Men with bomb-spears decimating oncoming traffic. Getting sustenance from the maggots living on a rotting corpse. A powerful, imposing weapon unironically named the Thunderpoon. All of these play into Mad Max's unique post-apocalyptic aesthetic, and it continues full-force in the upcoming Mad Max game, already revving its engines for a September 1 start.

As E3 approaches, we've gotten a closer look at this new addition to Mad Max's vicious universe, developed by the folks at Avalanche (of Just Cause fame) exclusively for current-gen. We now know what there is to find in this post-apocalyptic Australia and the poor bastards who occupy it, most of whom want to kill our 'hero' Max in all manner of horrible ways. We know more about the story, the world, the combat, and your ultimate enemy, Scrotus. Yep..

The Mad Max films take place in a barren and lifeless hellhole. As petrol reserves dry up and the nations of the world turn to chemical warfare to secure what's left, society breaks down, leaving only bandits in DIY battle jalopies to fight over the remains. Each film focuses on a new adventure in the sad-sack life of former highway patrolman "Mad" Max Rockatansky, who spends his days trying to survive in the harsh Australian wilderness, which has only gotten more vicious with the addition of murderers on motorbikes.

Avalanche's Mad Max keeps that same world and aesthetic, and in a welcome move, doesn't focus on rebooting Max's tragic origin story. Instead, it starts him on a new adventure in a desolate outback while integrating the most iconic parts of the films. We have Max acting as the lone road warrior as he tries to outrun and outgun gas-guzzling auto-monstrosities. It has grim-looking locales like the smoke-belching Gastown, showing the macabre shape that society has taken on. It has Max driving his beloved pursuit car, the V8 Interceptor, and in fine Mad Max tradition it has him losing that car to marauders in the opening scene. Such is his life.

Sorry, Furiosa fans, but it doesn't look like Theron's enthralling amputee truck driver will be making an appearance in this Mad Max, nor will any of the wives or Immortan Joe's army. Though they're coming out close together and , the movie and game aren't actually related. Instead, after he's yanked out of his precious Interceptor and left in the desert to die, the game centers on him building his life and resources back up, one car part at a time.

We don't know too much about the plot besides that, and Director Frank Rooke , and in the recent Savage Road trailer he's called 'The Driver' with a notable level of reverence. Is he some sort of grizzled Australian god? Well, yes, but do the people in his world also think so?

Life in Mad Max's savage world is impossible without wheels to keep you from ending up as a vehicular manslaughter statistic. So when the Interceptor becomes the Intercepted and our madman finds himself without a vehicle, he has to build his brand new magnum opus from scratch. And what do you know, the resulting junker car is called the Magnum Opus. Insert groan-worthy genitalia joke here.

While the Magnum starts off as an unimpressive pile of junk, there's plenty of scrap material around that Max can use to upgrade into a much cooler pile of junk. Such scrap can be found in encampments full of homicidal bandits, lost in the desert, or scavenged from cars after you've crippled them and dealt with their drivers. But the best sources of scrap by far are convoys that roam the desert sands, and while they make tough opponents, take them out and you'll have plenty of supplies to turn the Opus into a proper dream machine. That's all thanks to Max's constant companion, a mechanic named Chumbucket (yes, I know) who allocates the scrap to different parts of the car as you see fit.

While Chumbucket (it never gets less ridiculous) is usually pretty amicable to whatever misguided activities you want to partake in, he gets whiny when you abuse the Opus. It's just as much his baby as yours, after all. Unfortunately for him, beating up your ride comes with the territory, since the vast majority of this game's combat is on wheels. Slam into other vehicles at high speed, hit them with bombs on sticks, shoot them from the driver's seat or harpoon their wheels right off - whatever it takes to bring your enemies to a screeching halt is fair game. Sadly for Max, the maniacs he's hunting have deadly options of their own, so be prepared to defend yourself if you let those enemies get the jump on you (onto, say, the roof of your car).

There is thankfully one thing that makes Max's life a little easier: a focus feature that slows the action to a crawl while you line up your moving shot. That makes it simpler to actually hit careening targets, giving you the option to broadside them with a grenade, pop their tires, or harpoon and yank the driver out of their car at high speed. Vicious, but effective.

While car combat is the game's life-blood, Max gets attacked and yanked from his car so often that some basic fighting skills really are a must. He puts them to use via basic melee combat reminiscent of Batman and Shadow of Mordor: he can punch enemies into oblivion, or get special animations and deal extra damage by tapping the Counter button at just the right time. This is likely where some of the spiffy animations from the debut trailer came from, where Max snaps a guy's neck by holding his arm and kicking him in the face, because otherwise there isn't a specific creative-neck-snapping button.

This type of combat isn't particularly new or fresh, since we've seen both Batman and Mordor's Talion employ combat that's visually similar but more mechanically complex. However, that looks to be intentional, since it is very much second to car combat and is clearly meant to give you some means of defense while on foot. The gunplay is particularly telling in that regard, since it's purposefully sluggish and unpleasant to use, keeping you from leaning on it except in the direst of circumstances. Really, it's just there so you don't die the instant you step out of your vehicle. Unless you get hit by a different vehicle, anyway. No promises there.

As mentioned before, while there is a central campaign to Mad Max, it's primarily an open-world adventure, and Rooke and team have gone to great lengths to make this desert wasteland as enthralling as possible. "It distracts you so much that you’ll end up saying, ‘Er, I’m just going to go over here and do this,’" says Rooke. "You can’t help yourself – there are so many things to go off and do." In practice, this means a map full of quests laid out in front of you, showing where you can pull down Gastown's imposing warning statues, find and loot caravans, or destroy bandit camps as you collect scrap and survival essentials like water and food.

As you speed across the wasteland in search of supplies and shinies, some areas will be more dangerous than others, adding to an overall danger meter that prohibits you from taking certain actions. For instance, you won't be able to do extensive car upgrades when the danger meter is above an appropriate range - why bother trying to do a repair when you'll get shanked and robbed for your efforts? Defeating renegade camps and bosses across the land helps lower that danger meter, making this unforgiving hellhole slighter safer for everyone. But mostly you, and that's what matters.