Personally, I think FO3 is the best thing Bethesda ever did - going all the way back to Arena. But I was never a big fan, even though I did anticipate Daggerfall to the point of insanity back in the day - but was ultimately hugely let down by the bugfest and zillions of hollow features.
That said, FO3 is not in the same league as FO1 and FO2 - and I'm not even commenting on the writing. To me, the CRPG mechanics of the first games were almost perfect - and Beth with FO3 ruined this most vital aspect by completely missing all the nuances and thinking in terms of streamlining as they like to do. They simply don't understand mechanics - and they never did. All choices should ideally matter, and it should be important to consider them carefully - and it's as if they want you to not care what you choose, because everything is possible anyway.
Nah, it's a good game with great visuals - but that's about it. But it does happen to feature the very best "mini-game" dealing with hacking that I've seen. It feels just like it should, and it really does seem like you're using your brain a bit without overdoing it.
