There are plenty of games that are a lot worse than Oblivion and there are plenty of games that are a lot better than Fallout 3.
As a Fallout game, it fails on very many accounts. As a post-apocalyptic first person CRPG, it's not a complete failure even for all its flaws it was a passable experience. The end was just plain horrid though. So the supermutant whom you rescued from captivity and who is immune to radiation doesn't want to save the world because he thinks it your destiny to die? Thanks a lot buddy, now get in there before I blast your kneecaps off!
V.A.T.S. is retarded, it doesn't emulate turnbased combat at all and at best feels like a built in cheat mode, especially once you get the level 20 perk that restores all your action points if you kill an enemy in combat.
Speaking of which, I hit level 20 pretty damn early in the game, making combat and the god damn lockpicking and hacking mini-games even more pointless time sinks. At least with lockpicking I found a cheat that gives you a 100% chance to force locks open, saving me some time. Mini-games can be OK when they're not forced upon you, clearly not the case here.
The character system is completely broken, with the fucking bobbleheads and the perks that let you raise your stat points you'll most likely end up with someone maxed out in at least all relevant skills.
Silly weapons like the Rock-it-launcher...
Bad dialogue, where the [intelligence] answer many times feel dumber, or at least exactly the same, as the regular response.
Three fucking dog
OK, better?