I'm totally and completely enthralled with Fallout 3. The game's setup, which rolls your character using childhood development as a metaphor is the first inkling that this post-apocalyptic role-playing game is in that rare realm of genius.

I've played for almost 15 hours already and still haven't left the first city area of MegaTon. Like Oblivion, the game is open-ended, but it seems like there are more creative triggers for the missions. In one instance, I found this kid running around a supermarket. I talked to him and ended up tapping into a cool mission fighting giant fire-breathing ants in destroyed town.

Combat is fantastic - the turn-based VATS system works really well in conjunction with straight shooter mode. I find myself attempting to snipe from long range and then closing in, and switching to my shotgun or assault rifle to finish things off. There is nothing more gratifying than a successful head shot that decapitates the victim, that's for sure.

On the downside, the dialogue feels a little forced and, much like Oblivion, the choices between good and evil feel fairly forced. That said, the first big decision - whether or not to detonate a nuke in inside of MegaTon - is interesting.

All said, this is an awesome awesome game. I find myself marveling at the game world - it's amazing and creepy to be moving around a fully nuked Washington DC.

It is impossible for me to review this game without the inevitable comparisons to Oblivion. To answer the question....Yes Fallout 3 is a lot like "Oblivion with guns", but in my opinion it is so much more. I can also say that if you really liked Oblivion, then you will find many of the same game play elements here. You still have branching conversations, and very familiar controls that are near identical to Oblivion. You retain the Lock picking skill although the mini-game is a bit more accessible. You can still repair your gear and even have the ability to craft new more powerful weapons using all the junk items you find in the Wasteland.

Where Fallout 3 really separates itself is in it's personality, and the awesome new V.A.T.S system. V.A.T.S is what sets the combat apart, and gives you the opportunity to make strategic choices in an otherwise Real-Time battlefield. Using V.A.T.S, you can target specific body parts in order to cripple Raiders, Ghouls, or some other irradiated horror. By crippling their legs they can't run away, cripple their arms to make them drop their weapon, or cripple their head to mess up their vision. There is nothing quite like watching someone get their arms shot off (with all the blood and gore) in slow-mo.

The story is quite compelling, and is set in the Wastelands of Washington D.C. (which have never looked better). There are side quests aplenty, and the storyline will take several twists and turns along the way. The side quests are particularly interesting as they give you a better look at the world of Fallout, and often don't play out the way you expect them to. There are plenty of moral choices to make, which will affect your Karma rating. But whether you're a Saint or a Sinner, you will find plenty of difficult choices throughout the game.

The graphics are very nice and portray a beautifully ruined world just seeping with radiation. The characters look decent although the animations can sometimes be wonky. As long as you play in the first person perspective, it won't bother you too much. The audio is an area where Bethesda really did their work. While the voice actors are quite good (a lot of familiar voices from Oblivion), the music is what will stick with you. The world of Fallout is sort of stuck in the 1950's and the music on GNR radio will reflect that. While I don't know any of the songs by name, or even who performs them. I feel like Bethesda made a really good design choice by including them. It gives the game a very surreal atmosphere when your humming along to a bee bopping tune from yesteryear while blasting Raiders to smithereens in a radioactive wasteland.

Bottom line: if you enjoyed Oblivion, you will probably love this, and will come to find more of the same. But you will stay for the compelling combat, and to explore the strange wastelands of Washington D.C.

Gamepro hasn't done a review for the PS3 version, so ill have to use the 360 version for the time being. You are born in Vault 101. In the game you live there till you are 19. But you only spend like 45 minutes playing in the vault till you escape. Om youre 19th birthday youre father leaves the vault and one of his co-workers is found dead. The overseer is looking for you so you must escape. You escape from the vault and from then on you wonder the wasteland searching for youre father. You arrive in megaton, and you are presented with a few choices. Blow up the god forsaken place or dissarm the nuke in the middle of the town. I blew that sucker sky high. It was fucking awesome. Then from the on you kepp searching for youre father. The VATS system is great, the gameplay is great. But on the PS3 version, whenever someone logs on youre game freezes for a sec. But other than that the game is incredible. ....

This game is amazing. I think it would probably be my # 2 favorite right now in the world. My first would have to be Final fantasy 8, nothing can surpass it. But I think this game will make a viewpoint for all gamers and future game designers every where.

Fallout 3 shakes the role-playing game genre to its core. To be blunt, the game has a number of frustrating problems: the VATS targeting often highlights friends during combat, the map system is awkward and misleading, the Pipboy's display text is too tiny, and the optional third-person viewpoint is simply broken.

Look past those flaws, though, because the rest of the game is flat-out stunning. The humor doesn't seem as black or as morbid as it did in the original Fallout games, but the storyline is compelling enough as it is. I also liked the combat, but it takes some patience at first. Once I learned to use the VATS targeting system to weaken my enemies, I had much better luck against the super mutants and rad scorpions that infest the rad-blast surface of the Capital Wasteland. This game takes some practice, but it's also a must-play and a candidate for game of the year.