Fallout 3 was of our favourite games of last year – combining a massive world with a sweeping story and managing to make an action RPG that not only accessible but also good, gory fun. The world which Bethesda created was already vast, the countless accounts of different player experiences are a testament to that, but now there’s even more of the Capital wasteland to sink your teeth into. Since January, bite-sized chunks of new Fallout gameplay have been released to the gaming public. Now these 5 DLC episodes have been combined into one massive, incredibly priced package, Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition.

Forced out of the relative safety of the Vault by a series of terrible events, you must find your way in the dangerous new world, born from the ashes of a global nuclear conflict. The main story deals with a teenager’s search for their missing father with the macrocosm concerning no less than the future of the entire human race. But Fallout 3 is so much more than a clichéd post-apocalyptic RPG; every element raises it to a near sublime gaming experience – the often surprising humour, the VATS targeting system (which combines nerdy-stat counting with gore drenched hyper-coolness seamlessly) and the sometimes terrible beauty of a familiar, shattered Earth clinging to the last vestiges of hope in a world gripped for centuries by a nuclear autumn darkening towards an endless winter.

Each DLC episode was previously available (for Xbox 360, PC and eventually PS3) but for those who haven’t expanded on their Fallout experience or have never played the game this is the perfect time to pick up the whole bundle. The titles included are: Operation: Anchorage, The Pitt, Broken Steel, Point Lookout and Mothership Zeta.

Operation: Anchorage feels a little anomalous in the Fallout experience. Players jump into a simulation of the Chinese invasion of Alaska, a major historical event in this shattered future. You must take part in the conflict, ensuring that events take place as they should and generally killing a lot of enemies. This action focus, and a few odd gameplay choices, mean that it feels more like a standard first person shooter. There are health and ammo recharge stations and the levels are designed to funnel you in the direction of the next gunfight. This is no doubt fun and fast paced and a number of new weapons are enjoyable (like the gauss rifle) but it does betray some of the weaknesses of the game – mainly that it isn’t an FPS. The controls (on consoles at least) aren’t really precise enough for running and gunning and using VATS every 15 seconds is impractical and repetitive. Still, the new landscape makes a nice change from the wasteland and XP scroungers will love the boost afforded by so many kills.

Happily, The Pitt is a very different animal – with a self contained storyline and an atmosphere which is careful to recall that of the main game while carving out its own visual niche.