Review: Fallout video game franchise gets T.V. show adaptation

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I’m a real big nerd when it comes to the video game Fallout. My first dip into the franchise was Fallout 3, and I was instantly captivated by its atom-punk, post-apocalyptic world. 

After finishing that game, I immediately got Fallout: New Vegas, and it became, and still is, my favourite video game of all time. I also like Fallout 4, but not to the extreme level of its two predecessors.

When it was announced the franchise would see a T.V. show adaptation, I was not interested at all. We live in a world where video game adaptations are generally like Assassin’s Creed or the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie. However, since these releases, we have seen things like The Last of Us, which gave me a little more confidence in video game adaptations. But now, I am so glad I watched the Fallout series. 

The show is extremely loyal to its source material, taking place in the setting of the first two installments of the Fallout games — California. In the Fallout timeline, humanity became obsessed with atomic power and lived in a 1950s-esque world until 2077 when tensions between the United States and China led to the great war.

Luckily for humanity, there was a company devoted to safeguarding people and definitely not experimenting on them. Vault-tec built nuclear bunkers all across the U.S., and when the bombs started to drop, people flocked to them.

The show starts in vault 33 where protagonist Lucy MacLean, played by Ella Purnell, is ambushed by wastelanders, who posed as vault 32 residents, on her wedding day. Her father Hank MacLean, played by Kyle MacLachlan, is kidnapped and, like the protagonist of Fallout 3, she leaves the vault to go to the wasteland to find her dad.

During the raid on the vault, Lucy and her fellow vault dwellers defend themselves with gruesome effectiveness. Blood splatters and chunks go missing from faces all while the delightful “Some Enchanted Evening” by Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers plays in the background. A great beginning to the brutal, but still kind of fun world.

The other two protagonists are Ghoul Gunslinger, played by Walton Goggins, who has been alive for over 200 years and witnessed the bombs drop, and Brotherhood of Steel initiate Maximus, played by Aaron Moten, who is part of the most iconic faction in the wasteland.

The show beautifully captures the spirit of the games. It includes creatures like the Yao Guai, which are mutated super bears, and radroaches (real big roaches). It even uses sound effects from the games for things like the Pip-Boy, a wearable computer, and stimpacks, syringes filled with healing agents. 

Attention to detail is also present as there’s a scene of a terminal being hacked, which has the same interface you would see in the games. No Fallout game is complete without a good radio station, and the show brings the tunes with hits from the 1940s to 60s, adding to the wasteland’s vibe.

I do have a couple gripes about the show. A faction I really like from the games got nuked in the time between Fallout: New Vegas and the show. Also, the Brotherhood of Steel, a group of armorclad technophiles who want to prevent humanity from repeating its mistakes by hoarding tech, feels … off. There is a theory they were merged with a group from Fallout New Vegas — Caesar’s Legion, folks who were recreating the Roman Empire in the wasteland through crucifixion, conquest, and slavery. I think that could be a pretty fun theory.

The show is very accessible to those who haven’t played the games. I would highly recommend giving it a watch if you enjoy action, sometimes dark humour, and capitalism leading to society’s downfall. I give the show a solid 8.5/10.

Fallout is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video and has been confirmed for a second season.