Preview: Fallout 3 - Broken Steel

So, after two weeks, your eyes pop open, and you wake up. Turns out you didn't die after all, and Ron Perlman showing you your best bits was just a bit of a self-involved hallucination. “There'll be no more ending,” says Pete Hines, Bethesda's Mouth of Sauron. “We've learned our lesson.” Fallout 3 die-hards can now start the long climb from Level 20 to the new cap of 30.

Although the main mission in Broken Steel will take around 4-5 hours, the game is now endless. “We want people to play a lot before they get to Level 30,” says Hines. “Every level will require a lot more XP than the previous one.” Although it's difficult to get excited by someone telling you that they've made the gaps between arbitrary numbers larger than you might have expected, it's a good thing that the spirit of exploration and adventure that Fallout 3 nurtured is no longer cut short by a massive dose of radiation.

With the raising of the level cap comes a wedge of new perks. The only one they're talking about at the moment is Puppies! Whether there's actually an exclamation mark there has yet to be seen, but the way Hines beams the word implies there might be anywhere up to three. It's a perk that allows you to pick up a replacement Dogmeat from the entrance to Vault 101, should he get ripped into actual dogmeat by one of the tough security guards in Broken Steel’s new areas. In Broken Steel, death is no longer a life-changing obstacle.

With the water purification facility up and running, and a reservoir of Aqua Pura ready to moisten the world, your endgame heroics are a burden to the neophyte scribes with the logistical hell of distribution. And it's not like you've created world peace, or anything – The Brotherhood of Steel want to build a Tesla Cannon, which'll send you into such new areas as Adam's Air Base, accessible only through the ghoul-infested Presidential Metro. Meanwhile, new enemies include the Feral Ghoul Reaver, and the tri-laser wielding super mutant Overlords. The new beasts that start appearing at level 18 are promised to be extremely challenging. Good job you made that Tesla Cannon, then.

Broken Steel was, perhaps, the least interesting announcement made at yesterday's Bethesda event. Not because it's not going to be good: because it's going to be exactly as good as you probably thought it was going to be. Still, if you were grumbling about wanting a Shivering Isles-style expansion instead of these chunky DLC nuggets, then at least you've got Fallout: New Vegas to look forward to, and Broken Steel will fill the gap with its potentially "endless" play.