Information about Fallout 3 has been scant and skimpy as of late, not enough to decently cover a certain Ivy's assets. Things may have just changed, however, with this truckload of facts coming from the latest issue of US Game Informer magazine. We get you the juiciest bits in this smorgasbord of new details fit for any post-apocalyptic, vault-borne renegade.

The game, running on an evolved version of the Oblivion Engine, starts off inside a vault hospital. You've just been born, and your mother has unfortunately died in the procedure. It's here that you're given the chance to create your character as you see fit, as you're handed over to the DNA analyser. Once you've selected the traits you want, your father, voiced by Liam Neeson, will take off his mask - his facial features mirroring the traits you've chosen. Clever.

Besides the clever character creation bit, players will be glad to know that Bethesda's made the battle system as faithful to its previous incarnations - albeit with a few twists. A new system called VATS, or Vault-tec Assisted Targeting System, gives players the ability to target individual body parts at their own leisure - at the cost of action points that replenish over time. Run out of action points, however, and combat goes into its real-time FPS style - where you'll have to use your wits and reflexes to survive.

Staying true to the root material, however, you'll still be able to choose diplomacy over violence. Sneaking or talking your way out of every violent confrontation is still possible, that is if you've invested on the necessary traits to be able to. This is good, because the enemies you'll be facing has access to VATS, just like you - so you'll also be receiving damage to specific parts of your body. And to mix it up, there's also a new health and radiation system that lets you measure just how radioactive consumables you'll be coming across are - especially the water.

And last but not least, it's confirmed that the Karma system will indeed be making a comeback - so you'll have to be just as careful (or reckless) with your gameplay choices as you've been with the previous games. Definitely good news for Fallout fans looking for more familiar, rose-tinted-glasses territory.

Fallout 3's shaping up to be a very, very solid title - let's just hope it lives up to the hype. Updates as we get them!