Fallout 3

Have been playing this a lot lately, finally reached level 20 and have around 3 or 4 quests left to finish (and the main story final mission). While I really enjoy it, like Oblivion there is something about it which just stops me from really loving it. Maybe its just that I still think RPGs work as well in real-time, or that the world seems too artificial and inconsistent (especially when you see people fleeing for no apparent reason, or an NPC starts following you after being dead for a while). And there are small annoyances, like that character in Megaton who keeps giving you **** when you just want to use your infirmary.

But definitely does improve upon Oblivion at the end of the day - great quests ( ) and a real sense that your character creation means something and impacts upon the way you play the game. It is a shame that the game stunts your growth at a relatively early point (have a good bit left to do and yet my character isn't going to level up any further after thirty hours, in comparison to my Oblivion file where I was going for around eighty hours and still leveling up regularly) but probably serves to prove that the game is smaller and better designed. The world is more approachable, the characters more interesting, less repetition, the dialogue sharper, and a generally more unique atmosphere.

The one thing that really needs to be worked in further Bethedsa games though - more varied dungeons - have had more than enough of dank caves / metro tunnels. Please.