So Fallout 3 was the best game of the previous generation of consoles.
The colour argument is completely blinkered - the palette is aesthetically justified by the story and the gorgeous art design. It's THE post-apocalyptic game to play, due to the feeling of solitude and immersion in a bleak, hopeless world - the moments of awe just looking about the landscape and taking everything in a moment of silence, before trekking across to a distant tower with 40's oldies blaring out on your radio as you incinerate feral dogs and ogres with mini-nukes in slow-motion.
It's so much greater than the sum of its parts, and believe me, there a fuck ton of parts.