Fallout 3

A special, well-designed game whose phenomenal environmental storytelling and densely packed sense of discovery make every playthrough rewarding, with unmarked locations hiding powerful little tales throughout the wasteland. Exploration is endlessly satisfying and the once-ugly brown-and-green world reveals a weird beauty, while the writing is genuinely good, driven by a good-and-bad karma system rather than New Vegas's reputation focus. The original forced ending was a misstep, since fixed by DLC, but it remains a game you can return to endlessly and still find something new.

Massive open-world. Engaging V.A.T.S. tactical depth. Vault origin story.