Genre: Strategy
Publisher: Xseed Games
Developer: Electronic Arts
Release Date: November 11, 2008

In a move that almost seemed inevitable, the god game that started it all, Populous, is being ported to the Nintendo DS. Populous DS shares many features with Peter Molyneux's 1989 original, but takes advantage of its new platform by adding some noted dual-screen twists.

In Populous DS, you are a deity who is tasked with nurturing a civilization; your goal is to vanquish a nearby hostile civilization, which is controlled by a rival god. The touch-screen shows a barebones view of the world, while the corresponding fleshed-out version of the world is displayed on the top screen, which is where cut scenes and the final apocalyptic battle also play out. Your territory is outlined in blue, while enemy holdings are outlined in red.

Moving around the world map is fairly intuitive. To make short movements across the map, you hold down a shoulder button and drag your stylus in the direction that you wish to move. To make larger movements, such as going to the other side of the map, you simply tap on the corresponding location on the mini-map, which is located in the upper left- or right-hand corner of the touch-screen (location can be adjusted in the options menu).

There are five gods in Populous DS — earth, fire, harvest, water and wind — and each has its own set of miracles, which can be used to help your civilization or inflict damage on the enemy. The fire god can make fireballs rain down from the heavens or instantiate a volcano that will erupt lava on unsuspecting villagers, but he can also set up a War Fire in your territory that will empower everyone who passes by it. Each god also has an enemy against whom he is particularly strong, as well as a foe against whom he is weak.

There are four gameplay modes: Challenge, Populous, Warrior Hunt and Versus. If you like the gameplay but think that the game parameters could use some tweaking, Populous mode lets you tailor things such as the time limit, number of CPU-controlled players, rule set, etc. Warrior Hunt tasks you with locating certain characters in a crowded world map within a time limit. Similar to a DS version of "Where's Waldo?", this mode requires great attention to detail, as you may be tasked with locating the warrior in red who's fighting against the black-clad ninja with a green sash. As expected, players can go up against three other players in Versus mode, and game parameters can also be tailored to the host's liking. There is also a Continue option, which lets you resume your last saved game in Challenge mode, if you had to abandon it in mid-development.

In the main Challenge mode, which offers 50 stages, your territory begins as a small island or mountainous region (or a combination), and you must raise or lower the ground with the stylus to create the requisite flat surface upon which your followers can build houses. After one of your people has built a house, you can also hold a shoulder button and double-tap the house to level enough land around his humble abode so that he can expand it into a castle, provided there are no landscape obstacles in the way. The bigger your follower's house, the more psyche points he'll be sending your way.

It is with these psyche points that your deity carries out miracles to further the development of your own civilization and destroy the enemy's population. Once you've gathered enough psyche points and you're sure that the number and morale of your people outnumbers that of the opposing civilization, you should initiate Armageddon, which is the final showdown between the two warring gods and the civilizations that they control. At that point, you sit back and watch the battle play out on the top screen as you await the results of the battle. If you don't initiate Armageddon by the end of the time limit, it will automatically kick in.

The sound in Populous DS isn't very memorable, but you don't pay much attention to it as you work frantically to expand your territory, prepare for enemy attacks and instigate some attacks of your own . Armageddon battles are accompanied by classical tunes, such as "Beethoven's Ninth Symphony." There are some sound effects that play out as you move around the map. You'll hear battle sounds when you see that members from the two warring populations have crossed one another's paths, soothing rain sounds will play when you pass by an area where the water god has initiated a rain miracle that helps her people grow, and you'll hear a screeching siren to alert you that the rival god has attacked you.

The top screen, which displays the fleshed-out version of the world, looks quite good. The gods are shown hovering over the map, and their animated motions are smooth. The sprite-based people walking around on the map are faceless, but they move well and have varied paths. The miracles are the most impressive, and while you may think that there are only so many times you could watch a meteor crash into an enemy house, it has yet to get old. There is also some variety in the themed maps, from Grass Plain, which is lush and green and is populated with warriors and knights, to Persia, which is an arid desert with people moving around on flying carpets.

It's been almost 20 years since the series' inception, and while gaming technology has advanced by leaps and bounds, the gameplay of Populous has remained timeless. Populous DS is set to release later this month, and although it has incorporated touch-screen controls, the gameplay has stayed true to the original. Fans of god games would do well to acquaint — or reacquaint — themselves with this classic.