After playing the first two Fallout games, I've never quite understood why Fallout 3 is often regarded not only as one of the best Fallout games but also as one of the greatest RPG's of all time. Perhaps it's because it was the first Fallout game designed for more casual players. However, almost everything in Fallout 3 seems inferior compared to its predecessors, aside from the ability to play in first-person perspective and the elimination of turn-based combat. One of the main issues with Fallout 3 is its abysmal story. It feels like something written by a child - a literal joke. The world itself is portrayed as a dead wasteland devoid of any signs of life, except for one area that I won't spoil here. It seems like nobody in Fallout 3 knows how to build a civilization. Instead of rebuilding houses, they opt to construct ugly metal huts that realistically won't stop any bullets.. By contrast, in Fallout 1 & 2, there's a sense of actual civilization, and plant life is vibrant and plentiful. It's evident that Bethesda didn't pay much attention to the lore established in previous titles and instead created their own. The presence of mutants in the DC area makes little sense, yet there's an entire army of them, not to mention the behemoths. In Fallout 1-2, mutants fit into the narrative, but here, they don't. The Enclave, one of the coolest villainous organizations in the Fallout universe, are depicted as morons in this one. It's baffling that with a high enough intelligence level, you can convince them to essentially self-destruct. This is just one example of how the story falls short; there are numerous others. And of course, it wouldn't be a Bethesda game without bugs—and there are plenty of them in Fallout 3. The graphics, while passable for its time, don't hold up well by today's standards. However, I do like the implementation of fast travel and the amount of content, including DLC's. If you're aiming for 100% completion, be prepared to invest a lot of hours.
This is one of the first PC games I've ever played. An absolute nostalgic trip back to the past. The game itself runs flawlessly on my PC with no issues whatsoever. The story is very simplistic, the gameplay is fun, and the sprites look nice. It's not on the level of complexity of Starcraft, but for casual play, I highly recommend it. The only complaint I have is regarding the rather poor unit pathing.
