Depends what kinda game your after. IMO both different games in there own right.
If you played and liked Oblivion with its massive amounts of sidequests and extremely large map + FPS elements then Fallout is the one for you.
If you like third person shooters more, along with an amazing storyline... also a sci-fi setting, then go Mass Effect.
I personally think Mass Effect is the better out of the 2 though