Comes out of the nuclear wasteland smelling of roses...
Fallout 3 looks great for such a large sandbox world were everything is decaying of old age and falling apart because of a nuclear war. I know some people are getting tired of the gritty/darker looks in gaming these days but Fallout 3's graphics are really top notch despite the fact it probably could of done with a little more polishing. The player models such as the mutated creatures are the best part of the engine, with some great detail and hardwork going into making Fallout 3 a pleasant view on the eyes.
Fallout 3 goes for a more quiet atmosphere than most games with no expensive orchestral soundtrack but with a more classic, family friendly soundtrack to give the feeling that your back in the 50's and 60's. Its a nice unique approach to a game's soundtrack in this age of gaming and my favourite aspect of the sound are the radio stations that comment on your own in game actions as you progress but eventually you will hear the same stuff too often. The voice acting is pretty solid though nothing special mainly due to reused actors for too many characters and average script/dialogue writing.
RPG'S live and die by gameplay more than most gaming genre's and Fallout 3 for the most part finds a nice balance between FPS and RPG though both could of done with a little more polishing. Fallout 3 main gameplay element is the use of the V.A.T.S, which gives the player the ability to freeze the game and target specific areas of any enemy though your success rate will depend on range, weapon, your own skills/level and the enemy itself. Its a nice gameplay mechanic especially since the normal run n gun combat can feel quite clumsy at times. There's a decent array of weapons to use and some that you can custom build but for an RPG you would expect a bigger arsenal to choose from. The skill/level system offers perks to choose from so you can upgrade your character and their are a nice number to choose from. However I do feel the RPG elements could of been a lot more deeper, especially the appearance of your own character.
I played the game after several patches so for me the A.I while nothing special is pretty solid for such a big game. The enemies often will just run n gun right at you and the game uses numbers rather than smarts to try and overwhelm you, but their is nothing stupid about the A.I overall in Fallout 3. Sometimes friendly characters could help you out a little more in battle and might get lost on the odd occasion but overall it could of been a lot worse and should not lower your enjoyment of the game.
With several DLC's the GOTY version of Fallout 3 will give you more than your money's worth with plenty of side-quests and a decent length main story filled with interesting characters. The world is massive and there's plenty of exploring to do with over 60 hours of content minimum to keep you busy if you choose to di everything available. However at times the game may feel like a grind but overall Fallout 3 is a lot of fun too immerse yourself into. For a massive open world game there are some bugs and annoyances but they are infrequent enough for you too not really care about.
Fallout 3 GOTY is one of the best releases in this generation of gaming.