Civilization: Beyond Earth Impressions from E3: One. More. Turn.

E3 attendees got a front row seat of what to expect from the newest addition to the Civ series, Sid Meiers Civilization: Beyond Earth. In the theater, Firaxis Games Pete Murray gave visitors an overview. In fact, keep your eyes peeled to Civilization.com. Well soon update the site with a video version of the demo Pete gave. Itll be just like you were there with us!

Then theres the secret room, nestled deep within the 2K booth. Thats where Doug Macleod, Kevin Schultz, Lena Brenk, and Will Miller allowed press to get hands-on access and more detailed interviews going into the guts of the game.

A couple great articles that came out of those behind-closed-door sessions:

Dan Stapleton from IGN said that In the first 50 turns of Civilization: Beyond Earth I got to play at E3, those decisions are dramatically different from the ones we face in Civilization 5, and that makes it a distinct and exciting Civ game from the start.

Game Informers Daniel Tackadds I had my first chance to get some hands on with Civilization: Beyond Earth at E3 2014, and I'm impressed. If you've played Civilization 5 at all, you'll be fine to jump in immediately and dig in. That said, there's a lot of new tweaks and nuances that make the process of colonizing a planet a whole new game from its predecessors.... Civilization lovers, you can relax. Beyond Earth looks like it's going to be a smooth launch into space.

Meanwhile, Greg Tito over at The Escapist was enamored with the game. Sarah LeBoeuf also said that I left wishing I'd had more time to dig deeper... I guess I'll have to spend dozens (or hundreds) of hours getting to know Beyond Earth better when it comes out later this year. Then, in the last minutes of the show, Joshua Vanderwall snuck in an extended play session you can read about here.

Hey, were not above a little shoulder brushing and back-patting. Check out the editorial nods that Civ Beyond Earth scored during the show:

BEST OF SHOW AWARDS

Blogocio, Spain: Best Strategy Game Winner

Destructoid Best of E3: Best PC Winner Civilization: Beyond Earth

Destructoid Best of E3: Best Strategy Game Winner Civilization: Beyond Earth

Electric Playground Best of E3 Winner

Game Informer Best PC Exclusive: Civilization: Beyond Earth

Game Informer Best Strategy Game: Civilization: Beyond Earth

Game Revolution Best Strategy Game Winner

Gameblog, France: Best Strategy Game Winner

Gamerxpress Best Strategy Game 2014

Jeuxvideo, France: Best Strategy Game Winner