Mad Max has left an immeasurable footprint on video games – and pop culture in general. He hasn’t officially appeared in a game since an NES title released 25 years ago, but game developers have drawn inspiration from his dystopian, post-apocalyptic universe for decades. Avalanche Studios, developer of the Just Cause series, is tackling his gaming comeback. We visited their office in Stockholm, Sweden, to learn how the team’s expertise in creating open-world mayhem is a natural fit for creating the most fully realized Wasteland yet.

Much has changed since the game was announced at E3 a few years ago. Most notably, the studio has decided to leave the planned Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions by the wayside. That move has allowed the team to deliver stunning vistas and effects that will challenge your expectations of what the Wasteland might look like. In short, it’s definitely not a bland, endless stretch of sand. We got an extended demo and several hours of hands-on time; our 12-page cover story has in-depth impressions of what we saw and played, plus a look at the car combat, story, and characters that play pivotal roles in the game.

Click the image above to see the full cover spread

To get a glimpse of what's to come in our full month of exclusive online content for Mad Max, check out our coverage trailer below or watch and share it on YouTube.

Keeping with our April tradition, the issue is also home to our annual Game Infarcer feature. We skewer trends and games, and the issue-within-an-issue also has an editorial from Darth Clark that you won’t want to miss. It’s all in good fun, unless we’re actually psychic.

Other notable features include an in-depth retrospective of From Software, the studio known for King’s Field, Armored Core, and (of course) the Souls series. We’ve also got an interview with Eiji Aonuma, game director for the Legend of Zelda series. He shares insight on how he got started, and was a good enough sport to answer some potentially silly questions we had about Majora’s Mask.

Print subscribers should see their issues arriving in the next week or two, but it's available now if you subscribe digitally (available on PC/Mac, iPad, Android, and Google Play). You can also get the latest issue through third-party apps on Nook, Kindle, and Zinio starting tomorrow. To switch your print subscription to digital, click here, or to create a new subscription to the digital edition, click here.

Be sure to visit our Mad Max hub for a full month of additional content, including exclusive screenshots, video features, and deeper dives into the game.