Steve has been fighting off sand, road warriors and scrappy wasteland inhabitants in his review for Avalanche Studios long-gestating Mad Max game. What's more, he's added actor Donal Gibson's (yes, brother of Mel Gibson) voice to an intro video that has to be seen/heard to be believed.

Have a gander at a snippet from his review:

Underneath all of this though, there is an enjoyable game. Mad Max fans will either like the ties to the current movie, and the gorgeous wastes Avalanche has created here, or they’ll loathe the treatment of the main character. For what it’s worth, I’m part of the latter group, but having pushed on through for the sake of review, I can say that it gets easier to deal with as the game progresses and eventually, you will start to enjoy the stage Avalanche has set here.

Click here to loot our full Mad Max review.

We got the game a bit later than we'd have liked, but a review is being worked on in earnest. In the meantime, check out the launch trailer.

The Mad Max video game introduces an original story set within the universe of Mad Max and features deep car customization that impacts its handling, metal-grinding vehicular action and gives players a vast arsenal of mobile weaponry within The Wasteland. Players become Max, the lone warrior who must fight to stay alive by engaging in vicious on-ground fighting, as well as physics-based vehicular combat, against savage factions who are fighting for domination and survival in this gritty, dynamic open-world.

Mad Max is out now for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

We often see PR activations (read: stunts) around games with a theme, but this one from Warner Bros ahead of the release of Mad Max in Australia might be the most on-point one ever.

In celebration of the upcoming release of Mad Max in September, Warner Bros organised for a few "dust artists" to create artworks on cars -- from dust -- inspired by the Mad Max game.

To bring to life the dusty, post apocalyptic Wasteland of Mad Max, two cars were given the extraordinary makeover with artists covering each vehicle in a fine layer of dust and inscribing symbols and artwork inspired by the hotly anticipated game. Viewable here, a film-grade dust applicator was used to apply the dust with a range of techniques used to carefully etch intricate illustrations into the dusty canvas.

Pioneered in the United States, dust art is a growing global phenomenon that has inspired artists from around the world to create roadside Renoir’s, motorised Michalangelo’s and V8 Van Gogh’s.

Sydney street artists, Blackbook Ink, are the first local artists to jump on this trend and were commissioned to bring interpret Mad Max’s unique style and vehicular vision into their craft.

"This was definitely one of the most unusual projects we’ve ever been involved with," said Brode Compton, dust artist. "It was quite a challenge ensuring we achieved the look we were hoping for but we’re stoked with how they’ve turned out.”

Watch a video highlighting the activation embedded below. Mad Max is due out on PC, PS4 and Xbox One September 2nd.

Avalanche and Warner Bros. have released a new trailer for Mad Max that offers glimpses of the sorts of choices you can make in the game, and what the consequences and outcomes of those choices could be. It's like a choose your own adventure interactive video dealie, and it's pretty sweet.

The trailer essentially gives you a scenario in moving form, with three options of how to attack that scenario -- choose one and it loads another video with your choice's outcome. There are a handful of choices to go through as well, so if you were so inclined you could very well spend a lot of time on the Mad Max YouTube page.

Watch it embedded below.

AusGamers was recently invited out to a pre-E3 showing in LA where we managed to get our hands on Avalanche's Mad Max take, as well as speak with a few of the developers.

The demo wasn't a hugely long one, and was designed as a show-floor slice for E3 purposes, but the core value of the game -- car combat, was present in spades.

Here's a bit from the interview feature:

“Well the game revolves around cars and car combat,” explains design director Magnus Nedfors. “The whole universe is a car-based cult, more or less. So it’s always difficult to design a new system for something like that -- how to create cars and so on, but we really tried to push it forward and make car combat a huge part of the game.”

This point is a design principle for the developer that sits alongside the core discipline for the series, but it’s where Avalanche has crafted its own story, because at the beginning of the game Max is stripped of “the last of the great Interceptors” and the player spends the game building a new car -- one the studio is calling the “Magnum Opus”. It’s a carrot I’m not convinced a lot of Mad Max fans are going to want to chase -- one of the fantasies of the series for fans, and a reason a true Mad Max game has always been wanted is to be able get behind the wheel of Max’s booby-trapped, heavily modified 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe.

Click through for our Mad Max hands-on and developer interview feature.

Mad Max is due out on PC, PS4 and Xbox One this September.

Check out the new story trailer for the game embedded below.

A new "gameplay overview" trailer for Mad Max from Avalanche Studios shows what the team has been doing in the game's silence since last year, and it's looking like a wasteland of fun, adventure and Road Warrioring.

That Aussie voice-over is sounding gritty and on-point, too.

Set in the post-apocalyptic future, the trailer provides a glimpse into the desperate struggle Max faces after losing it all – his family, his car, his sanity – and the steps he must take to survive in the harsh and desolate Wasteland. For the first time, players get an extended look at the deep car customization, metal grinding vehicular combat, brutal melee combat and a wide range of other activities they can engage in during their quest to build the ultimate survival vehicle, the Magnum Opus, and find solace in the Plains of Silence. All footage in the trailer is in-engine, comprised of actual game play and in-game cinematics.

There's a lot to take away from this trailer, including the idea of hidden "tombs" of upgrades and collectables, factions, scrap as currency, your dog (maybe?) and eating to survive (including Dinki-Di dog food).

Watch the trailer embedded below.

Mad Max is set to arrive on PC, PS4 and Xbox One this September 5.

Avalanche Studios' Mad Max has been delayed to 2015, publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced today alongside the release of a new trailer that offers a glimpse at how vehicles can be used in the Wasteland as full-throttle weapons.

Alongside the trailer, custom automotive team West Coast Customs in America has teamed up with Warner Bros. to recreate the iconic Mad Max vehicles and bring them to the real world. You can watch the automotive specialist team build the Mad Max Magnum Opus on Fox Sports 2 come April 27 and April 29.

This Mad Max release was first announced during Sony's E3 2013 press briefing. The game is being made at Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Windows PC. You can check out our previous interview with Senior Game Designer, Emil Kraftling, and Community Manager, Tomas Wiborgh for all the goos.

It's been a while since we spoke about Avalanche Studios' Mad Max videogame, but today we have a plethora of great information for you derived from a chat we had with Senior Game Designer, Emil Kraftling, and Community Manager, Tomas Wiborgh.

We talk about a lot of Max-related stuff, including where any elements from the movies fit in, how fuel and vehicles might work as an economy, character and player trepidation with NPCs in the wasteland and, importantly, why we haven't seen or heard anything about Max's dog.

"Well, we haven’t announced all of the characters yet. That’s all I can say," teased Kraftling when we asked about the dog.

Click here for our full Mad Max developer interview.

Avalanche will surely know the chant "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie -- Oi, Oi, Oi" by the time they're finished with the Mad Max videogame. Our drive to have an Australian accent for the titular character has been doing the rounds ever since E3, and while we helped champion unsuccessfully for Mel's brother Donal Gibson to throw his voice-talent behind Max (despite being born in the US, much like Mel), it's looking like the franchise's Aussie roots aren't being nearly as forgotten as we thought they may have been.

Aussie comic book scribe and friend of the site, Tom Taylor (The Deep, Injustice: Gods Among Us), revealed today via Facebook that he's been brought on board to help flesh out the backstory to Avalanche's Mad Max interpretation, giving us a link to a motion comic published by DC with art by Jason Shawn Alexander. (He also uses the word "petrol" and not "gas").

Check it out embedded below. Mad Max is scheduled to release in 2014 on Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4 and PC.

AusGamers was recently contacted by the duo of Jamie Blanks (director of Urban Legend) and Donal Gibson (needs no introduction) who, last week, released a demo of Donal voicing Max in an attempt to get the attention of Avalanche Studios for their upcoming Mad Max videogame treatment.

The demo went mad across the interwebs with thousands of fans of Donal's interpretation of Max taking to Twitter and Facebook requesting that Avalanche Studios give Mel's brother a chance to portray the iconic Aussie character, however, it looks like the effort might have been just a little too late.

"We understand that Avalanche Studios would like to take a different route with the project," the pair told AusGamers. "We wish them all the best, and every success with the Mad Max videogame. We want to take this opportunity to thank the gaming community, and most especially the many fans worldwide, for their positive reaction to the voice demo and for all of their generous support. We'd like to add that we are both looking forward to our new projects in the future. Many Thanks!"

There's still no official word from within the Avalanche camp, but one part of our crusade still remains a positive -- that Max will maintain his Aussie personality, we're just sad that the character couldn't remain within the Gibson family as well.

"As an Aussie film director and die hard Mad Max fan, I felt compelled to put Donal out there as a candidate for the role," Jamie added. "After learning of the campaign to ensure Max retained his Aussie accent, I immediately thought of my friend, and the amazing contribution he could make to the franchise and the character. I believe it truly would have been perfect casting on so many levels. To my ears, he was the authentic Road Warrior -- and he totally nailed the delivery of the short script we conceived.

"After seeing the responses of so many Mad Max fans to his voice demo, it would appear that many people felt likewise. I was really looking forward to playing the game and hearing that authentic Gibson voice while unleashing vehicular mayhem and taking out the scum of the wasteland. It would have provided the link with the beloved films we Mad Max fans have treasured for years," Jamie concluded. "I want to personally thank Stephen Farrelly and AusGamers for all their work and passion to preserve the authenticity of the virtual Mad Max."

With Gamescom fast approaching, we'll hopefully learn more about the casting behind Mad Max, but for now, have one last listen to Donal's Max embedded below.

It was a victorious day for us and Mad Max fans the world over when Avalanche CEO Christofer Sundberg Tweeted that the fans had been heard and their forthcoming Mad Max game would feature an Aussie accent for the titular character.

You would think such a win would be all we need to sleep well at night, and you'd be right, because that's what we thought too, until yesterday when Australian director Jamie Blanks (Urban Legend) exclusively contacted us alongside Mel Gibson's FREAKING BROTHER Donal Gibson, with an expressed interest in putting Donal forward as the man who takes up the Max voicing mantle for the game.

Honestly, I had to do a double-take on the email alone, but there it was, and in tow they also had a voice demo backed onto a decidedly post-apocalyptic audio track. It gave me chills. This is as close (literally and figuratively) as we could get to Mel reprising his role but film and family proximity aside, Donal's tone and delivery are just... Max. It can't be said any clearer than that.

Casting Donal would make a lot of sense for Avalanche beyond the obvious. For one, he's actually a professional voice-actor having voiced characters in the Justice League cartoon series (among much more), he is also a screenwriter and has appeared as an actor in numerous films and TV shows over the years. It's also not out of the norm for siblings of big-name actors to take on characters they've played, in smaller form -- Tom Hanks' brother almost exclusively voices characters for the small screen his brother has played on the big screen (such as Woody from Toy Story).

It's important to point out, however, that Donal is in no way officially attached to the project, yet, and Avalanche hasn't been open about any casting for the role since declaring that fans would get their Aussie-sounding Mad Max, but we simply couldn't let this lay dormant. Hopefully if we (and you) build enough of a supportive groundswell, Avalanche will be willing to entertain the idea of keeping Max in the Gibson family, or more importantly, in the hands of someone who has a very clear and passionate respect and reverence for the iconic Australian character.

We've embedded the voice-over demo below, have a listen and make your voice heard via the Comments or directly on the Avalanche Studios Facebook page, or Twitter.

Christofer Sundberg of Avalanche Studios Tweeted the news early this morning, pointing out his admiration of the vocal Mad Max fanbase, assuring us that we "have been heard", in what we can only describe as awesome news.

Attn. fans who want Max to have an Aussie accent in #MadMaxGame : It shall be so. We admire your loyalty. You have been heard.

— Christofer Sundberg (@CHSundberg) July 2, 2013

While we don't currently know that our petition (and loud yelling) were the main instigator, it's amazing to hear that a games company is willing to listen to its fans and come through with the goods, despite having already established their character's tone for the game beforehand. Well done Mad Max fans around the world, especially the vocal Aussies who stood up for an Australian icon.

For more, be sure to check out our recent Mad Max preview, and stay tuned for more on the game and this change in development.

There's a reason, despite the obvious, we're annoyed about the situation with Avalanche and Mad Max -- it's that their game just looks bloody fun.

It's a little ways off yet, and we're not sure about how the whole thing will string together, but Avalanche are no stranger to making great and inviting open-world games, and if what they're promising with Mad Max comes through, car nuts, open-world nuts and Mad Max nuts (to a degree, at this stage -- we'll see how that goes) are going to be able to live out the rogue's dream with that awesome Interceptor in tow. Of course, we are still annoyed about that one thing, which you can help with right here.

For our preview though, click here.

Mad Max was a bit of a surprise to see out at E3 this year, and I'd be lying if I said I'd never wanted to play a game based in that universe -- it's ripe for the videogame picking, after all with everything the first two films gave us.

What thoroughly irked me during the presentation of the game by new developer, Avalanche Studios (it was originally being worked on by KMM's in-house, Sydney-based games studio), was that Max was voiced by an American. In fact, it was really uncomfortable to sit through given the studio talked passionately about treating cars and car-combat in the game with respect given the movie heritage and its impact on pop-culture.

I asked them after the presentation what the decision behind that was, and if they'd change it, but was met with "we wanted someone generic", and a bit of a shrug regarding any sort of reverence to the character in the same way they're giving vehicles.

So we've started a petition.

Max is an important part of Australian cinema and pop-culture history, even globally. The character's man-of-few words persona made (admittedly US-born) Mel Gibson's Australian accent a hugely memorable and significant factor of the films. All we're asking is that Avalanche look for an Australian voice-actor who can channel the stoic film icon, and treat the property with the respect it deserves. If you feel the same way, please check out our petition on Change.org and get as many people involved as possible.

For more on the game, check out our game page and stay tuned for impressions of what Avalanche is doing beyond ignoring the importance of Max, soon.