Overall most helpful review

Posted on: September 17, 2014

nitrogenfingers

Games: 330 Reviews: 48

I had hoped for more

As a long-time player of the Populous games, Reprisal Universe to me has been somewhat disappointing. The game has high ambitions of being a recreation of the early style of Populous gameplay, a progenitor to the modern RTS that is still thoroughly playable but almost totally absent in modern video games. But my complaint isn't so much with the game failing to adhere to this style, but more adhering to it too strictly; indeed Reprisal Universe follows the Populous formula so rigidly it's hard to recommend this over the first two as it simply offers nothing new. The game has a pleasant retro if generic graphical style, and offers a slightly more guided experience with fewer worlds but a greater sense of progression. Rather than having all god powers (lighting, fire, volcanos etc) unlocked from the start, they are collected as totems which tiers out new game elements quite nicely. All powers now have a cooldown however, which can make using them less exciting. Besides that, only one or two of the god powers are new, and flatten-sprog-conquer formula is exactly the same. For all intents and purposes this is the original game with a modern retro reskinning. It's not like there isn't room for innovation either; controlling your followers is still cumbersome and chance-based, and besides occasionally flinging fireballs there isn't that much player-player interaction. Maps still devolve into a flat expanse by mid-game. If there is multiplayer mode, I couldn't find it. I remember saying when playing Populous: The Beginning (which radically changed the formula) that simply updating the original gameplay would have made further sequels feel stale and unfortunately, without a compelling story or any real innovations to freshen the air, this game sadly feels decidedly generic. Which is a shame; it's very competently put together, and those who haven't played the originals would do as well to play this instead. It's just a pity it doesn't offer much new for the rest of us.

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Posted on: September 17, 2014

dead0eye

Verified owner

Games: 65 Reviews: 1

Great but can be improved further!

I pretty much bought this right away, the moment I saw it. I'm a fan of any game that resembles Populous or pretty much any God simulator kind of game. The mechanics behind this game is exactly that of Populous I & 2. The land management is a little bit off as the cursor automatically reposition itself after every click, hence disallowing you that crazy quick mouse clicks you can do with Populous. After a while I guess you'll get used to it. The heroes in this game sucks. It's such a hair pulling experience to see your hero getting killed by a normal enemy unit just right after transformation. The highest number of enemies I've seen a hero kill before his demise was 2 or 3. Beyond that number he just self-implode and kills anything around him. Don't even bother getting one unless you want to waste your mana and see him die a horrible embarrassing death. It's a million times more efficient to change to Attack mode rather than relying on any Heroes. The leader doesn't have a "power bar" like Populous, so basically you have no idea how "strong" he is or how much fighting power he has left, but judging by hours of gameplay so far, not so much - even after absorbing dozens of other followers. Additionally, the "leader icon" and "follow your leader command" are more of a strategy option rather than to create a strong and formidable leader which could lead to a Hero. The strategy is very straightforward and could get quite stale after a while. Get your structures to castles, the more the better. The more you have them the faster your mana regenerates, which gives you access to spells. Rain spells on your enemies, expand and wipe out the remaining settlements with the Attack command. I believe this game is still in its early stages, no doubt it has lots of room for improvements and one day I'm sure it'll be as good as Populous if not better.

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Posted on: September 15, 2014

InfamousJ

Verified owner

Games: 220 Reviews: 1

A Simple God-Sim

An easy to play and enjoyable God simulator. Generate mana by having your people establish villages and cities and use that mana to terraform the world and decimate the opposing forces. It took two false starts to figure out the balance between mana generation and fighting the opponents, but ultimately it came down to focusing on quickly building an empire until having built enough of a supply to activate the powers and wipe out the enemy. Aesthetically, the game has a pleasant and simple pixel art style and simple controls. There is a story within the game that is told in a rather minimalist way with small blocks of text every few maps. Overall it is a simple and easy game that hasn't quite demanded I change my strategy when approaching a map. This leaves the game as something more to unwind to then dedicate entire evenings to.

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Posted on: September 20, 2015

DetouR6734

Verified owner

Games: 161 Reviews: 6

So simple it hurts.

Honestly if you want a really really basic, classic, game that adheres to a really old formula, this is for you. The only Populous game i played was "Populous: The Beginning", and i was hoping this would scratch that itch, the retro looks i don't mind, i like how it's done, but it's just so.. basic! it's about as advanced as pong.. It's basically a really fast spamfest, of flatten, build, repeat. I played for a few hours and conquered a fair few worlds before i knew it wasn't going to change besides a few extra powers. It's pretty in it's own way, but that's really all it has going for it for me, though like i said, if you loved the classic populous, you'll probably like it.

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Posted on: September 15, 2014

advancedhero

Games: 395 Reviews: 5

Fun Populous inspired game

If you like the first two original Populous games, chances are, you will enjoy this! It starts out simple, let your peasants expand their homes by using your mana to terraform the ground to make it flat and habitable. As you flatten more land, you get bigger castles and houses, which generate more mana. You will slowly gain new powers over time, like summoning a cloud of fire to rain over your enemy, who is also expanding, or creating mountains in their land. You can also tell your people to attack the enemy and try to destroy their houses. I think this game is very high quality, and deserves your attention.

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