We love Fallout. It is a series that never really fully took itself too seriously, but definitely didn’t let that stop them from creating an amazing product. So when we heard that they are making a show for the game on Amazon, we were a little scared but also a little excited.
We promise not to let our obsession with the game prevent our ability to look at this series without rose-colored glasses. As always, we break down our review by story, acting and overall. So, let’s activate V.A.T.S. and hit this review where it counts!
Story 9/10
It’s a wise, but probably also risky move, to tell a unique and new story within the world of Fallout. Every single game has created new lore, while at the same time respecting and building upon the prior games. This series does just that as you start off with a view of the actual destruction of America in the West Coast, from the point of view of one of the main characters of the series. This is very reminiscent of Fallout 4, while also being a unique and powerful journey for new and returning fans of the fandom.
What happens next is a slice of life straight from Vault 33, a new vault which was not in the Fallout Bible beforehand. The story follows Lucy as she initiates a trade with a neighboring vault for a resident so that she can get married to someone she’s not related to. This unfortunately sits off a chain of event that destroys her idyllic view of the world, and forces her out into the wasteland to try to track down her father. This is reminiscent of Fallout 3 while also being an almost mirror-image to that game.
As Lucy ventures throughout the wasteland, she encounters Maximus a scribe from the Brotherhood of Steel, The Ghoul a hardened bounty Hunter who straddles the line of right and wrong, a myriad of foes, and obstacles that get in her way as she tries to save her father.
The main question being, will the radiation be the only thing that changes Lucy?
Acting 9.5/10
Walton Goggins as The Ghoul is an amazing choice. While it might be weird to see such a talented actor cover most of his face with prosthetics for the show, the series does a good job showing him pre-ghoul and the events that leads to the wasteland that we see today.
Lucy played by Ella Purnell does an amazing job at conveying a naive adventurer throughout the wasteland, which is new for Fallout since that role is primarily played by the player, and rarely are they naive to the world of Fallout. One of the most endearing things about Lucy’s character, however, is her upbeat attitude and willingness to try to do what’s right. Purnell does an amazing job conveying that with every choice on the journey.
Maximus played by Aaron Moten is a difficult character. He reminds me of that friend who you watch make mistake after mistake, and you hope that they will learn their lesson, but they just keep making it. At the end of the day, Maximus isn’t a bad person, but he’s driven by an almost juvenile desire to survive, which ends up making him look like he’s got his hand in the cookie jar way too many times throughout the season.
Rounding out the supporting cast of the series is Kyle MacLachlan who plays Lucy’s father is of the right caliber to play the many different personality ranges of an overseer, while Moises Arias, who plays her brother, is a perfect reluctant hero represented throughout the series.
There’s so many great actors at the show, that I could probably talk about each one of them in their contribution to the series, but I will simply say that these specific actors make this world feel more lived in, and keep you wanting to watch More: Johnny Pemberton, Annabel O’Hagan, Matt Berry, Chris Parnell, and Michael Emerson.
Overall 9.5/10
It’s rare that a video game show gets to be made by people that clearly love the game, live the game, and want to showcase some amazing things from the source material. So often you get people who want to stand on their own, and are trying to distance themselves from the original source.
Here in this series they do an amazing job telling a new story, but setting it within the world of Fallout. More specifically Fallout 4, as Fallout 4 was a slight deviation from the styles of Fallout 3 and New Vegas.
This show does a pretty good job creating a story that you can follow without being a hardcore fan, but also creates so much enjoyment for anyone that is even a casual player of the series all the way up to hardcore lovers of the lore.
Conner’s Final Thoughts
A lot of people are getting hung up on the timeline and issues specifically with the destruction of Shady Sands. I can see how a lot of people want to hold Bethesda to its lore, especially since Fallout New Vegas was made by Obsidian and people really loved that game. But if you view those issues and scenes as simply just a small detail and derailment, which it is, and just look at the bigger picture of what the show is able to do, then you’d be impressed at how much attention, love and detail they put into this series.
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