Populous: The Beginning - Undiscovered Worlds

The old Shaman has ascended to the heavens as an immortal, and in her place a new Shaman has arrived. Divine chaos rules as the four tribes of the Gods attempt to tear each other to pieces, again. Initially intended to bolster the relatively weak multiplayer aspect of Populous: The Beginning, the Undiscovered Worlds mission disc is actually a worthy addition in both departments. With 12 new singleplayer and 12 multiplayer levels at just Pound-10, the A' level students among you will deduce that at little more than 40p a level, this is probably a good deal.

It's not just the price that makes this a useful purchase, either. Bullfrog have clearly been touched by some kind of divine inspiration when it comes to imaginative new level design. The first single-player stage illustrates this perfectly. Our rookie Shaman stands bemused on the beach of a strange new world, where she is quickly assisted by the old Shaman, who - keen to show off her flashy new powers - coolly blasts the enemy with a salvo of lightning, earthquake, fire rain and volcano spells. Suitably impressed, the new Shaman marches forward and finishes the job.

Further highlights include redirecting lava flow through enemy villages, assaulting a giant fortress and rescuing the Shaman from prison in a pseudo CTF-type affair. Needless to say, the multiplayer levels contain similar amounts of fun and frolics. This is not just a sightseeing tour, though. One thing you must remember above everything else is that these levels are difficult. Seriously rock hard. But what do you expect? You've already completed the original, right?