Review: ‘Fallout’ is a gory fun time

The apocalypse is where video game adaptations seem to thrive. Here’s our review of Prime Video’s Fallout.

A post-apocalyptic retrofuturistic world ravished by a nuclear war filled with mutated creatures, ambiguous morality, and violent absurdity—if there was any video game that was perfectly poised to be adapted, it’s Fallout. The original game was released all the way back in 1997 before Bethesda took over the game with Fallout 3, ushering in the era of the franchise that many know and love. The world of Fallout is a playground, as those who’ve experienced the games will know, and fortunately, Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan have taken the same approach for the TV series.

[Hero image: Prime Video]

Prime Video’s Fallout: All’s fair (not really) in the post-apocalyptic world

The TV series revolves around three people. First, there’s Lucy (Ella Purnell), the naive Vault Dweller who faces a rude awakening when traveling to the surface to find her father who was taken from their vault. Second is Maximus (Aaron Moten), a young Aspirant of the Brotherhood of Steel who wants nothing more than to be a knight and don his own power armour. Finally, there’s The Ghoul (Walton Goggins), a mysterious and morally grey character who has his own mission that he keeps close to his chest. 

All three must face the harsh reality (and the ridiculous absurdity) of the Wasteland, specifically the West Coast of the post-nuclear United States, a location the games haven’t featured before. Eventually, they cross paths when they discover that what they’re looking for is found in one man—or one man’s head more specifically.

Read our explainer on Fallout ending here

Welcome to the Wasteland

Jonathan Nolan once described the series as “almost like… Fallout 5”, and he was right. Much like the games where everything is set in the same world but centred on different stories, the TV series features different locations and characters that fans of the games haven’t seen yet. Nolan and Joy really understood what it meant to play around in this post-nuclear war world. Come to think of it, “adaptation” might be an incorrect description of the series since it’s a completely new story but set in the same world the games are in.

Speaking of the world, the series successfully recreates the look and feel of the Wasteland. From the ramshackle town of Filly to the barren urbanscape of a once-thriving retrofuturistic city, the design of the world is as beautiful and fascinating as it is in the games. Even the pre-nuclear war world, which we get a short glimpse of in flashbacks, is beautifully designed.

Twists, turns, and a whole lot of blood and guts

What’s clear from the get-go is that this series was made with someone who knows the games. Aside from the fact that Todd Howard, who’s directed some of the franchise’s games, is an executive producer on the show, Nolan is an avid fan of the games and has played it for years. There are plenty of references to the games that fans can spot from Grognak the Barbarian to the VATS-style slow-mo shot. But the true accomplishment here is that the series isn’t going to make non-gamers feel left out, so don’t worry if you haven’t played any of the Fallout games. 

That said, there needs to be a good story to keep you watching all eight episodes, which all drop in one go tomorrow (April 11). There are plenty of twists and turns, which again, is in the same vein of the games. In between, there’s a good helping of humour and violence, though sometimes I felt that the latter goes overboard. Seriously, the boot scene in the first episode will haunt me for the rest of my days. 

More than the twists and revelations that you’ll eventually discover in later episodes though, it’s the journey of each of these characters that’s very entertaining. Lucy having to wrestle with the reality of the world outside of the Vault and being pushed to do things she never thought she would do and Maximus making decisions that may or may not endear you to him are all part of the fun and the experience. Even The Ghoul’s past and the story of how he got to where he is now is one heck of a ride. 

The End… sort of

The Fallout TV series stays faithful to the world of the games and makes use of it to tell a compelling, fun, and ridiculously gory story. It does end on a bit of a cliffhanger, and while there hasn’t been a second season announced yet, IGN has reported that Prime Video has been offered tax credit to relocate filming to the state for Season 2. I’m keeping my fingers crossed because I really want to go back to the Wasteland soon and continue the journey with these three characters.