Ok SO I played FO3 when it first came out and just couldnt get into it, I didnt really give it a fighting chance though. Only played a few hours.

Recently I have played through New Vegas almost 3 times and am wanting to give FO3 another shot.

Will it be a dissapointment in comparison (graphics/story/gameplay etc.)
I do not want to play with mods at least until i do a complete play through, Is it a complete and fun time w/out mods?
Any hints I should start with????

Thanks!

Overall the storyline for Fallout 3 is pretty good, and the side quests are good also. ^^
I have only played on New Vegas for a few hours since I only got it this week, and I'm already glued to it. The same happened to me with Fallout 3 tbh, couldn't put the game down ahaha. :')
You may find some things are different on Fallout 3 than on New Vegas, but just give it another chance, see how you get on.
Where did you get to last time you played Fallout 3?

The mainquest is okay if you haven't palyed 1/2, fi yuo have, then well...

have not played 1 or 2...

I go to the town with the huge bomb in the middle before I knid of gave up on it firat go around..

You didn't give it much of a chance, that's pretty much the very start of the game. That first part was nothing but character creation. I'd say give it another whirl, the intro certainly isn't any indication of the rest of the game.

The story is really good. It's different than New Vegas' but it's still an awesome story. More linear than the one in New Vegas, but the narrative and characters are amazing.
Graphics are the exact same, and there are less glitches unless you are using the PS3.
One thing that's different is the sidequests. There are less sidequests in Fallout 3 than there are in New Vegas, but the majority of the Fallout 3 ones are more in depth and take longer to complete.

The main story is, pretty full of holes and not really explained to well. personally I thought the story was complete garbage, but that's just my opinion. I know a few others share it as well.

Exploration however, is much better imo. Since certain zones aren't designated for certain levels etc, you have more freedom to walk around and explore the entire map. To me, Fallout 3 was ENTIRELY about the exploration. I decided to go with Science as a skill, purely to gain more information about the world, etc, and I felt a deeper connection with it. And, to me, the game feels more Fallout-esq then New Vegas. Some people feel that you shouldn't have the ability to go whereever you please, however, I find this better because all the way Fallout NV's design does, is say "You're level depends on how much damage something will take". Rather then "Everything is gonna kick your ass unless you train with guns, which will somehow increase your damage, regardless of where you hit them". So to me, it feels more real. More like you are out there, trying to survive. Not trying to find a zone you won't die in.

When judging Fallout 3's story it's probably a good idea to take the whole 50s Sci-Fi B-movie theme into consideration. If you've ever seen any of those old movies you'll probably be a lot more forgiving when you encounter a plothole or some bad dialogue in the game.

Thanks for all the replies!

I think I will give it a go when I finish up this final go around in NV.

I just started playing about a month ago and I love it. I have not played 1, 2, or NV. I will probably give NV a try when it comes down in price.