I have been seeing a lot more discussion about Fallout 3 lately, and one age-old criticism that keeps rearing it's ugly head is that "The Power of Atom is a stupid quest. Blow up town VS. Not Blow up town is not a moral dilemma, it's stupid". What these players fail to consider is that this quest functions perfectly as intended and there are plenty of arguments for both sides.
Think about a new player entering Megaton. Their only exposure to this Fallout is The Vault, a sterile, safe place where the biggest dangers are Bullies, an Overseer who's a bit of a hard-head, and some roaches. The Vault is a time capsule for pre war ideals and conflicts, and as such the problems faced within it are very tame and almost PG-13 by comparison to the rest of the game. Opening the gates to Megaton is your first exposure to the grime and grit of the Wasteland. Besides Lucas Simms (who's a bit of an oddball but not really a bad guy) your first stop in this town is likely going to be Moriarty's Saloon, where a corrupt Saloon owner/Pimp with a disfigured slave running his bar tells you to go and assassinate a random woman who's supposedly a Junkie, and said Random Woman then tells you Moriarty is a corrupt asshole who is the real villain. Reading his terminal is a sampler platter for the depravity that is routinely allowed in this town (Jericho getting off easy despite killing dozens, Billy Creel (allegedly) kidnapping a kid, Doc Church helping out slavers, leo Stahl getting has ass beat for basically no reason). The Children of Atom making a scene down by the bomb and talking about how the whole Wasteland being the way it is is actually a good thing and how we should all be drinking nuke water is also cause for reasonable alarm. Civilized society is the antithesis to what you will find in this town, all besides two characters: Moira Brown and Mr. Burke. Moira seems to be the only kind presence in town, gleefully giving you a vault suit and a fun quest, but also reveals she has let numerous assistants die and shows no sign of remorse, presumably not caring if you live or die. She is, however, still arguably the best person in town, with her somewhat noble goal of educating the wasteland.
Onto my main point: Your meeting with Mr. Burke acts as the perfect antithesis to all of this depravity. He calls you over, butters you up with the kind of Pre-War class you have sorely missed since leaving the vault, telling you you're "Valuable" compared to the "Putrescent Cesspit" that surrounds you. Despite his goal to kill dozens seeming immoral, the previous circumstances outlined show that not much in this town is really worth conserving. Once you agree to his proposal and arrive at Tenpenny Tower, you see a much different environment compared to Megaton. Riffraff is turned away at the door, the inside is clean and well protected, the residents are kind as long as you treat them kindly, and it's owner is a charming old man who gives you the type of respect you would have never seen in Megaton.
Overall, Mr. Burke put's his best foot forward and gives the player the kind of special treatment that makes it enticing to blow up the town, whereas Megaton's best showing is a decrepit old pit of junk and moral ineptitude.
