It's quite funny but I actually met Fallout recently compared to many people in the forum. I actually was into the Xbox 360 when Fallout 3 came out, but it never appealed to me at the time. I was having fun with other games, so it never caught my attention, until someone on a Fable forum insisted that I would love Fallout.
I picked up Fallout 3 for the PC, and it was mostly a 'meh' experience, but the post-apocalyptic setting sold itself. It happened that Fallout: New Vegas was already out, so I also got New Vegas for the PC. I had really a lot of fun with New Vegas, and when I finished the game's story a couple of times I decided to try out the original two games.
I never actually read a review about any Fallout game. (Nor I generally read reviews)