Fallout 3

Effing LOVE the game so far - not sure how far I am yet, but I'm a ways into the game thats for sure.

Just killing time reading through the Fallout 3 Wiki and it's unbelievable how much went into this game. There are so many quests I never even stumbled upon with multiple outcomes. It's fun just to read through them all. I started a second character just for fun and went the opposite way with how I wanted to act and I've found several new locations right off the bat.

I am a long time Fallout fan (Fallout 1 & 2) and have eagerly awaited Fallout 3 for years. I have not been disappointed. I love the graphics, love the controls, love the new FPS/V.A.T.S. combat system (I never thought I'd NOT miss the turn-based only combat), love the weapons options, love the interactivity of the landscape and the things laying everywhere. I love the soundtrack, and I love the retro post-apocalyptic world even more now that it is in 3-D and totally immersive. I wonder if there is a difference between fans of the original games and newcomers to the series because I find all the things that have me loving Fallout 3 come from improvements and innovations over the old games.

My complaints are:
1) It is not out for the Mac
2) the bugginess is VERY obvious
3) you max out your character WAY too fast if you explore too much
4) the main storyline is not long enough for the size of the world
5) you cannot continue to explore after you beat the game
6) lack of the same pop-culture humor of the previous games

But the things I love far outweigh the negatives:
1) (aside from lack of humor) F3 stays very true to the feel of the original games
2) The world is IMMENSE with tons to explore, both marked and unmarked
3) The world is highly interactive - you can blow up vehicles, pick up and move all kinds of objects incl. things you cannot carry
4) The soundtrack is fantastic. I love the retro patriotic tunes on Enclave Radio and the authentic 40s and 50s songs on GNR and the fact that you can tune into them whenever you like with your PipBoy
5) The PipBoy is a VAST improvement over the original games with more detailed maps, better gauge of statistics, better inventory control, and most of all a detailed quest log so you don't forget what it was you were working on. This was SUCH a problem in Fallout 2
6) Much better balance in weaponry. In previous Fallouts it was much harder to make it through the game unarmed or pure melee and if you wanted to be a Big Guns expert it was a long time before you came across any relevant weapons or the ammo for them, meaning you pretty much also had to be good with small guns. In F3 any weapon method is valid and can be used throughout the game.
7) Much better balance of skills and skill points. It was too easy in previous Fallouts to have an all-around evened out character. In F3 you have to specialize more, making the game more challenging and interesting.
8) Armor makes a much bigger difference compared to earlier games. In F3, power armors are no longer all-powerful: they don't make you crazy strong or invincible like in previous Fallouts. They also make noise which can be a detriment to stealth players.
9) Weapons and armor break down and require repair. This is makes a HUGE impact in the survival feel of a post-apocalyptic world, and for the better.
10) Radiation is actually a nuisance, which it wasn't in previous Fallouts.
11) V.A.T.S. combat system is awesome. Having the game primarily operate as an FPS saves a lot of time and keeps the game immersive but the option to slip into the action-point-based targeted shooting with cinematic slow-mo results prevents the game from feeling stale, adds new dimension to kills depending on how you want to dispatch targets, and keeps many fights from becoming overwhelming.

I really feel the Pros and Cons on this site do not do the game justice because a single pro far outweighs several cons. Fallout 3 isn't meant to be a game you pick up and play for 10 minutes, it is meant to be an RPG experience. Aside from some length of main plot issues, I think the world really succeeds in giving us an entire world to explore. I gladly "waste" entire days playing this game. :)

I found Fallout3 painfully depressing, and disappointing.

The game seems to have fantastic depth when you start out, however after a few hours of play the gloom sets in. The environments are rather visually repetitive. Every dungeon (apart from one late in the main quest-line) looks completely identical to every other.

From time to time I pick it up, but the sheer pointlessness of it all forces me to shut it down again.

And I agree, the DLC is rubbish: The Operation Anchorage mission is plain boring, if you want a combat heavy shooter there are much better games to be had.

In short this game is WAY over-rated.