New Age of Empires 3 trailer

The E3 trailer for Ensemble Studios' PC real-time strategy sequel Age of Empires III is now available for download.

The trailer gives you the chance to see AoE 3 in action, offering a minute and a half of both cinematic and in-game footage.

AoE III is set between 1500 and 1850 and sees you managing a European power struggling to explore, colonise and eventually conquer the Americas.

A range of new gameplay elements are promised, including the ability to develop a unique Home City back in your native country which supports your efforts in the New World.

You can take a much more direct role in the way battles play out, using both swords and gunpowder to see off the enemy - or lay down your weapons and make them your allies, if you prefer.

There are plenty of locations to explore - you can roam around the Amazonian jungle, find buried treasure on Caribbean islands, hunt bison on the Great Plains and fortify your settlements on the coast of New England, if you so fancy.

There are eight civilisations to choose from, and each has their own unique advantages - the British have a top class economy, while the Spanish get strong support from home and the French find it easy to make friends with Native Americans, for example.

Naturally we're promised stunning graphics, with new lighting effects that provide "a softness and depth that is revolutionary to PC games". And thanks to the brand new physics engine, you'll never see the same scene twice.

Age of Empires III will be rocking up on these shores, gunning down any rebels and giving everyone else typhoid later this year.