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 result "less show-stopping"; Edge believed that 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, GamePros 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." Populous: The Beginning was not a commercial success, and to date remains the final game in the franchise. Electronic Arts shut down Bullfrog in 2001. The official multiplayer servers for Populous: The Beginning went offline in 2004, but the game's multiplayer was kept alive through Populous: Reincarnated and Populous.Online, managed by a group of dedicated fans. References External links Populous: The Beginning at MobyGames 1998 video games Electronic Arts games God games PlayStation (console) games Populous (series) Real-time strategy video games Video games scored by Mark Knight Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games featuring female protagonists Video games with expansion packs Windows games