Bullfrog achieved this by way of a kind of technical illusion, locally projecting the game’s topology - which is actually shaped like a torus - onto a sphere. Based on a similar system devised for Bullfrog’s earlier game Magic Carpet (1994), this is a remarkable technical achievement which anticipates games like Supreme Commander (2007) and Planetary Annihilation (2014) by many years. The camera can be rotated around these miniature worlds, and even zoomed out to a more strategic view in which units are replaced with icons. One of the first things players will notice upon playing The Beginning for the first time is that its levels are not flat but instead tiny, spherical planets. Just as the mana of the gods flows through the shaman, the distinctive atmosphere of Populous: The Beginning flows through all aspects of its design and presentation - its gameplay, graphics, and sound. It presents a pleasing contrast with the fairly ordinary fantasy of WarCraft or the familiar modern battles of Command & Conquer. While the story is simple, the game’s focus on mystical tribal warfare is one of the more novel settings for a 1990s RTS. The reward for victory is an ascension to godhood, and dominion over the whole solar system. The game’s campaign sees the player taking control of the nameless shaman’s blue tribe, and battling the green Matak, the yellow Chumara, and the fearsome red Dakini over 25 worlds each with their own terrain and characteristics. In a vision, she sees that her world is just one of many and that other tribes exist, each led by their own formidable shaman. The player controls a shaman who, alone in her tribe, is sensitive to the magic flowing through the universe and who possesses the gift of second sight. The superb opening cutscene deftly introduces the game’s minimalist story. While at the time critics were muted in their response to the game - frankly confused by its radical new gameplay style - Populous: The Beginning is an extraordinary strategy game, easily one of the most unique and engaging ever made. While the earlier games put players in the role of a mighty god overseeing the advancement of a human civilisation, The Beginning has them guide a powerful shaman struggling to achieve godhood. While The Beginning is primarily an RTS, it draws significantly from the Populous series, to which it serves as a loose prequel. The game is a unique hybrid of two distinct gameplay styles: the god game, which Bullfrog had pioneered with the original Populous in 1989 and the real-time strategy, which was then enjoying its first major boom of popularity in the mid- to late-1990s. Within a few years numerous projects would be cancelled, and Bullfrog would be gone, absorbed to become just another cog in the EA machine.ĭespite these ominous signs, 1998 saw the release of one of Bullfrog’s most important, and sadly underrated games: Populous: The Beginning. The company’s acquisition by Electronic Arts and the departure of co-founder Peter Molyneux to found his own studio would endanger the company. With games like Syndicate (1993), Theme Park (1994) and Dungeon Keeper (1997), the British studio had built a reputation for creative and original releases, known for their humour and novel game mechanics. By 1998, Bullfrog Productions were one of the most successful, innovative and respected games development studios in the world.
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