Off the back of the success of HBO’s The Last of Us, Prime Video has launched its own video game-based television series with Fallout, proving that a strong storytelling foundation isn’t needed to impress viewers.
Compared to its counterpart — where the game’s popularity and television adaptation came from an unforgettable story arc and characters — the Fallout games are anything but. Sure, there’s an overarching story created by Interplay Entertainment; however, it’s up to the player to fill in the gaps by creating their own journey.
Having nothing to fall back on as far as plot, the series solves the issue by introducing an aesthetically accurate world while staying accessible for non-gamers through interesting characters, great action and a narrative that keeps you guessing throughout the eight-episode season.
What is Fallout about?
For the uninitiated, the world of Fallout is set two hundred years after a nuclear apocalypse, where the gentle denizens of luxury fallout shelters are forced to return to the irradiated hellscape their ancestors left behind. What awaits them on the surface is a complex, weird and violent universe, full of wacky characters and dangerous creatures.
The Prime Video series follows three protagonists with varying motives and perspectives in the context of the fictional world.
Lucy (Ella Purnell) is an optimistic Vault-dweller with a can-do spirit. Her peaceful nature is tested; however, when she is forced to the wasteland to rescue her kidnapped father (Kyle MacLachlan). Then there’s Maximus (Aaron Moten), a young soldier who rises to the rank of squire in the militaristic faction called the Brotherhood of Steel. Finally, rounding out the three is The Ghoul (Walton Goggins), a morally ambiguous bounty hunter who has seen his own history of living in the post-nuclear world. The three characters collide when chasing an artifact that has the potential to change the power dynamic in the wasteland radically.
Fallout is set in the same world as the gaming franchise
The series is not an adaptation of a specific game, but a new story set in the same world. Set in Los Angeles, the series allows fans to see a new area of the wasteland never before seen, and it proves to be a true spectacle for the eyes.
Fans will also be delighted to see how faithfully the show adapts the instantly recognisable aesthetic. The production design is near perfect, adopting man-made sets that are filmed on location; and while the use of CGI is present, it is remarkable how seamlessly it is integrated into the world, never making it feel like you are watching actors on a sound stage.
Its excellence in production design is followed by its startingly appropriate choice of needle drops throughout the series. Filled to the brim with instantly recognisable 50’s love ballads, the attention to detail throughout each episode is hard to ignore, even if you have no prior knowledge of the source material.
While fans of the game should be delighted at how faithfully the series adapts, newcomers should be pleased to know that the series is instantly accessible through its strong action setpieces, compelling story that is full of twists and turns and likeable characters that you’ll find yourself rooting for in the chaos that is the Fallout wasteland.
Stream Fallout on Prime Video now.
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