more Bullfrog games are brought back to life.

Oh yes. Yes to this and the late 80’s.

Eine Sternstunde Hier geht's zu meinem Nostalgie-Waetsch's Play: https://youtu.be/E5PdQyyWRok In Populous übernimmt man die "Hegschaft" eines blau gewandeten Völkchen, d. h. man hebt und senkt Land, damit die kleinen Leutchen da schön ihre Häuser bauen können. Aber, wie wir wissen, kann selbst der frommste nicht in Frieden leben, wenn es dem bösen Nachbar nicht gefällt, also traktieren wir ein rot gewandetes Völkchen mit Sümpfen, Vulkanausbrüchen und Überschwemmungen. Diese ganze epische Schlacht wird uns in einem winzigen Kartenausschnitt präsentiert, der umrahmt von Bedienelementen ist. Vermutlich bekam man dieses Spiel 1989 nur so flüssig zum Laufen. Aber das alles stört den Spielspaß tatsächlich überhaupt nicht, und wenn man nicht aufpasst, versenkt man ruckzuck etliche Stunden. 1991 kam mit Populous II der Nachfolger, der alles noch besser machte und auch heute noch zu meinen absoluten Lieblingsspielen zählt. Folgt mir auch gerne bei Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41912197-waetschs-play

神の視点で遊ぶ、正に「神ゲー」。SFCやPCエンジンなどに移植されたのを遊んだ方も、これを見てる中にはいらっしゃるのではないでしょうか。自分の信者を手助けし、相手の信者を全滅させることを目的としたシミュレーションゲーム。 最初は数人の信者と、ほんの少しだけ奇跡パワーを持ってゲームがスタートする。 自分が出来るのは、奇跡パワーを使って土地を造成する事と、信者に対して大まかな指示（指示は４つしかないし、場合によっては勝手に行動する。神の意図を信者は全て理解している訳ではないのである！）を出すことと、信仰パワーを多く消費して攻撃的な奇跡を起こす（地震や洪水などを起こしたり、底なし沼を作ったりする）ことしかできない。直接相手の信者を神の雷で……なんてことは出来ない。攻撃的な奇跡も大打撃を与えるというよりは、土地をボロボロにするのがメイン。 信者を増やすことで信仰パワーも増え、信者そのものも強くなっていく。信仰パワーが増えることで様々な奇跡を使うことが出来るようになり、相手に攻撃を仕掛けることもできるようになる。でも、敵側も同じ条件なので、せっかく綺麗に作った土地を相手の奇跡で盛大に荒らされたりもする。 マップによっては出来ること・出来ないことが設定され、「自分は奇跡使えないけど相手は奇跡使える」とか「土地を上げることはできるけど下げることができない」なんていうルールを設定されることもある。 今回は拡張パックがないので、基本的な４マップのみ。クリアするとスコアが計算され、それによって数～数十ステージがスキップされながら次のマップへ。これの繰り返し。 流石に古いんですけど、シンプルだからこそ単純に面白いんですよね、コレ。序盤は土地を整えて信者を増やし、中盤は相手に奇跡でちょっかい出して相手の勢力を削り、終盤は一騎打ちに持ち込む。基本はそれの繰り返しなんですけど、初代の時点で完成されたシステムだからこそ、今遊んでも全然色褪せない名作です。 （PCエンジン版もSFC版も日本語されてなかったので今更感すごいですが）日本語化されてないんですけど、難解な設定とかはないので、当時遊んだ方ならすんなり遊べるかと思います。

Older than heaven and better than hell.

[i]Populous™[/i] is certainly a forefather within the "god game" genre, but not much else can be said for this decades-old product that Electronic Arts arbitrarily put up for sale on the Steam store in modern times. Essentially, consumers will be purchasing a relic that requires reading of an [url=https://archive.org/details/populousmanual/Populous-Manual/page/n33/mode/2up]off-site[/url] manual in order to understand its 8-bit visuals and peculiar mechanics. Once players have adapted to both the visuals and mechanics, they can then play various worlds that differ in color theme and environmental effects with little difficulty. With god games like [i]Black & White[/i] (2001), [i]Populous: The Beginning[/i] (1998), and [i]The Universim[/i] (2024), it is difficult to justify buying archaic products when their successors are more attractive visually and satisfying mechanically by tenfold in comparison.

Populous, developed by Bullfrog Productions and published by Electronic Arts, is a pioneering strategy title that helped define what would later be known as the god game genre. Released at a time when most strategy games focused on direct control and micromanagement, it introduced a radically different idea: instead of commanding individuals, you influence an entire civilization by shaping the world around them. This shift in perspective gives the game a distinctive identity that still feels unusual even by modern standards. The foundation of the experience lies in indirect control. Your followers act on their own, building homes, expanding territory, and engaging with opposing tribes without direct orders. Your role is to guide their development by manipulating the terrain, flattening land so they can build more efficiently and grow their population. This population, in turn, fuels your divine power, creating a feedback loop where expansion leads to greater influence, and greater influence enables more dramatic interventions. It is a system that rewards foresight and patience, as the results of your actions often take time to fully unfold. As your power increases, you gain access to a range of abilities that allow you to shape the world more aggressively. You can raise and lower land, create natural barriers, or unleash disasters to disrupt your opponent’s progress. The tension between nurturing your own civilization and hindering your rival is at the heart of the gameplay, forcing you to constantly decide where to focus your attention. This balance gives the game a strategic depth that goes beyond its relatively simple mechanics, as success depends on understanding how each action contributes to long-term growth. One of the most notable aspects of Populous is its scale. The game offers a large number of levels, each presenting a variation on the same core challenge. This creates a sense of progression as you move through different worlds, gradually refining your approach and becoming more efficient in how you manage your resources and abilities. However, this abundance of content also highlights one of the game’s main weaknesses. Because the core mechanics remain largely unchanged, the experience can become repetitive over time, especially during extended play sessions. The visual presentation, built around an isometric perspective, was both functional and innovative for its era. It allows players to clearly see the terrain and understand how their actions affect the world. While the graphics are simple by today’s standards, they effectively communicate the game’s systems and maintain a certain charm. Watching the landscape transform under your influence or seeing your followers spread across newly flattened land reinforces the feeling of being a guiding force rather than a direct commander. There are, however, aspects of the design that may feel less intuitive to modern players. The interface can take time to understand, as it lacks the streamlined clarity found in more recent strategy games. The indirect nature of control, while central to the game’s identity, can also lead to moments of frustration when your followers behave unpredictably or fail to act in the way you expect. Without direct commands, you are often relying on influence rather than precision, which can make certain situations feel harder to manage. Even with these limitations, Populous remains a remarkable achievement. Its core concept was groundbreaking at the time of release, and its influence can still be seen in later games that explore indirect control and environmental manipulation. It demonstrated that strategy could be approached from a completely different angle, opening the door for new ideas and genres to emerge. In the end, Populous stands as both a historical milestone and a still-engaging strategy experience. While its age shows in its interface and repetitive structure, its central idea remains compelling, offering a unique way to think about control, growth, and power. For those willing to embrace its slower pace and unconventional design, it provides a rewarding look at the origins of a genre that continues to evolve. Rating: 8/10

This holds up better than I expected for such an ancient game. We should never forgive EA for what they did to Bullfrog. I hope EA get woke AF so that they go bankrupt.