Where to get into fallout series?

[Batcathat]

It is also worth noting that the game cited repeatedly in this thread as a standout (New Vegas) is much closer to 1 and 2 in terms of writing, primarily because the studio that made it (Obsidian Entertainment) was made up of former members of Black Isle Studios (who produced the original 2 games).

Yeah, I've always felt that New Vegas pretty much took what was good about the early games and combined it with what was good about Fallout 3, creating a sort of best of both worlds situation.