I SHOULD HAVE NOT LEFT THE VAULT! WHAT?
Once you are outside the vault you will find a truly open ended game. You can wander the Capital Wasteland and explore out on your own, or stick with the story. Any way you decide to play it you will be entertained for hours. There are dozens of side quests to be done for those who wish to find them. Exploration is key to the game as the player is placed in a huge sandbox to play in, make the most of it. I've taken to doing a chunk of the storyline, then a few side quests, then more story line and I'm still missing tons of content. There is enough in here to keep me very busy for a long time. There is no simple way to play the game, it is up to each player to determine their own experience. You can level entire towns, steal, rob, kill, or you can be a nice guy and help out everyone you come across, or somewhere in between. Regardless, expect the citizens of the Capital Wasteland to respond accordingly.
In the Capital Wasteland you will find a dark, dreary, grey/brown world. Everything I would expect 200 years after a nuclear war, they don't call it Wasteland for its spa resorts. You will encounter Raiders, Super-Mutants, a variety of angry mutated animals, Cannibals, Ghouls, and a few people just trying to make a living in a harsh world. The character models look good, definitely up to par, and your character is extremely customizable in appearance and kit. The controls are fine with one exception - jump, it seems to work when it wants to work, never when something is directly in front of you and it's not as high as I expected. Because of the limp-dick jump function, sometimes navigating the ruins of the city can be a bit difficult and I've been forced to revert to my last save on a few occasions. The good thing is jumping really isn't required so these issues are avoidable.
Fallout 3 still has its RPG roots but allows for much more fun and fluid experience compared to the standard RPG. You still have to worry about stats and skills, just like the past Fallouts you have S.P.E.C.I.A.L (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck) and plenty of Perks (71 by my quick count) to develop and enhance your character. Be careful what you choose and how you decide to enhance yourself, if you use Buffout or another temporary booster too much you become addicted, which will have a negative effect on your stats whenever you don't get your fix, which can get expensive. The combat is no longer turn-based but you are allocated Action Points (AP) and these can be used in the V.A.T.S. program (Vault-tec Assisted Targeting System). Hit RB/R1 to pull up V.A.T.S., freeze combat, allowing you to pick your target, the area/limb you would like to hit (you can chose several targets/areas until you are out of APs) then accept your targeting and bam, you unfreeze combat and whoop some ass in slow-motion. It's a neat feature, it allows you to slow down combat for those who like RPG/Turn-based combat or you can run it straight FPS or 3rd Person live combat if you prefer it. Again this game excels at its flexibility to be played in different fashions or styles as you can play the entire game in 3rd person or in 1st person. Personally, I enjoy dismembering enemies via V.A.T.S. over a live combat situation. If you are more into FPS combat style you can map weapons to your directional pad for quick, easy selection during combat. Unfortunately in 3rd person its not easy to identify which weapon is selected unless it is holster and you zoom in on your character. You can also spend some time making friends or buying plans to build new weapons, gather the parts, find a workbench, and build away! Next thing you know you have a flaming lawnmower blade to slice and light aflame your enemies with called a Shishkebab. Just a little bit of awesome if you ask me, especially since this is how you will build the infamous Teddy Bear cannon. If your skills aren't up to scratch when you create a weapon, it will be harder to keep it in good condition and you can expect it to break, probably in combat when you really really need it. It won't be cheap to repair either. Remember everything you are using has barely survived a nuclear war so manage your expectations to condition and performance.
For those of you interested in just the story, its told through character interactions and finding clues of your fathers whereabouts and history. You have the ability to fast travel to any destination on your map so long as you have been there before so if you aren't down with the exploring (you're missing out big time) then you can just fast travel to pretty much every where and blitz the storyline. If you are like me and want both the storyline but the side quests as well then you can manage them easily on your Pip-Boy 3000. It's here you can select your maps, notes, radio station, and pick which quest you want to follow at this point in time. Then the big arrows telling you where to go will appear. If you don't want the obvious arrow it can be simply turned off and you are free to wander without distraction. The Pip-Boy 3000 has become a great solution to in game menus as it tracks your stats, inventory, and general game progress.
Tuning to Galaxy News Radio on your Pip-Boy for some background music is great at setting a mood while you blow off Raiders limbs listening to Perry Cuomo. I love the retro-future of the alternate universe frozen in 1950. The sound effects are quality and I've really enjoyed on the surround sound, especially in combat, but I don't think my neighbors have the same enthusiasm as me. Occasionally the sound picks up louder than expected, be wary of the shotgun blasts. Some of the in game background music is so well executed that you barely notice when wandering the Capital Wasteland but it still helps set the tone, especially at night when Super-Mutants and vicious dogs are approaching, or so you think.
Fallout 3 is an excellent blend of RPG and Action/Adventure that plays like a FPS. If you have played this series before its definitely worth picking up. There is enough content in Fallout 3 to keep you going for a long time. It's a title that's going to be picked up and played again and again down the road. Considering Fallout 3 is taking a PC game to console and doing it with a new developer, this is quite the accomplishment. The storyline, side quests, exploration, and optionality take this game a long way and put it up there with classics that still have replay value today.