Lots of fun, *ALMOST* a 10! Good game that goes the distance, just doesn't have a few items of interest.
The strong points in the game stem from the story and quest design. While creating the stories and the quests, Bethesda paid close attention to the area the game is set in and included things that would be familiar to natives of the Capital area, if only by name. This touch of authenticity, even in places where the scenes are changed because of the game premise, goes a long way towards immersion. For those not familiar with the Capital, Bethesda still did a good job of creating interesting and engaging quests that would pull in the player.
In many places there are references to the older games that do a lovely job of paying homage to two of gaming history's great influences. In other places the humor, some related to pop culture and some related to the game itself, had me laughing out loud.
The game misses a few things, but only because it doesn't quite go far enough.
The combat, for instance, quickly becomes repetitive, regardless of what skills you take. As much as I like how true they were to the original Fallout games, I think that some "mix it up" in the combat and the combat related skills might've been a good idea.
The lack of 'involvement' for the character in any of the sub-plots also put a bit of distance between the player and the game. Involvement might have come from romance, as so many are clamoring for, or from leadership roles or more in-depth dialog based on the character's actions. That involvement would have sucked me in even deeper. The game is already good, as mentioned, but the lack of involvement sometimes left me feeling like I was only touching a very shallow piece of the life of the wasteland.
Options for dealing with people were also somewhat lacking. People are grouped into two categories, good or evil, and your karma determines their view of you, in most cases. Having some more options for interaction... i.e., taking a prisoner, reforming a bad guy, corrupting a good guy... could've added more depth.
Overall, lots of fun, regardless of falling a bit short of a 10.
Sj