Three Fallout 3 Xbox 360 and PC DLC packs -- Operation: Anchorage, The Pitt, and Broken Steel -- were announced a few weeks ago. Details about primarily the first DLC pack have been divluged by Jeff Gardiner, lead producer of the content.

The first pack is titled Operation: Anchorage because it takes place during the Chinese invasion of Anchorage, Alaska. Players will enter a simulation of this event created by the government and will be forced to play according to its creators' rules. The primary enemy is the Chinese red army, and players will have to secure a mountainside and then fight their way inside the Chinese base. To aid in these tasks, players will be able to command interactive Strike Teams. Many new types of weapons, armor, and gadgets will be available, including top-secret technology used during the war, some of which players will be able to use back in the main game. A new perk will be included, called "Covert Ops." To reach Operation: Anchorage, players will be given a new quest objective and map marker. The content can be played at any level, will take an estimated four or five hours, and will cost 800 Microsoft Points (or about $10).

The art style for Operation: Anchorage will feature a brighter color palatte since it takes place in the frozen north. New animations for soldiers and NPCs will show them interacting with the world more convincingly than in Fallout 3's main game. Fallout 3 will be getting a patch before the DLC is released to fix various issues and bugs.

Looking to the future, Jeff gave a few details on the second and third DLC packs as well. The second pack, The Pitt, takes place in Pittsburgh, which wasn't hit quite as hard by the nuclear onslaught but still is in a state of decay. Water from the area has been heavily irradiated and has had an effect on nearby residents.

The third pack, Broken Steel, will allow players to continue the main game in their fight against the Enclave. It will add new perks, enemies, a new level cap, and everything else expected from an expansion of its kind. The details worked out in Broken Steel will allow players to continue with any more DLC announced for the future.

Operation: Anchorage should be available in January 2009, followed up by The Pitt in February and Broken Steel in March. The Fallout 3 PC toolset should also be available sometime in December 2008.

*UPDATE*: The PC toolset, called the G.E.C.K., is available for download right now.