I have to agree with Rkynick on this one. Fallout 3 is not a bad Fallout game and I think it fits well with the rest of the series.
I recently picked up the old trilogy pack and have been playing through the first game. In my experience, the only significant differences between the original game and FO3 is that the original has an annoying interface/combat system and the quest system is awful. To me the depth and skillful implementation of storytelling is equally well done.
Most of the characters in the games are two dimensional due to the fact that there are so many of them and they only need to serve a few basic functions. So far in FO1 I've yet to see any real character development, but I have witnessed it in FO3; the father figure, President Eden, Elder Lions?, Fawkes, etc.