Once the event has finished, only those who have preordered Auto Assault will be able to take part in the final stage of testing for the game before launch.

Preorder boxes will be available in stores across Europe from 17th March onwards. In addition to unlimited access to the game in its final pre-order stage, gamers who purchase the preorder box will also enjoy an in-game weapon exclusive to Europe (The Railgun), a loot bonus and access to the head start period, allowing them to play the finished game days before official release.

The end of the World really wasn't as final as you might think. As the world government settled into the long dark of their new existence, they bathed the world in nuclear fire to scrub it clean of all the contamination that plagued it. At least, that was their intent. In reality the World wasn't bathed in fire so much as punched in the face, over and over. Like any good fighter, it bounced back, meaner and angrier than before.

The contamination seemed to thrive on the radioactive fallout, spreading and growing at incredible rates. While much of the land was turned into radioactive slag, burned into desert or frozen into tundra, there were pockets of warmth where people could survive. Spread out across vast distances, these pockets were hard to find and harder still to settle.

So it was for the founders of the mutant town of Tocado. They searched the blowing deserts long and hard before finding the ruins of the Tierra Roja Dam. The site of the dam itself was too small for the type of township they had in mind, but held back by these aging concrete walls was a vast reservoir of Blood, the liquid form of contamination that every mutant reveres as holy and the cornerstone of their technology.

Millions of gallons of the Blood were concentrated there, at the dam. The valley that fed the dam and several smaller valleys the Blood had overflowed into were now lush gardens of mutated life. It was the perfect environment for a mutant community to flourish within. The site was immediately consecrated as a Temple and the town of Tocado was founded nearby.

In the generations since, the Temple has become the cornerstone of life in Tocado. Young mutants begin their quests to become warriors by performing their first Rites here, atop the ruined Dam. When they feel ready, the nearby Proving Grounds await to test their mettle.

Below the dam, in the radioactive deserts of the south are the ruins of the old town of Tierra Roja. Half buried in sand, surrounded by red rock walls and backlight by the burning fires of the nearby oil field, these ruins are the homes of the Tierra Roja Scavs - a cult of scavengers known for their brutal use of fire and gas to ambush drivers. Aspiring warriors from Tocado often brave the desert to bring their vehicles here as a final test of bravery before returning to Tocado, ready to become the Warriors they are destined to be.

Those interested in accessing the Open Beta event should head to http://eu.autoassault.com/openbeta/ to register and receive details on how to take part.