http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/22cans/project-godusPledge Goal:
£450,000 (Yes, they have it in pounds)
Current Pledged Amount:
£526,636Days Remaining:
OVERWe knew it had to happen sometime. Populous is one of those games people have been pleading with some developer, any developer, to remake, as God Games have generally fallen by the wayside in recent years. And nothing has ever quite hit all the right notes like Populous did.
Well, it turns out Peter Molyneux has been listening and thinks he can make this happen.
He, along with some veterans from Bullfrog, want your monies so you can be god and light people's houses on fire and such. There's not much to go on in the video, obviously they're still in pre-production. About the only concretes things we know right now beyond the art style...is the fact it will have MP, up to (8? EIGHT!) 8 people.
Feature list:
- It’s a living world, unique and detailed. And it’s a world you influence, whether you’re good or evil.
- GODUS is instantly accessible, easy to learn but immensely deep.
- As you flourish and build your own cult, you’ll engage in pitched battles with other gods and their cults. It’s a multiplayer power-struggle the way it should be.
- GODUS draws on the cunning battle-psychology of Dungeon Keeper, the living, changing world of Black & White and the instinctive, satisfying gameplay of Populous.
- Plus you get to be a god. In fact, play well and you get to be the ultimate god!
- GODUS will be developed for the PC and Mobile devices, we hope to be able to add more platforms as our Kickstarter campaign progresses.
I'm not automatically in love with this project, even though I've been pining for a Populous remake forever. Firstly, the art style isn't my cup of tea. I liked the detail and believability of the older games. The abstract, painting-look of this new style doesn't hit me the same way that stony, medieval design of the old did. It has the look of a mobile game already to me.
Secondly, Moylneux. He's been responsible for a lot of games I've enjoyed. But he also oversaw a lot of poorly executed concepts like B&W, and drove several series into herpa derp with things like Fable. Lately I've begun to think he's drinking a little too much of his own Koolaid, as his ideas and vision for his games get farther and farther out there.
Normally I'd say that if anyone understands what made a classic title good, it's the original developer. Molyneux might be my one exception to that, because he often seems more interested in new ideas than refining good ones.
Still, there's no doubt he can put out a fun, successful game. At a half million price tag, I imagine he can get it but it also makes my "devs who are capable of doing this on their own" alarm bells begin to sound. So while I'm excited that a new god game is in the works that will be directly inspired by, IMO, the best god game ever made......there's plenty of things I see that leave me feeling a little cold.