I honestly don't understand. I've been a fallout fanboy for a good 10 years, been anticipating this game for about that long. My expectations were high, and I counted down every second waiting for the release. And you know what? I wasn't only happy with the game, I was impressed. Sure, it's not the same top-down turn based game that it was before. But you know what? I have a hard time believing that they could pull that off any better than what they did, given the current state of gaming. The bottom line is, what made the Fallout games in the past were the choices, the interactions, the way things took shape around you as you progressed. The humor, the gritty mature theme, and the sense of despair. At least for me. And I found all those things, in this game. Hell, I still haven't finished exploring.
And don't get me wrong, I know what you mean when you say that maybe the era you were hoping for in gaming is long gone, that our time has passed. But you know what? After the endless stream of the same ole bullshit games, the lack of depth, the false promises of games with choices and endless paths to take, a game like Fallout 3 is quite refreshing. Something you can really sink your teeth into. It isn't perfect, but all things considered, I wasn't let down in any way.