Happy Shiny People Holding Enormous Laser Gattling Guns!

 When Bethesda announced that they would be taking the ambitious project of creating the third installment of the worlds favourite (and possibly only) post nuclear RPG I must admit that a tremor of excitement and terror coursed through me. What I feared was a re-skinning of Oblivion and what I craved was vivid re-imagining of a series that is sadly showing it's age.
What I got was a mind-blowing romp through a terrifying, twisted landscape that shocked, impressed and appalled in equal measure. At first glance the game appears to be Oblivion in time-warp, at opening we cannot help but spot the similar expressionless faces that characterises an Bethesda NPC and the first-person perspective coupled with the decidedly terrible third-person option all smack of a Cyridilian adventure.
Within moments of turning on the game this notion is decimated as you are plunged into a darker world, initially of a Facist mini-state and then into the Capital Wasteland, the ruins of Washington DC.
The speech in the game is vastly improved, fitting the character of the game soundly, the f-bomb is dropped throughout and the adults are alternately helpful, unhelpful, violent and mad. These NPC's make the world feel real and allow you to experience the depravity on a level that leaves you dashing for the shower.
The moral choices in the game range from the option to nuke a city, to saving a small community from an opposing force that is... well.... vampiric. You have the choice to either save or condemn the world and unlike Oblivion your actions will have obvious an immeasurable consequences.
The plot of the game is impressive in its simplicity, your goal is to find your father and to do so you must venture across the wasteland, battling wicked men and mutated beasts as you uncover the truth about your father and yourself. As expected in a Bethesda game there are countless side-quests to distract you from finding your father, these involve rescuing slaves to exterminating "undesirables" as you see fit. In Fallout 3 you can do as you please.
The combat in the game has improves drastically and focuses on the use of ranged weapons over the use of melee, though the option is still there. The VATS system allows for precise shooting and the first time you decapitate an unfortunate enemy with a precise round from an archaic hunting rifle will stay with you forever.

In short this is a game that demands your attention, it grabs you by the short-n-curlies and drags you kicking and screaming into a world of nightmares and allows you to either save the world or destroy it completely. This is the best game on the 360 so enjoy.