Do we finally have the perfect video game adaptation?
We’ve had an increasing amount of adaptations of video games in the last few years, Halo which just aired season 2 and The Last Of Us which is currently finishing up filming season 2 after releasing Season 1 last year. Both those shows were based on or led into stories from the game, whereas Fallout took a different approach and made the show a part of the continuity. The show takes place in 2296 which is further along in the timeline than any of the games and works well as it allows them to build upon the legacy without having to tip-toe around any of the events that could occur if they chose to set it during any of the games. This doesn’t mean they ignore anything that happened in the games as there are a few nods if you are familiar.
Slight spoiler warning as some sections briefly touch on elements of the show but they are kept to a minimum
A brief knowledge of some of the game concepts would help with maximum enjoyment of the series but isn’t necessary as you learn about the world along with some of the characters.
Brief overview: Hundreds of vaults were built in an alternate “retro-future” world where everything looks like it was from our 1940s/50s and the microprocessor was never invented. Bombs were dropped in 2077 and the occupants of Vault 33 are still there 200 years where the majority of the show takes place. Everyone in the vaults is equipped with a “Pip-Boy” which we would compare to a smartphone/tablet on their wrist, this is an essential tool in the games as it displays your health, inventory and many other things.
We see what life is like through the eyes of Lucy MacLean (Not to be confused with Lucy McClane from Die Hard) and how the “Vault Dwellers” live from day to day after being locked away for 200 years. It wouldn’t be Fallout if we didn’t explore the world above which Lucy ends up doing due to the events that unfold in the show, no spoilers but it does get intense and highly enjoyable to watch it all unfold.
Lucy isn’t the only star of the show as we also follow the day in the life of Maximus who is a squire of the “Brotherhood of Steel”, the brotherhood should again be very familiar to those who have played the games and are an organization who collects & preserves “technology” and have Knights who wear “Power Armour” which is similar to something akin to the “Iron Man” suit but bigger and more menacing. The events of the show have Maximus also traversing across the wastelands. Again this will be familiar to those who played the games as this era of music plays on the radio whilst traversing the wastelands.
And the final co-star we catch up with is “The Ghoul” who is my favourite of the show and such a stellar performance. Ghouls are a race of posthumans who have been severely mutated by the residual irradiation, this greatly extends their lifespans but deforms their physical appearance into a zombie-like aesthetic. Again I don’t want to go too much into his story/involvement as keeping spoilers to a minimum but he takes us on a wild ride across the wastelands.
The rest of the cast also do an excellent job of helping to build the world and make the vaults and wastelands believable, there are also tonnes of cameos which I won’t spoil any.
The music fits the show and the tonne and is done by the masterful Ramin Djawadi who made a name for himself scoring Games Of Thrones, with some eery and powerful songs that help build the world of the vaults and the wastelands. He also takes a lot of inspiration from the works of Inon Zur who composed the soundtracks for several Fallout games so this helps with the continuity between the games and the show and feels like we are in the same world. Alongside the score, we are treated to a plethora of songs from our 50s decade of music with the likes of “The Ink Spots” “Nat King Cole” and “Johnny Cash” which players of the game are treated to whenever they switch the radio on through the Pip-Boy. This again compliments the world that the games have built and strangely builds upon the eeriness of the wastelands due to it being “Old Timey” music to us in the real world. The eerieness may also be down to the quality or the way the older music sounds compared to today’s music. Either way, it really helps shape the world people have come to love.
Bethesda had been approached several times since Fallout 3 to get the series adapted and according to Bethesda’s director Todd Howard, none of them met the vision of the Fallout series. This changed when Jonathan Nolan approached Bethesda with his idea of Fallout as a show. Nolan was an avid player of the games series and Howard found Nolan had a clear vision for the show. For those of you who are unaware of who Jonathan Nolan is you will most likely know of his brother Sir Christopher Nolan. C. Nolan has used many of his brother’s award-winning stories and J. Nolan created the smash hit reboot of Westworld which I fell in love with for it’s writing direction and many twists. It seems like J. Nolan is going to have another hit on his hands as the reception to Fallout so far has been mostly positive from gamers and non-gamers alike.
The world-building is done through our character’s journey throughout the show and built up with flashbacks and even answering some questions gamers have that weren’t covered in the game or only touched upon briefly. Overall I highly enjoyed the show and there seems to be a little something for everyone to enjoy. There are 8 episodes in total with all of them dropping at once and most being over an hour with the excellent pacing almost felt like you were watching a movie. It looks like series 2 should already be on the cards but if not the series ends at a nice place but also paves the way for where it would head next!
Overall great for players of the game and new comers alike. For the players it builds upon the worlds they already know and don’t contradict the events that have occurred and for new comers can be viewed with no prior knowledge of the games and still be enjoyable and able to follow along.
