Video game adaptations are now officially big business.To be fair, this has been hit and miss for years – there’s an Assassin’s Creed for every Detective Pikachu, just like in the ’90s Mortal Kombat and super mario bros. Almost published side by side.
But the ratio of good to bad is changing. More and more creative companies are “getting it” and treating the gaming industry with the respect it deserves. It’s a great time to be a video game fan who’s also interested in seeing their favorite characters and worlds replicated in other media.
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Let’s cut to the chase. The TV show Fallout is actually quite good. It does two things extremely well: it satisfies fans of the game with a sense of the world and lore of Fallout, and its standalone story is perfect – for Fallout fans, it’s a The perfect first introduction.
This power has largely been cemented in Fallout. Each Fallout story takes place in the same universe, but its shattered, destroyed world and vast timeline mean the two stories rarely interact.
That suits the show: rather than a retelling of a story we’ve seen before, like The Last of Us , or a new take on the series’ story, like The Last of Us resident Evil, the Fallout TV show takes place in the same world as the game. The events of the game – especially the often-forgotten first two – are mentioned many times. But at the same time, it’s a completely separate story, just like Fallout 4 was completely separate from Fallout 3, which was completely separate from New Vegas, and so on.
The show basically revolves around three main characters, thus somewhat spreading out the differences between the different character archetypes we might play as in the game. Lucy (Ella Purnell, known for her stunning performance as Yellowjacket) goes the classic protagonist route – a native vault dweller who is inspired to leave that underground shelter to discover the world the truth. She is innocent and sweet, unaware of the broken nature of the people and world above.
But so does Maximus (Aaron Clifton Morton), the squire of the recurring Brotherhood of Steel “faction.” The Brotherhood has a narrow worldview, and so does Maximus. Lucy is unaware of the cruelty of the world, but her entire life in the asylum is designed to prepare her for the fight to repopulate the world—both literally and metaphorically. Maximus, meanwhile, was forged in an irradiated wasteland and knew no one could be trusted—but he was also raised in militaristic religious fanaticism to the point where he had no idea how sex worked . You can see how the pair interact; so fun.
The third protagonist is Ghoul (Walton Goggins), a gun-toting bounty hunter who existed before the bombs dropped. As the series unfolds, his story before and after the war is gradually explored, revealing how a kind, charming Hollywood star and family man turned into a monster – and maybe even came back from the edge. Along the way, fans might even learn a revelation or two about Vault-Tec, as well as some new truths about the Fallout world as a whole.
Anyway, the point is: all three are happy. Ultimately, the game’s textures and sounds are surprisingly realistic, too. For example, the trio’s stories criss-cross and eventually come together in a way that’s reminiscent of the tumbling nature of each game’s faction questlines.
As characters, they feel like they fit easily into the game, while also going beyond the usual “sketches” of video game characters and being given a more human dimension through things like writing and drawing. Lucy’s sweet innocence, trying to resolve everything amicably only to turn violent, makes the dialogue and head-scratching nature of the Fallout games feel brutally honest.
The creators and writers of the Fallout series deserve a lot of credit, as is Todd Howard and the team at Bethesda who helped bring the series to the screen. They’ve accomplished something rare – a show that will be equally rewarding for newcomers and fans of the game, but in a different way.
I sat and watched this show with my wife, who basically doesn’t play video games and has never touched a Fallout game. She likes this as a stand-alone TV show.
“It’s a little weird, but good,” she mused after watching the first two episodes, a very glowing review from someone who doesn’t usually read any science fiction. I came at it from a different perspective – sure, there was a bit of “I recognized something” joy, but most of all I was fascinated by seeing something I knew and enjoyed from a completely new perspective world.
I think, as a gamer, it’s particularly exciting for something like this to become a canon of gaming. While I doubt this series will become a “must read” for Fallout 5, it’s clear that the events depicted in this game are important to the future of the series in some way – and even the unimportant ones are important to the future of the series. The Fallout universe adds exciting new colors.
I dare say the show will also create some new players from those who fell in love with it – which should always be a key secondary goal for a spin-off like this. However, the primary goal should be to make something that is good in its own right. Tick, tick. Radiation has done that. In fact, the only thing that’s not completely sealed is the show’s storyline – there’s still a lot of road ahead for next season, and the show’s final scenes will have some in the fanbase achieving levels of excitement comparable to nuclear fission.
All in all, maybe the best thing I can say is: there are a lot of good games out there right now. I’m developing a balaterol addiction. I need to clear out the last few trophies in Final Fantasy 7 Reborn. I want to enjoy the full game of Dragon’s Dogma 2 without the stress of an upcoming review deadline.
But what did I do when I finished watching this show? Well, I installed Fallout 4 and New Vegas. This should tell you a lot. This is a must see.