Ubisoft has described From Dust as a spiritual successor to Peter Molyneux's very successful 1989 game Populous, which is largely considered the very first God-sim game to be released. This isn't the first time Populous has been succeeded spiritually with Molyneux himself describing 2001's Black and White as a spiritual descendant of his famous game.

Designed by Eric Chahi, the mind behind 1991's critically acclaimed Another World, From Dust is a very unique take on the God game genre in that interaction with the locals doesn't occur directly - but rather indirectly. In traditional God game fashion, players have a limited set of abilities, but in From Dust those abilities are used to manipulate sand, water, lava, and vegetation.

By being able to manipulate these elements, you are able to completely alter the landscape of the islands the tribes inhabit - making them into lush green hills with rivers running through them or alternatively rocky barren landscapes unfit for mankind.

The latest trailers for From Dust focus on two different aspects of the game - nature and the tribes respectively.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Pbd1GAQyhg

The nature trailer showcases the beautiful imagery that makes From Dust really stand out as a game that will need to be experienced - rather than just played. Everything from realistic looking cliffs, to original vegetation, to the incredible water effects (that really bring the world to life) make it clear that we're going to believe these worlds we create are in fact real.

Capping the trailer off are two of the natural disasters gamers will see in the game with a giant tsunami flooding a village and a volcano razing another village to ashes.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inJvi8GoDmY&feature=related

The tribes trailer shows the tribes in a wide variety of locations both travelling between destinations and defending against natural disasters. Shaman in the tribes will alert you to incoming threats so that you can help protect your tribe better against these events.

Are you looking forward to protecting your tribes when you get to play God in From Dust?

From Dust will be putting you in charge when it releases for Xbox Live, PSN, and Steam hopefully sometime this year - although an official release date still hasn't been announced.

Source: VGU