Populous: The Beginning is the third game in the PC strategy god games of the Populous series, developed by Bullfrog Productions in 1998. The PC version of the game was released November 30, 1998; a PlayStation version was later developed and released on April 2, 1999, later emulated on the PlayStation Network in 2007. Unlike earlier games in the series, which cast the player in the role of a god influencing loyal followers, The Beginning took a radical departure from the earlier games and placed the player in the role of a shaman, who directly leads her tribe against opponents. Throughout the twenty-five missions of the campaign, the player leads their tribe across a solar system, dominating enemy tribes and tapping new sources of magic, with the ultimate goal of the shaman attaining godhood herself. Note that you can play Populous: The Beginning online at PopTB.com.
Source: Wikipedia, "Populous: The Beginning," available under the CC-BY-SA License.