Even though I don't like where Bethesda has taken Fallout universe, I must admit FO3 is a very decent game. Of course, it's hard not to compare it to its predecessors and in that regard it is the worst in the series by far. As a standalone game, as a post-apocalyptic FPS/RPG it's okay I think. There are occasional moments where the game will live up to its predecessors and bring a smile to a face of an old FO1/2 fan, but those moment are rare...
I've tried playing with a high INT/CHA character with speech, science and repair skills tagged and it was pretty much impossible. The opportunities to use those skills were rare and pretty much any encounter in the wastes forced me to reload. It's very hard to escape, especially if you've encountered multiple opponents with guns. If you do manage, you'll probably lose most of your HP in the process. Tagged skills aren't that important since they improve at the same rate as all other skills, basically you just get a one time bonus of 15 points when you tag a skill.
CHA/STR/END/LCK are rarely useful. There are not many opportunities to use CHA. With each point in strength you gain +5 to how much you can carry (with 5 STR ist's 200, with 6 it's 205 - not that much of a difference) and a bonus to melee weapons damage (which you will rarely, if ever use, except on critters not worthy of wasting ammo). END may be more useful, giving you more HP but it's not crucial. LCK governs only your chances of a critical hit, but there's a perk later on which gives better results.
Go for perception, agility and intelligence, that's my advice.
And, the stupidest thing from Oblivion is back - you have to constantly repair your weapons. I mean, there may have been some logic behind it in Oblivion, where there were no firearms or energy weapons, but it still was silly to have my sword deteriorate after 5-10 hits. Of course, it's even sillier to have your gun deteriorate after 50 shots have been fired. It has deteriorated and it now fires worse bullets?
Better then Oblivion, but in most ways, the only connection with old Fallout games is the name.
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