Project GODUS footage released, hundreds of tiny men die

The latest Project GODUS Kickstarter contains a "world-first sneak peek" at the spiritual successor to Populous.

contains a "world-first sneak peek" at the spiritual successor to Populous. Peek is correct, too - we see a short bit of prototype game footage, captured via the high-tech process of pointing a camcorder at a laptop. Seriously, someone get these guys a copy of Fraps.

The footage begins at the three minute mark of the development video. In it, 22 Cans' head Peter Molyneux shows a bit of the land terraforming, before going Old Testament on his followers, opening a giant swirling vortex of water underneath them. He then politely complains that it might be a bit too powerful, which does rather spoil the uncaring deity effect.

It all looks quite promising, but highlights the frustrating nature of the GODUS Kickstarter campaign. The team is now halfway through their pledge drive with only 46% of their £450,000 target secured. That there's still so little on show suggests that they launched too early.

Molyneux is already awarethat he's a controversial figure amongst gamers, and if a creator can't rely on reputation alone to coast through the public Dragon's Den, then putting the game front and centre seems like the sensible option.

The update also provides some details on the game's battles. "At first, small fights will break out, but at the peak of the conflict hundreds of followers will battle to the death in a breathtaking war. As a god, the way you can turn the tide of the battle is to make sure that the world you sculpt around your believers allows them to flourish in number and ability." Which sounds great! It's just a shame we can't see it in action.