I'm a fan of classic computer role-playing games and I can get into some of the so-called "action" RPGs. On two separate occasions, I've dug out my copy of The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion in an effort to see what all the hype is about with the profoundly accoladed title. Each time I've gotten, frankly, bored with roaming around without seeming to have anything to do. My last effort, this past weekend, saw my Argonian avatar travelling from Chorrol to Skingrad, which took a lot of real-world time (I was hoofing it as I was trying to stay out of prison for stealing a horse), on my way to find the king's heir in Kvatch. I've found travelling in the game world is just tedious, unless you can afford a horse (and I can barely afford a set of non-rusted armor) and I found myself drawing the conclusion once again that I could spend several hours of real-world time playing this game without actually accomplishing much of anything.

I know that Bethesda also made Fallout 3, which also received universal critical praise and I find myself wondering just how similar these games are. Would I shell out the $40-50 only to find that I'm stuck with a game that I don't particularly enjoy, however well-received it may have been in press circles? Do you do a lot of seemingly-pointless meandering across a huge map in FO3 like you do in Oblivion?