(This play through was done using the Tale of Two Wastelands Mod, with a 250+ plugin list, and thus graphics and gameplay are changed and will not be accounted for in the review)

Fallout 3 was the first Fallout game I played fully back in 2017 as a teenager and back then I enjoyed it a lot, even calling it my favorite for the longest time. As I grew older, my opinion of it soured, and I grew a larger affinity for the older games + Fallout New Vegas for their more in depth RPG systems. However finally replaying Fallout 3 after many years has left me pretty satisfied.

As stated before I played with a large mod list which ultimately does not reflect the game that was shipped in 2008, so I will be judging the game solely on its world, story and RPG mechanics as those are unchanged and are ultimately the most important part of these games anyway.

Fallout 3's story, while simple and straightforward, is good enough. Nothing here will make you question the factions or their motives or what you're ultimately changing in the world, The Brotherhood are the good guys and The Enclave are the bad guys and that's fine. The main story questline is not very long and can be done in just a few hours. The sidequests also share that similar modern Bethesda feel, there's ultimately 2 choices, a good deed or a bad deed. The writing and humor however is on point. You can tell this was made by a different team than the original Fallout games, but they do a good job and going for the feel and look of Fallout. Unfortunately There's not a lot of depth to the game's world, however I feel the game was still satisfying to play. The quests were engaging, and it was fun to explore and loot the Capital Wasteland which as usual, Bethesda did craft a fun and enjoyable world to traverse. Another thing I noticed was how many cool setpieces there are in FO3 compared to FNV. The appearance of the Enclave, and Liberty Primes's assault are a few I can name which just felt awesome to see.

While it definitely is not the most in depth game, it certainly is not the most basic (Bethesda would triple down on simplifying everything in Skyrim, Fallout 4 and especially Starfield). I think Fallout 3 is a good game, and probably one of the best starting points for someone wanting to get into the series (provided you can get past the gameplay jank in the vanilla game). Give it a try and you may like it. 7/10