All the way back in February, lots of announcements were made for upcoming projects on Amazon Prime. Some of which are “Invincible” season two, “The Boys” season four, etc. One of which had been a trailer for a series based on the famous Fallout games. The trailer had many Fallout fans worried. This is due to the fact that lots of video game adaptations in the past that become movies have a reputation for not being the greatest and not received very well by critics.
Amazon continued to advertise the show quite a bit, even while negative comments were circling around about bad expectations for the upcoming show. In late April, the eighth episode of the Fallout series was officially released on Amazon Prime. The negativity had completely vanished, and had been replaced with excitement and joy.
People had become fond of the show very quickly. The show had blown away all expectations of an unfaithful adaptation. So what exactly did Fallout do correctly compared to other video game adaptations that hit the big screen?
One of the more obvious reasons the show did a fantastic job, could be due to the fact that it gave us perspective from different angles. The Fallout games are known for the world-building it brings in the strange radioactive world it’s set in. This means only covering one character most of the series could take away from the world-building aspect it has to offer. So, the show decided to have three different protagonists.
One of which is Lucy McClean who is a “Vault dweller.” Vault dwellers are the safest and least affected by the radioactive world above; They are groups of families who spend their lives in high-tech vaults underground, blind to the outside world. Another character is Maximus, who is a part of the military-like organization called “The Brotherhood Of Steel.” The brotherhood’s job is to help keep control amongst the wasteland. Maximus starts out as a squire for a knight and after some more tragic events he becomes a knight himself then sets out to the wasteland to gain power amongst the brotherhood.
The third character plays more as a protagonist but plays a big role before the nuclear fallout. His name is “The Ghoul.” He is part of a sub-human species who survived the beginning of the nuclear fallout and due to radiation need to take serums to stay sane and conscious. He plays the role of a bounty hunter who has little-to-no remorse for anybody but himself.
Another reason the show became super well-received could be sticking to the source material. It stays true to the lore and characteristics of character tropes from the games. It brings its own sense of new things to the series while adding on to what’s already there. Most video game adaptations feel the need to change the world the video game had built itself to be while instead Fallout shows that’s not necessarily the case.
However, the biggest reason the Fallout series went well was its story. Each Fallout game is known for setting you in a familiar world like the previous game but bringing in a new story. This time around the story is based on control of the wasteland. A scientist with lots of knowledge could change the current world of Fallout is wandering through the wasteland and each of our main characters all need the scientist for a different purpose and plan. Lots of character development is also made throughout the series which lots of other video game adaptations seem to lack in.
Overall, the new Fallout series has revived the franchise and brought back old fans and created new ones due to its well-deserved success. A second season has already been confirmed by the directors to the series and plans to expand on the ending to season one. One question that is circling around is will the series inspire and influence other video game adaptations to do well or will this be a gem amongst the rest?
