Ahead of E3's day-long lines, bright lights and loud noises, 2K Games and Firaxis thought it would be more fitting to invite a handful of publications out to a pre-E3 event in an effort to allow for a more intimate session with the recently-announced Civilization: Beyond Earth.

While it's a difficult style of game to have any short amount of time with, we were also given access to some of the key devs working on the project, for greater context and more depth on what is promising to be a deep and heavily layered experience in the 4X space. We have more coming from the experience, but in the meantime check out our initial thoughts.

Click here for our hands-on preview with Civilization: Beyond Earth.