Fallout 3 DLC drops in January

Less than a week after Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned was unveiled, another downloadable expansion for a best-selling game has been announced. This time, it's Fallout 3's turn, with developer-publisher Bethesda Softworks unveiling no less than three add-ons for the acclaimed and popular role-playing game. The three add-ons are scheduled to launch in January, February, and March of next year, and have not yet been priced.

[***WARNING: Spoilers below!***]

The first Fallout 3 add-on will be Operation: Anchorage, which lets players re-create a massive battle between American and Chinese forces in Alaska. Though details were thin, Bethesda said that this feat is accomplished via "military simulator," presumably something similar to the Matrix-meets-Mad Men virtual reality in the mission "Tranquility Lane."

The second installment of DLC is titled "The Pitt," and takes place in the raider city that sprung up from the ruins of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Players will be forced to side with a faction in an unnamed conflict plaguing the town, details about which were not released.

The third expansion, Broken Steel, has players join the benevolent, knightlike Brotherhood of Steel to track down the remnants of the nefarious patriotic pretenders known as The Enclave. It extends the main storyline beyond the climactic battle in the mission "Take It Back," after which the game ends. When queried, Bethesda declined to explain whether or not players will be able to use their last save prior to finishing "Take It Back," requiring them to re-finish the mission.

[***Spoilers end***]

Bethesda declined to say if any of the three Fallout 3 add-ons would contain Xbox 360 achievements, as the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion expansion The Shivering Isles did. Unlike the GTAIV DLC, though, the add-ons will be available for both the 360 and the PC. In December, the latter platform will also get a completely free Fallout 3 level editor, named the G.E.C.K. after the Garden of Eden Creation Kit in the game.