the effect in Fallout 3 was definitely HDR produced. If you view screen shots, you'll see a lot of them have the sky completely white, since the ground was so much darker, and it was exposing for that. http://gamerate.net/img/games/391/big1.jpg
When you come out of the tunnel in Fallout 3, you dont load a new level, you're in a darkened tunnel (which the engine adjust your "eyesight" for), and then you walk outside, where it is way brighter, and the engine slowly re-adjusts, and you can see the view he describes.