So I just got this game. I like it ok so far. Haven't played enough to decide for sure, but so far, I like it. I would like to gripe about one thing, though it is not specific to Fallout 3. That is: why is it so easy to dismember your victims? Don't get me wrong. I like removing things' heads. It's fun and should be rewarding, but in so many games, you can do it with such little effort. It's strange.
I remember the first game I played where you could remove limbs and heads was Turok 2 on the good ol' N64. I loved it. I reveled in the glorious gore. But even way back then, you had to get up all in your enemy's space and stick your shotgun (at the weakest) down its gullet before you could remove its head. Since then, it seems to have become easier and easier to decapitate critters. In Resident Evil 4, you could kick off someone's head. In Fallout 3, it's even worse. The weak pistol you start the game can dismember, but it doesn't do so immediately. It takes around 4 shots to the skull to kill a vicious dog (and that's fine, too; I'm not expecting rigorous realism here), and the last bullet would somehow cut clean through its neck which happens to be as thick as my thigh.
Ugh. I don't know why it bothers me so much. A dismemberment should be a reward, you know? Making it so easy seems to cheapen your efforts. Oof. Does this bother anybody else? Or should I go check myself into the Ghoul's old-age home?