They have distinctly different atmospheres. Oblivion is more "disney-esque", a land of fantasy and luxurious landscapes. Fallout 3 is grittier, darker, more melancholic and even depressing sometimes.

When I think of a good game I think of what I find particularly fun.
that is the keyword FUN.
I can't even try to tell you how many hours I put into the GTA series but i can tell you that those games hold a special place in my heart. Because their fun. A game can be as linear as the day is long so long as I'm enjoying the experience. Hell story isn't even that big a deal to me because I can mute my TV and just pop in a wrestling game or Smash bros. with my music and just have a blast.
When it all comes down to it the game can have the coolest features ever and the most engaging story but if the gameplay bores me than whats the point.
Which brings me to Fallout and most importantly Fallout 3.
I recall a while back installing Fallout 1 to finally see what the fuss was about. I don't remember what exactly turned me off from it but I just couldn't stick with it. So Fallout 3 was never even on my radar.
But on the other hand I used to play the hell out of Morrowind and Oblivion and found out that the company made FO3.. So just like 4 months ago I finally decide to give it a try.
I loved it from the start.
The tutorial as you start as a baby till you got out of the vault was just so well done.
My first playthrough was a trial as I just rushed through quests because I didn't really think about it.
I start a new playthrough where I pretend the map isn't there and just get lost.
This tops Oblivion in my book and even Mass Effect (where I just bought 1 and 2 a month ago played through and just bounced back to this)
No this game isn't perfect. (random crashes FTL) but its how everything is put together so well.
Like most said the freedom to go where you want and do what you want from the get go is a huge win for me too.
Also its the setting. With the realization that I've discovered an amazing game I also realize that I love the post-apocolyptic setting. The feeling of danger is around every step (i roleplayed my character to panicking when she first got out of the vault)
The interesting characters and dialog options.
The Karma system is great and the option to be good evil or something in between. (I blew up Megaton just cause I felt like it)
Can't talk about this game without bringing up the VATS which I think is the ultimate show stealer for me VATS is that certain something that makes Oblivion unplayable IMHO.
Not to mention exploring has never been this fun and omg I love hoarding stuff.
All these things come together in such a way that makes it funner than almost anything in the market. Its also why with Fallout New Vegas just around the corner I am very excited to be a gamer.

TL:DR? Game is hella fun nuff said

I enjoy the 50's-post apocalyptic combo theme and the openness mostly. Other cool features like VATS are just icing on the cake for me. I too get bored quickly with linear games like CoD and Half-Life. Those games are 1 trip through and then done for me.

Indeed! :foodndrink:
(what else?)


I don't see it that way. Freedom to wander about aimlessly and shoot guns with abandon is not a plus IMO. In FO1 & 2 you had to prioritize your travel time because you had people depending upon you.

The daft humor comes [IMO] nowhere approaching the previous games (though you honestly can't fault someone's sense of humor). The Drugs are impotent by comparison (and not entirely their fault); though the 50's Mad Max thing was in Fallout 2, I don't see it in FO3; I see a world assumed to be wacky and full of anachronistic 50's stereotypes (which you do not see in Fallout 1 or 2).

As for updating.. The graphics are indeed fantastic ~but only Vault-Boy and the landscapes look the part. The combat was the first thing, and was at the heart of the game even before the retro 50's concept was considered. ~It's omission was IMO unconscionable. Its not "quaint", its the point. (and was a defining hallmark of the franchise).

Fallout 3 is a great game in it's own right, for it's own market, but for me [as a series fan] it was a disappointment of lost potential (along with the gains).

I think you are right, there WAS something that was lost along the way. The original games were very special, a unique experience and the whole turn based thing was a huge part of that. It was like an automated version of the pencil and paper RPGs of old. Also, the graphics were limited but they were cleverly done and it stimulated your imagination as a result, and also in their limitation allowed a greater degree of wackyness that doesn't work so well in a photorealistic world. But I still maintain it was better to make FO3 with the format they used.

And I agree that there were some things that didn't quite work out or were overdone in FO3, but the same is true of the original games.

I know there are lots of people who would disagree with me! Indeed there are whole internet forums apparently populated with folk who have a cult-like reverence for the old games (and corresponding disgust of FO3). It's kind of sad to see them being so negative about something which was - IMO - a sincere endeavor to make a modern continuation to the series. I'm not talking about you here BTW - your view is actually pretty balanced and that's nice to see.

It'll be interesting to see what NV is like, and how it's received.

FO 3 is Beth's vision of what a modern Fallout could be, incorporating their passion and their view on RPGs. It couldn't be any different. To me, it was a valid attempt to bring back the spirit of the older games, even if it left something to desire in one aspect or another. At least they tried to do something different instead of saying "hey, let's just rehash the old games in a 3D open-world".

I did not like FO3 when I first tried it. It was dismal. The thought of a nuclear holocaust bummed me out. I put it aside and continued playing Oblivion (time after time).

Then I got tired of Oblivion and tired of Gothic III. I went back to FO3 and gave it another try. I got hooked quickly once I really played it for a while. I have played it completely through several times. I have mapped out every area (exaggeration of course) so that the map I have has about three times the significant areas marked out on the game map. I have got to level 56 by completing FO3 and four of the addons. So, here is what I like.

Yesterday I found something I had never seen before (Hollowed out rock) and it was within a stone's throw of Megaton. I find something new about every week that I play (about 4 hours per day on the average).

It is fun to simply walk through the landscape and see what happens. The scenery may be a bit dismal, but it seems to be realistic considering the story line. The construction of bridges/buildings/underground tunnels is detailed and realistic. The physics are extremely good. It is fascinating to watch an item fall and bounce/slide/roll. I used to program games (a very long time ago and long before these game engines were designed) and I cannot imagine how they can work so well.

You can kill things from great distance (nothing better than that A3-21 plasma rifle) or you can beat things to death with a nail board. You can set mines to trap something that is following you.

Ok, I am tired of writing so I am going to go back and try to finish off the game once more (or maybe twice, I have another idea for a new way to play it!).

Where to start? There are just so many things to like about it. I personally like the freedom and the feeling that you are actually in a living, breathing world. Things will happen regardless of whether you are there or not. Just last night I was standing in Megaton for a few minutes just watching people come and go. They were going in and out of buildings, sweeping the floor, eating at the Brass Lantern, talking to each other etc. It was great.

Also the companions, that's what really makes this game special, at least for me. Each one has its own character and adds a new dimension to the gameplay that would be missing if you were alone for the entire time.

Already in my second playthrough I'm noticing things that I never saw the first time around. I'm reliving that early game excitement I had first time around, I didn't think that it would happen. Making your way through the early quests with little ammo, poor armour and weak weapons is a challenge, even a fight with a couple of mole rats burns precious ammo. It feels real and danger is never more than a few minutes away. Also, I can now play each quest in a different way to before, using different weapons, and prioritising different skills. Thats a rare and special thing on a game of this scale.

Also, Fallout 3 has character. The Wasteland is beautifully drawn and mixes majestic once-great buildings with bleak shacks of despair and death. What's not to like? :fallout:

I'd have paid triple for that one (not kidding). :drool:
My single dislike, of an otherwise very likable game, was that you cannot play Fallout in Fallout 3.

I know FO3 doesn't have spells, I was trying to decribe how the game feels to me! sorry if I been misleading......

I've played since day one. My fav character is over 1200 hours now...and still hasn't found everything.

In a word...emotion.

Silly as it sounds, for many people there is something that either freaks them or binds them in this game. Back when it first came out, a few folk from my cold war generation really did get freaky after stepping out of the vault. For me, it was one friday night late when I found a kids skeleton laying in a bed with toys on the covers. I had my character walk downstairs, turn the house's radio off, and laid about 20 mines inside and outside the house. Then in real life went and sat outside in the dark and thought that the game really svcked sometimes.

That might sound silly, but in RL I've actually had that situation occur (I'm a cop), and that just hit me. Any game that can do that, and give you the 'moral' or 'ethical' twists F3 does is top value in my book. I htought the twist in the Pitt was a svck...but good value.