I do not own Fallout 3, this is based on a 45 minute observation of the Nuca Cola factory, surrounding environment, and Megaton.

So where are the lights?

I was walking around adequately textured hallways, deep within the bowls of a pre-war soda factory, and aside from the radioactive goop, there were no visible means of light. The hallways, were extremely well lit, but contained no light fixtures. There were a few broken windows, but the substantial hallway sections contained no light objects.

While I openly admit that my experience may have been an aberration, and that other areas of the game may contain context-based lighting, this is a serious gaff. It didn't 'ruin the game for me' but it did sing loudly to my ears that someone was asleep at the switch.

This is level design 101; you do not place area light in places with no visible sources of light.

I am looking forward to grabbing a copy of this game for myself, and exploring the rest of the world, but I was disheartened to see such an easily corrected error slip through.

Pip Boy generates light for you in dark situations. Adds some very cool lighting elements.

Indeed it does, and that's a welcome feature... it's totally not what I was talking about, but having a built in flashlight is quite useful.

My complaint was that there are frequent lit areas with no visible source to that light (and, while I feel silly for clarifying, they are still inexplicably lit with the pip-boy off).

Oh I see what you're saying. I misunderstood heh. I don't know to be honest. : / It doesn't detract from the game at all for me though. Better to see in a dark cave somewhat than run around in a pitch black cave, which is what it would look like in real life.

honestly, after wasting hours on this game, all these dark corridors and caves just give you a headache