Populous 3: The Beginning (Demo)
  
                      Reviewed by Sue

I can still vividly remember playing the original Populous on the
ST, going from level to level and being fascinated by the people
in it who were going about their lives as I watched. I didn't play
Populous 2 and so far all I have seen is the demo of Populous 3.
But I have really liked what I've seen and am impressed by the way
the series has progressed.

The demo takes 37 meg of hard disk space and needs a minimum of a
P133 running Windows 95 with 16 meg of RAM and DirectX 6.0 - a
P200 with a 3D compliant video card is recommended.  Three single
player levels are supplied. These are, I gather, unique to the
demo and the full game has 26 levels. There is also a tutorial for
first time players and a rolling demo. A two player map is also
supplied for network play but I couldn't check that out. I would
imagine it'd be great fun, though! Each level has different
requirements for winning but losing is as simple as having all
your followers and your Shaman killed. Your Shaman is the
controlling force behind your population, but as long as some
followers live, she can be resurrected if she's killed. But if
you've also lost them, it's 'game over' time.

When you run the program you're given the choice between software
rendered without 3D acceleration or Direct 3D rendered ...  I
chose the former and settled back to watch the rolling demo. It
showed the impressive graphics. They've certainly progressed
immensely since its first incarnation. Several different parts of
the game are shown in sequence in the demo as your race, the
Blues, built new huts and the Shaman casts a spell to build a land
bridge to the Reds' domain ready to attack. Some of the different
characters are introduced and I also learned that there were 22
spells available. In the second part of the demo it was Blues Vs.
Greens.

Next I tried the tutorial. This is in three parts. To start any of
these, you pick an obelisk at which to worship. Then the 'gods'
will instruct you in the art of spells, fighting or building. When
the tutorial starts, you see the world in glorious 3D. The globe
is rotated using the cursor keys and you zoom in by pressing
return. You learn how to select the Shaman and get her to worship
an obelisk. Several obelisks rise out of the earth and each takes
you to a further part in the tutorial.

The building tutorial shows you how to instruct your braves (the
work force) to build a hut. I liked the way they jumped up and
down to flatten the land first! Next you instruct your followers
to enter huts. This makes them produce mana and breed new
followers who also worship your Shaman and increase her strength.

The fighting tutorial explains that warriors are produced by
putting braves into a warrior training hut. This uses mana and
takes time.  Idle warriors do press-ups while waiting for
instructions and all it takes for them to attack an enemy is two
clicks of the mouse.  Warriors fight harder than braves but
preachers will convert the enemy to your cause rather than killing
them. Now isn't THAT a nice, peaceful solution!

The spells tutorial shows how the Shaman will worship at stone
heads to get a bonus. In the example given, she gained a
lightning spell, learned how to create a land bridge and blast
her enemies.

On to the first level! In this, your enemy is weak (goody). Your
aims are to build up a training settlement, gain the power to
build land bridges, gain the lightning spell, get the ability to
train warriors and crush the Dakini tribe. A quick flyby shows you
the state of the land ... just three small islands. The second 
level is called Eye of the Storm. You have to convert wildmen, 
train warriors, enter the vault of knowledge, use faith to turn 
the enemy and destroy the Chumara settlement. Thus in each level 
of the demo you experience different facets of the game.

A demo can encourage you to buy a game or put you off completely. 
I was impressed with Populous 3's demo but I wouldn't be 
especially tempted to buy the full game unless I see it at a 
very good price. 
                              - o -