all games are not created equal

Both of these games are amazing.  Both were very enjoyable for every hour that I played.  However, the one thing that Fallout 3 has over Bioshock is replayability.

Once I finished Bioshock, I felt like I was most definitely done with the game; that I had experienced everything.  For Fallout 3, the second I finished, I wanted to play it again, to find all those little things that I may have missed the first time through.  And then maybe even the second time through, I can do all the evil things that I avoided doing the first time through =)

Bioshock is a linear game with a fantastic story and atmosphere.  You learn about the main characters of the game as you play through and learn more of the backstory through audio tapes.

F3 does have a linear storyline, but this isn't where the real storytelling is.  The real storytelling exists all throughout the Capital Wasteland, the main area in F3.  As you explore and talk to people, you learn about what happened, why people are where they are, how they feel, what the problems are and so on.  It's this non-linear storytelling that really makes this game quite enjoyable, that is, if you want to know the story.  If you don't then you are just as welcome to run around and kill everything, complete the main storyline and call it a day.  But you will be missing out on some great gameplay.

Hard to do this to Bioshock, but Fallout 3 has you beat on this one.