Fallout TV Show

[Murdoch]

One episode in and already blown away with the Fallout tv series on Prime. As a fan of the games, I had reservations but so far it's basically accurate to the pixel. The creative team had the unenviable task of not making a show based on one game, but creating a story that is another part of the ongoing universe while still being accessible to outsiders and so far they have nailed it. Recommended to anyone who likes sci fi shows and not just Fallout fans. For me it's definitely shaping up to be... well is it really an adaptation of a game if it's another story in the same universe? Anyway you get the idea.

[TheShep]

I was asking about this on stream and at least two people said that it's really good. It has two episodes out so far for anyone wondering.

[Jello]

I finished watching it today, had episode 7 and 8 left, been watching two episodes a day since it came out on Wednesday.

 

Anyway, I really enjoyed it. I'm always a little wary of any video game adaptation, but I thought with Fallout, there's enough lore and background to create a really interesting story, without having to make a verbatim remake of any of the games. And I'm really glad they went that route; all of the characters are brand new, it's a new (well, newish) story, and it doesn't seem like it's pandering to fans of the games. Yes there are references all over the place, but it all fits in universe, and I agree with Murdoch, that they did a good job of making it accessible to "outsiders" for the most part. It helps if you have a working knowledge of the game, and you'll enjoy it more, but it doesn't seem to be necessary.

 

My only real problem with it is the overall pacing. It's trying to introduce so many different things, explain the vaults, explain ghouls, explain the Brotherhood of Steel, introduce elements of the NCR and the Enclave, that it doesn't seem like 8 episodes is enough. All told, this season is about eight hours long, some episodes are shorter than others, but it seemed rather rushed. So I'm assuming that they're hoping that it does well enough that it justifies another season, probably two more at least. The 8 episodes they have feel more like a prologue than anything; which in a way is a good thing, because it means that I want to see more. It's rare that I watch a season of a new show and I really feel like it was too short. I think Yellowjackets was the last new show that kind of grabbed me like that. Which oddly enough, Ella Purnell played Jackie on that show, and plays Lucy in Fallout.

 

So anyway, I would give it a 4 out of 5, mainly for being too short, and there were a few instances that annoyed me. The Power Armor malfunction in Episode 2 just irritated me, it looked like something that you would see in a Looney Tunes cartoon. But for the most part, it was good. I would recommend it. And I have to admit, in episode 3 when The Ghoul tells Lucy that the Wasteland has it's own golden rule:

Spoiler

"Thou shalt get sidetracked by bullshit every goddamn time"

I really did laugh out loud. It was a beautiful example of fan service.

 

 

[Mr. Freeze]

Not interested in a game adaption show, but I might check out clips on Youtube. Seems to be good at least. 

[MS-06FZ Zaku II Kai]

Yeah I was also pleasantly surprised how well they adapted the games, given the recent tragedies like that awfull Halo or Witcher shows (especialy The Witcher, which my sis couldn´t stomach).

And that´s coming from someone like me who is usualy an OG Fallout purist who ocasionaly respects some Bethesda lore additions (but mostly eyerolls the rest), so collor me surprised that they mostly sticked the landing. Here´s hoping that it keeps the quality for later seasons

[8088mph]

more realistic adaptation of a vault dweller than your second fallout playthrough

[Chezza]

I binged watched the whole series with my mate one night. I found myself enjoying the series the more I watched it

Pros:
Amazing work with the props, costumes and lore accuracy.

The action and violence is quite entertaining. This clearly got a good budget.

The series does a great job capturing the Fallout feels (moreso Fallout 4) with the comedic style mixed with lots of bleakness.

Cons:

I don't like the pacing of the early episodes with way too many characters and factions to follow early on.

I also struggled to follow all the motivations and mysteries for much of the series. I'm not even sure why the NCR was in the series, or if they really were the NCR.

Most characters are so-so. Don't go in expecting top tier writing and acting.

 

I can recommend the show to modern fallout fans. It should also be entertaining and intriguing for non fans, if they like post apocalyptic sci-fi settings.

[Lila Feuer]

It has my attention so I'm interested as a fan of NV and FO3, seems to be doing well, maybe helps it's not Netflix or Paramount being tone-deaf morons with source material.

[Capellan]

I enjoyed it a lot. I'll break down my thoughts in rather more detail in a (spoiler free) video on Friday.

[RDETalus]

I've heard criticisms that it's too zany and goofy, and that it's lost the grim edge that was present in earlier Fallout games. Is there any truth to that?

[Jello]

18 minutes ago, RDETalus said:

I've heard criticisms that it's too zany and goofy, and that it's lost the grim edge that was present in earlier Fallout games. Is there any truth to that?

Aside from the Power Armor zipping around with a bad thruster in episode 2, I don't recall anything zany or goofy. There are some light hearted moments, but it still fits well within dark comedy that is at the core of Fallout. 

 

I mean, maybe it did lose some of the absolute nihilism that was present in Fallout 1 and 2, but I think it fits pretty closely in with Fallout: New Vegas. It can be fun, but it's still depressing. I hope you weren't getting your criticisms from "No Mutants Allowed".

[Murdoch]

23 minutes ago, RDETalus said:

I've heard criticisms that it's too zany and goofy, and that it's lost the grim edge that was present in earlier Fallout games. Is there any truth to that?

 

Absolute nonsense peddled by whiny prats that just have to find some fault with absolutely everything. You see the moment the bombs drop, a whole bunch of people are brutally killed and the lead lady is borderline raped (she voluntarily has sex with the guy but it's under false pretenses) within about the first fifteen minutes of episode one. If that doesn't qualify as grim to somebody, then fuck me I would hate to see what does qualify.

Zany? That's a crass over-exaggeration. Funny at times definitely yes. As Jello says, that's nothing new to the franchise and fits perfectly.

[Chezza]

@Murdoch that brain was a little zany no?

[Murdoch]

Just now, Chezza said:

@Murdoch that brain was a little zany no?

 

Some zany elements but the overall show is definitely not zany. Brains in odd situations is nothing new to the franchise - just look at Robobrains. 

[RDETalus]

13 minutes ago, Murdoch said:

Some zany elements but the overall show is definitely not zany. Brains in odd situations is nothing new to the franchise - just look at Robobrains. 

I just don't want to see tragedies bookended with jokes is all.

[eanasir]

On 4/14/2024 at 6:43 PM, Chezza said:

I'm not even sure why the NCR was in the series

I'm pretty sure the TV show takes place in southern California, like Fallout 1, 2, 3, and New Vegas, so that might be why they wanted to include the NCR onto the show. 

 

Seems good from what I've seen, which is the first episode. To be honest there were too many characters introduced into one episode.

[OnionTaco22]

I would watch it as I really like the fallout games, but I don't have any streaming services to watch it on. So unless I pirate it somehow, I can't watch it :(

[Biodegradable]

It's the best video game adaptation I've ever seen. It's a real credit to the showrunners that they went about crafting their own story utilising the lore rather than trying to adapt the existing storylines from any of the games. I was pretty cynical at first, especially because I thought the ghoul bounty hunter character looked more like just a nose-less bloke with a horrible sunburn, but the show's internal logic as to why that is and how to portrays ghouls in general was really interesting. The show's pacing is definitely a bit quick and could benefit from some more breathing moments, but its ability to keep you intrigued throughout is commendable.

 

I'm really pleasantly surprised with the amount of love, effort and attention to detail that was put in by a team that are clearly Fallout fans. I can't wait to see what happens next. :^)

Edited April 17 by Biodegradable

[MemeMind]

I was so suprised!! Im a Halo Fan so I came in expecting the Halo TV Show, but I actually loved it!.

Overall I found the show entertaining, and mostly faithful. 
More Spoilerly thoughts here. 

Spoiler

 

Theres is some inconsistencies, but that's common throughout the franchise already. 

Like the whole detail about ghouls needing a chem to keep from becoming feral is a huge retcon. (But Fallout has been doing that since forever)

 

I love the Ghoul! He is like a jaded late game Fallout Protagonist. I have a feeling my next playthrough of a game will be inspired by him. 

 

Im also surprised how much I loved the Vault Subplot, as a fan I was already trying to figure out what the Vault experiment was. 

 

I really liked the depiction of the Brotherhood. I find it can be so hit or miss with them.

 

I do think the whole new plot point of nuking Shady Sands is a bit shit, but its not really explained if the rest of the NCR was affected so I hope they are still around. 

 

Its actually crazy that this show confirmed that Vault-Tec was the cause of the great war. Like I thought they would never say who started it.

 

The Final reveal that season 2 will focus on New Vegas was crazy. That means we will get a conformation of a victor of that game. (BTW since the airship in the show is actually the Prydwen, that means a BOS ending is the canon ending to FO4)

 

Again Overall I loved the show! I am so suprised about the show!

 

 

 

Edited April 17 by MemeMind

[Xim]

As a fan of the franchise since the original 2 my (hopefully spoiler free) opinion; I absolutely loved it. I think they nailed it. The story was great, I was entertained by pretty much every character somehow. "The Ghoul" was probably my favorite character, he was very intimidating but had a few sympathetic moments. I had a bit of a disliking towards Maximus, but near the end he became my second favorite character after The Ghoul. The lead character Lucy was good too, she might have one of the best 'protagonist story-lines' in fallout so far. It's got elements from the other vault dweller protags in the franchise.

 

As for my spoiler reactions:
 

Spoiler

Holy shit, Vault-Tec is worse than the Enclave they started the war and later nuked the first town in Fallout I've ever been too and I am so sad. I helped build that city damnit! But it makes so much sense that Vault-Tec is worse than I thought. I believe something similar was supposed to happen at the end of the canceled Fallout 3 game, before Bethesda took over. So I think they might have been inspired by that.

I'm not surprised much by the direction the Brotherhood has taken. They were clearly in that direction in Fallout 4. I remember finding them quite ruthless and intimidating in the original game before joining them. They do send you on a suicide mission just to get rid of you. With no intention of having you succeed and literately expecting you to just die.

 

Also, side note if that is indeed The Prydwen, and not another zeppelin, that confirms the cannon Fallout 4 ending is NOT the Railroad or Institute ending, but is either the Brotherhood or Minuteman ending. I'm hoping it's the Minuteman ending, those settlements really needed help lol. Also it looks like we're going to see New Vegas in season 2, so we'll see which ending is cannon for that. I was almosting thinking there wouldn't be Mr House, but now it's occurred to me that he's already in it.

 

 

Edited April 21 by Xim

[Aaron Blain]

I don't understand the desire for something to be "accurate". I've only played the turn-based games, so I'm sure I'm missing a ton of fan service being sent my way, but I'm still seeing a lot of it. But they've managed to make a very engaging and entertaining show despite prioritizing referentiality almost as much as storytelling. I've never touched a videogame streaming series with a 10-foot pole but I'm quite enjoying it.

 

I have to say, "Bad things happen in slow motion while incongruous happy music plays" was annoyingly cliche 10 years ago and I don't know why this device keeps getting used with such gusto. 

Edited April 23 by Aaron Blain