I don't think realism comes into any of the fallout games. It's all pretty cartoony.
I can still enjoy fallout 2, fallout 1, it's just too old and too much of an eye strain. Good for it's time though.
Weapon and armor degradation have been a source of annoyance with every Bethesda game I have played. Mainly because of the huge impact on damage. I mean a warhammer is a warhammer right, it doesn't have any pointy bits that can be dulled with repeated usage. At least in Morrowind and Oblivion you could play as a caster character and not have to worry about it too much, whereas in Fallout 3 you do indeed have to carry around 3 or 4 of everything you are currently using.