Hmmm should be ok I suppose. I am expecting it to be as bad as oblivion though.
That begs the question of why you'd pick up an open-ended action RPG made by the same company who also made an open-ended action RPG you, apparently, didn't enjoy.
I picked it up about 5 hours ago, and I must have played it for about 3 hours straight. Very absorbing; I don't generally play any game, regardless of how well done, for longer than an hour or two. The game also seems to run a lot better than Oblivion for me, which is a real bonus as the game looks like something that would cause some stutter for me.
Performance and looks aside, the game has quite an absorbing atmosphere and feel to it; if I ever wondered what the world would feel like after some horrible atomic dawn, my curiosity has been answered (and then some)! The feeling of people just doing whatever they can to get by is very pervasive in the very little bit of the game I've seen, and this is compounded by there being enemies around that, most assuredly, will rip you asunder (either with their bare hands or with sheer firepower), despite any prowess you may have presumed to have with other enemies in areas more appropriate to starting out.
I can't comment, yet, as to the depth and quality of the story, as I've only advanced the "main" quest a little. However, the general feel of how the world works and how people are coping comes through wonderfully in the writing.
The combat is a lot more involved, imo, than anything you'd ever see in Oblivion. Hacking-and-slashing (and, now, running-and-gunning) just won't get things done for you - at least not starting out. Enemies relentlessly pursuing you will almost demand that you use the VATS feature to take their legs out (or try desperately to do so), while enemies packing mini-guns beg to have their arms gruesomely torn off by precise pistol or rifle shots. I was also very satisfied when a mole rat charged me, and a well-time VATS-assisted shot to its head sent the animal flying back, mid-lunge, without its head. My inner sadist was quite tickled.
At the end of the day, though, you really need to be a fan of the open-ended part of the game, as the first thing that hit me when I tried to do my first side-quest was a feeling of being completely lost in the very vast wasteland put in front of me (I was sufficiently more overwhelmed here than I was by Oblivion or Morrowind). If that feature of Oblivion or Morrowind was something of a turn-off for you, then you might be wise to look elsewhere.
Thoroughly enjoyable, though. I still need to get a feel for melee combat (as I've tended to exhaust my ammunition with all available expedience) and really need to gather up the scratch to get either a lot of ammo or a really decent firearm. I also need to read into the perks, SPECIAL system, and skills a bit further before my character really gets focused on specific combat and social roles. I look forward to learning all of the ins and outs.
I'm sure someone will complain about the animations, though. Like Oblivion's, they tend to be on the more... wooden side. I'm willing to forgive that, though, in the face of otherwise awesome presentation, amazing depth, and great gameplay.
