Fear not, fans of the originals, rejoice all.
When people hear Fallout 3, the most common complaints are that it either doesn't stay true to the Black Isle style gameplay, or that it is "Oblivion with guns." Thankfully, these critics may rest easy because Fallout 3 unquestionably delivers.
For the uninitiated, Fallout 3's setting is basically this: what if you took the future, but the future as it was imagined in the 50s (atomic cars, robots etc.), then nuked all of it. It is an action-RPG that has a heavy emphasis on survival as part of it's gameplay, as opposed to your typical RPG where the point is to become some sort of god among men. While the latter certainly plays a role, the survival aspects of the gameplay keep it balanced and fresh. You will probably never feel like the world is just your character's plaything (you still feel human, albeit a powerful one), but your character can get powerful enough so that you still get that "alright, I've worked my way to level 20, let's go kick some ass" good feeling. I have found this to be a rarity among RPGs these days, and it is nice to see. Even at higher levels, you may still find yourself drinking out of irradiated sink or cannibalizing a villager to survive.
The character progression system is not revolutionary, but a paragon of evolutionary design. The S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system originally used by Black Isle in the first two Fallouts is generally intact, and the level-up (a traditional XP system) and skill-point system are much more balanced and less abuse-able than those in Oblivion. Hitting level cap (currently 20, will be raised with updates) is not too easy, but neither is it a grind, and there's always the incentive of a new perk (essentially special abilities) at each level to keep you going. This 3 way combination of attributes, skills, and perks, is deep but accessible, allowing any average gamer to do fine, but leaving room for RPG junkies to do some really impressive things.
The sheer amount of content in this game is amazing. This is one of the only games I've ever played where I was able to play for 50 hours before even touching the main quest (which is no slouch itself), and I still didn;t do everything. Not only is there such as huge amount of content on your first go-through, the multiple branching storylines and reflections of player choice make it so you'll want to play this game at least twice. Beyond that, Bethesda has already announced 3 pieces of DLC, the first of which will be hitting this month. They will even raise the level cap, so you won't be bored of this game any time soon.
The combat is semi-real time. You can play out the fights in classic FPS fashion, but chances are you'll want to try out Bethesda's ingenious combat mechanic called V.A.T.S. At the push of a button, you can pause the action and enter V.A.T.S., which allows you to target specific parts of the enemies' bodies, as well as que-up attacks. This uses something called action points, which are drawn out of a refilling pool. This makes it so you have to be careful how you use V.A.T.S. The speed at which action points recharge and the amounts used for each weapon are near perfect, making it so you can't abuse the system, but so that you can use it enough that it's far from a gimmick (I myself use as much as possible then fight normally while waiting for them to recharge.)
Graphically the game holds up. Textures etc. are nice, the art design and lighting is really good, and character models are greatly improved from Oblivion. The only negative point here is the presence of sub-par animations.
The story is good, definitely above even RPG standard. It's no Metal Gear Solid, Mass Effect, Deus Ex etc., but it is certainly enjoyable and different from your usual "grassroots farmboy" or space marine fare.
Something to note is that this is definitely a "hardcore" game. It is of above average difficulty, even on normal setting, and this combined with the "survival" aspect of the gameplay may frustrate more casual gamers, or at lest the less RPG-savvy. The game also requires a large commitment of time and effort. This is a game to play until 4 am with the lights off, not at a party.
The game is by no means perfect. As mentioned when talking about graphics, the game is plagued by some poor character animations. The amount of enemy-scaling, while lower than Oblivion, is still too high. There are more bugs than average, mostly involving physics or enemy AI. There was even one instance where I saw part of the terrain sticking up out of the ground (picture a hill with a flat top, except the side of the hill keeps going up past the top of the hill in glorious 2D). While none of these are enough to ruing the experience, they can break the usually fantastic feeling of immersion and are a little frustrating. The pure-FPS combat is also a little dull, and there is a little less enemy variety than I would have liked. These are, however, much more forgivable given how hugely ambitious this game is.
Overall nothing can really hold this game back from being a masterpiece. A fantastic role-playing system, great story, huge amounts of content, developer support, fun real-time combat, a great setting, and amazing levels of freedom make this a true must-play, and I'd say the best RPG of 2008.
