I've attempted to get into Fallout 1 numerous times, never really sticking past the "Why can't I hit anything?" problem.
However, I just up and decided to watch a beginner's guide, specifically the Fallout Guide video by Games Twice-Over, and that got me started into what I can see as an amazing game.

The writing is STELLAR.
The structure of the world is understandable. You intuitively find out more about the world, and where to go very naturally.
The characters and factions are all interesting, I enjoyed talking to a lot of them.
The combat, if you're into it, works, at least if you actually spec your character correctly, and most importantly SAVE OFTEN!

My first playthrough was around 20ish hours. I'll definitely replay it some time later to see about getting better endings.
Overall, it still holds up extremely well to day, IF you actually understand what you're doing.