Oh' yeah, they're dated as fuck. They were really neat when they came out though. Once Bethesda kind of perfected that model of RPG, the cracks really showed. At the time though, they really did up the ante in terms of immersion. It's one those series' where all the innovations they made have been refined and improved upon over time, so it's really hard to go back to. Even when they came out, they were a bit of a mixed bag, but the things the games excelled in made them worth while. Not so much today.
Anyways:
Wreckfest
Wanted something a bit of the beaten path for me, and this suffices. It's a demolition derby racer, so there isn't many surprises in terms of how it plays, but it's solid, and has a decent career mode to keep to plowing away. Where the game is head and shoulders above the rest, is in it's damage/physics engine. It's a game selling itself on smashing the shit out of cars in every conceivable way, and it delivers in spades. It seems that almost every single bit of a car(or lawnmower, bus, tractor, double-decker car, etc) is destructible, and the fine detail of it all is awesome. No event plays the same because of this, and that's always a good thing.
Not too deep into it, but if you miss "Destruction Derby" or "Flatout", which I believe these developers are responsible for, you'll have fun with this one.