Fallout: From game to screen
In a growing trend of adapting video games to the screen, the “Fallout” series has been transformed into a television show by Amazon Prime Video – and it is as engaging as it was in game format.
The video game was developed by Interplay Productions, and the first “Fallout” game launched on October 10, 1997. Since then, three sequels and 10 spin-offs have been made by the same company. Almost 27 years later, the “Fallout” show was released on April 10, 2024.
The “Fallout” TV series was announced in 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, production did not begin until 2022. Created by Graham Wagner and Geneva Robertson-Dworet, the post-apocalyptic show had 65 million viewers in its first 16 days.
The new show is inspired by the plot of the first game, which follows a Vault Dweller from an underground fallout shelter who is tasked with leaving the vault and searching the Wasteland for a replacement part of their water recycling machine. The player travels the Wastelands, finding and bringing back a replacement for the machine piece.
After bringing the piece back and reporting what they found on the surface, they are then tasked with finding and destroying the source of the mutants – radiation-damaged humans who live on the surface. The player must then defeat the Master and destroy the tubes containing the Force Evolutionary Virus. After successfully completing the tasks, they return to the vault only to get exiled due to being on the surface for so long. The game concludes with the Vault Dweller’s legacy and influence on those they encountered.
In the first season of the “Fallout” show, three main characters are introduced: Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell), Maximus (Aaron Moten) and The Ghoul/Cooper Howard (Walton Goggins). Throughout the series, the three characters’ paths overlap and they become more and more involved in each other’s lives thanks to the head of a dead man. Lucy needs the head to exchange it for her father, Maximus needs the head to become a knight and The Ghoul needs the head for a bounty.
Season 1 ends with the death of the season’s antagonist, and Lucy joins The Ghoul in search of answers about the truth of the apocalypse. Where was Lucy’s father going after he escaped at the end of season 1? Will Lucy find answers about her own vault and possibly return home? What will Lucy’s brother do after finding out the directors and creators of the vaults were asleep in tubes? Will The Ghoul find out what happened to his family?
While the characters and plot follow the original “rules” that were established in the games, the show gave fans a new perspective. Examples of the original “rules” include the technology, ghouls/mutants and use of money (caps). Fans of the game are sure to enjoy the show, and fans who jumped into the fandom after watching the show are sure to love playing the games as well.
“Fallout” has already been renewed for a second season. From the gameplay to the series adaptation, the “Fallout” fanbase has been growing for nearly 30 years. Fans both old and new are all anxiously waiting for any more news of Season 2.
