Take what you know about Oblivion, add in post-war D.C. and take out the fantasy stuff.
Gameplay 10- Being born in Vault 101 you learn that the outside world is hostile and full of radiation and mutated things. The 'tutorial' for the game is spent as your time as a child within this holed-off gathering of survivors. Soon after you start, the story twists start coming and you are soon fighting for your life, and your father has fled the vault, but why? You must follow him out into the wasteland to find the answer.
Before you leave 101 you are able to make a final pass to changing your character how you want before you go outside and start your journey. This is a good save point, so you can load it up when you want to make a new character but without having to sit through the tutorial again.
Once outside, the real game begins. And the wasteland of D.C. is yours to explore at your own pace. You can go right for the story quests, or wander and see what you come across.
Graphics 9- The world is mostly devoid of color-but what nuclear wasteland isnt- and everything is in shades of grey or brown. You can see great distances and feel the vastness of the game's land size. Up close textures can look a little bland, and Fallout 3 suffers from the same issue as Oblivion with the faces; some look remarkably fake. The towns and various objects look good however, and one can appreciate the sense of destruction that is everwhere.
Sound 9- The first time I heard the signature soundtrack song for this game I knew I was going to heavily enjoy listening to the radio that is part of your Pipboy. Whats not to like about shooting and killing stuff while listening to jazz from the '40s or '50s. Because I want to set the world on fire.
Fun Factor 10- Much like the other Bethesda RPG, a lot of fun awaits to anyone that can afford to sink in a good amount of their free time into this game. There is a satisfactory amount of blood splatter for those that crave such.
Replay Value 10- One can spend easily 100 hours in Fallout 3 in just the base game alone. The addons add many hours on top of this. Do yourself a favor and pick up the game of the year of Fallout. This is an RPG experience you definately dont want to miss.
Final Score- 48/50 (9.6)