Never has a video game-to-TV adaptation ever been more awesome than Prime Video’s new “Fallout” series. It proves game adaptations don’t have to translate a game verbatim to the screen—they just need to understand its world.
The show never drags, only letting on all the high-octane action and intrigue the radioactive wasteland has to offer.
Just like the “Fallout” games, this series takes place in the US during an alternate future revolutionized by nuclear power.
In 2077, war led to the US being nuked. Below the surface, those that hid in fallout shelters dubbed “vaults” were able to create an underground civilization and thrive. Above the surface, the country gradually became inhabited by different human factions and mutated creatures.
Different from the “Fallout” formula, this series serves up three protagonists from separate backgrounds whose stories eventually intertwine, with only one following the traditional thread of being a vault dweller.
Lucy MacLean is an optimistic vault dweller who is forced to leave her vault after raiders break in and kidnap her father, the Overseer. The majority of her story is spent learning how unwelcoming the wasteland really is.
Maximus resonates from the militaristic Brotherhood of Steel. His first mission as a scribe goes south after Titus, his assigned knight, treats him disrespectfully and is injured in combat; rather than helping him, Maximus lets Titus die and takes his power armor. Unfortunately, this forces Maximus to disguise himself as Titus to avoid Brotherhood punishment.
It’s Walton Goggins’ performance as The Ghoul that steals the show. He’s a wickedly menacing, irradiated bounty hunter who’s lethal behind his revolver. Every scene he’s in is intense and full of memorable lines like, “Well, now, that is a very small drop, in a very very large bucket of drugs.” However, it’s glimpses of his life before becoming a ghoul that make him a complex character due to how much of a stark contrast there is between his present and past. Who was once a sweet Hollywood actor prioritizing safety turned into a violent drug-fueled terror, symbolizing how war changes people indiscriminately.
Tying all three together is very clever writing with suspenseful twists through the medium of tightened ethical dilemmas.
Maximus couldn’t have put it any better himself in the fifth episode: “Everyone wants to save the world, they just disagree on how.” Across all three characters, the series opens your eyes to how experiences, desires, and emotions drive what someone perceives as right.
What brings the show to life is how true to the source material it is. While the show isn’t necessarily fan service, it checks off that box.
The retro-futuristic American style that “Fallout” is known for is on full display in this irradiated version of California with outstanding visuals. Every explosion, decayed structure, and monstrous abomination looks extremely realistic. Backing it up is the old-timey soundtrack players were able to hear on their Pip-Boy’s radio, with tunes like “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire” by the Ink Spots.
Whenever there’s a fight, the action is fiery and ultra-violent. Blood paints the walls frequently, people’s heads pop like brain-filled water balloons, and limbs fly off easily. The gore is on point with the gameplay of “Fallout,” echoing the messiness of combat and making it feel like characters are using the series’ iconic Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System (VATS) to cut down foes.
The show doesn’t discriminate with its lore or universe, either. It draws from all the games and their DLCs, like the appearance of Gulpers from the “Far Harbor” expansion for “Fallout 4,” and the biological process of civilized ghouls slowly becoming feral. This helps the series feel united rather than just a separate world built from one.
It also packs many easter eggs to excite fans of the original game. Some of the most prominent include Dogmeat making a few appearances; some survivors using the Junk-Jet; part of Maximus’ backstory resembling the “Fallout 4” quest, “Kid in a Fridge”; and the water purifier dilemma that set the very first “Fallout” game in motion.
Across all eight of its episodes, the “Fallout” TV series excels in giving an astounding adaptation of one of the best role-playing games ever created. You’ve played the games, now crack open a Nuka Cola, sit back, and watch this hyper-stylistic adventure unfold on your television.
