After carefully reviewing this thread and analyzing the different opinions and arguments, I decided to resist stating my own before proper contemplation.
Having said that, I believe this article I came across should speak for itself.
It's an interview with Bethesda's VP for Marketing & Public Relations Pete Hines from 2007.
http://spong.com/feature/10109624
For those who cannot be bothered to jump or read the article, I'll give a quick summary. Most of the information is already known but I would just like to reiterate them.
Basically, what Pete says is that
none of the original Fallout team were involved with Fallout 3. Unsurprising, yes but this further contributes to the fact that Fallout 3 would expectedly be unable to retain the original flavor.
Whatever it is, in this interview, Pete states more than once that the team involved with Fallout 3 is none other than the team from Oblivion. Is it a big surprise then that Fallout 3 turned out to be more than a striking similarity to Oblivion?
I know it will be a back and forth argument and debate but it's a clear stated fact that Fallout 3 is
not a Fallout game in its truest form. It is, however politically incorrect it may be, in essence, "Oblivion with guns".
That is my firm opinion because I for one am a Fallout purist and loved both Fallout 1 and 2 but seriously guys, I've played Oblivion and liked it a lot. However, to see a Fallout game massacred like this is just saddening and extremely disappointing. I simply cannot fathom why the word 'Fallout' is in its title.
Yes, it's much different than Fallout 1 and 2 or even Oblivion but other than the decals, NPCs, objects and whatnot, the skeletal framework of the whole bloody thing
IS Oblivion.
You have massive airtime during jumps.
You can grab items for no discernible reason with an invisible hand.
Third-person view is absolute shite.
You can kill almost anything even at Level 1. Try it and see. Just shoot, run, shoot. Repeat. I experimented with this and lo and behold, fresh out of the Vault, I managed to kill a Super Mutant with the above tactic.
Dialog manipulates time and space by freezing everything behind the NPC talking to you.
I could go on but it's just too depressing. Bethesda, thanks for traumatizing a Fallout fan.