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[RagnarokIV]

Reviews are showing up alongside the show itself.

Fallout review – a wild Wasteland safari where naive optimism meets gory mayhem

The creators of Westworld tackle one of gaming’s foremost franchises in the new Prime Video streaming series Fallout starring Ella Purnell, Aaron Morten and Wal

www.eurogamer.net

Spoiler: Review

But transferring Fallout's hardscrabble post-nuclear pleasures to the small screen presents a problem similar to Fallout inventory management. With such an abundance of material and only so much capacity, what do you keep and what do you throw away? The good news is that the Prime Video adaptation cannily lifts the franchise's road-tested production design - refined over the course of six core titles spanning two decades - completely wholesale.

Of course they were going to keep the snazzy blue jumpsuits, hulking Brotherhood of Steel power armour and the vast, clanking, cog-shaped Vault doors that resemble a particularly intimidating Early Learning Centre playset teaching toddlers how gears work. Those are all cool as hell. But there are other visual callbacks to the games in practically every frame of this deluxe Prime Video adaptation, from Nuka-Cola bottle caps to the strangely comforting sight of two-headed Brahmin cows.

Will these medium-to-deep pulls mean much to the casual viewer simply looking for a Mad Max-adjacent streaming stopgap while they wait for season two of TLOU? Probably not, but every authentic click from a Pip-Boy feels like part of a concerted attempt to reassure hardcore Fallout heads that this monumental game series is in respectful hands.

Those fans might have been nervous when Amazon first announced the project would be overseen by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, the rising Hollywood power couple whose previous big sci-fi swing was HBO's sixguns-and-sexbots drama Westworld. That show was absolutely ravishing to look at but agonising to unpack: a lofty jumble of artificial intelligence buzzwords and unscrupulous timeline chicanery. There were certainly no jokes in its antiseptic vision of the future.

Nolan and Joy's preferred mode of operation appeared to be chilly, cryptic and nominally cerebral. Could that work with something as narratively down-and-dirty but satirically heightened as Fallout? (A less pressing question: during production, did Jonathan ever discuss nuclear cataclysms with big brother Christopher?)

There are two distinct strains of humour baked into the Fallout games. There is the ironic juxtaposition of pre-apocalypse golly-gosh 1950s atomic optimism and the shattered reality of a Wasteland full of toilet seats and radroaches. But there is also the emergent slapstick that comes from actually playing, where low-level skirmishes abruptly turn into chaotic, cack-handed free-for-alls and raider heads blossom into fountains of bloody dogmeat with the help of V.A.T.S. targeting.

Being funny is a core part of Fallout's DNA and to their credit, producers Nolan and Joy - along with writers and showrunners Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner - have fully embraced every aspect of it. It helps that their lead character Lucy (Ella Purnell) is a sheltered vault dweller who suddenly has to adapt to surviving the Wasteland. Squint a bit and the wide-eyed Lucy acts like someone who literally has no idea how to play Fallout.

Most of the series takes place 219 years after an atomic bombardment flattened California and, presumably, the rest of the US. Lucy has been raised in the pristine Vault 33, a shining model of democracy where she spends her days racking up scout badges in various disciplines of good citizenship. Some day, when the rads have subsided and Vault 33 pops its cork, she is expected to bring civilising values to the surface.

eurogamer 4/5

Fallout Season 1 Review - IGN

A bright and funny apocalypse filled with dark punchlines and bursts of ultra-violence, Fallout is among the best video game adaptations ever made.

www.ign.com

IGN 9/10

Fallout review | Episodes 1-4

Fallout follows a trio of characters in a world devastated by a nuclear event. Here's our review of the first four episodes.

filmstories.co.uk

Spoiler: Review

How do you adapt a videogame that’s light on story but heavy on style and setting? Well, just ask Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy.

The Westworld showrunners have taken the Fallout franchise and turned it into a riveting, condensed eight-part series for Prime Video. Fallout comes just over a year after The Last Of Us, but this is a completely different beast. The Fallout games, of which there are five (plus several spin-offs), rely more on a vast open-world than something like The Last Of Us, making the whole idea of turning them into a coherent TV show pretty bamboozling.

The show, like the games, are set in a futuristic setting where the world has been devastated by a nuclear apocalypse, referred to as The Great War. Many have sought safety in the underground Vaults as the surface remains dangerously radioactive, but several people also live in makeshift villages – despite the radiation.

The show follows three characters. The first one of these is Lucy, a vault dweller who is forced to leave her Vault after her father is taken by the villainous Moldaver, for reasons unknown (for now). Then we have Maximus, an idealistic young soldier with the Brotherhood of Steel with a strong sense of justice who wants nothing more than to wear one of the insanely cool, lethal power armors.

Finally, we have The Ghoul. In fact, the first episode of Fallout begins with him. “THE END” the screen announces before we find Cooper Howard (Walton Goggins) taking pictures with kids at a birthday party with vague notions about Cooper having to pay child support to his ex-wife. There’s also talk of bombs going off and worrying news reports on TV.

Suddenly, the bombs do go off. It’s all played out in silence as we see several nuclear bombs destroy a city and the impact throws Cooper backwards through glass doors. It’s one hell of an opening and one that immediately hooks us.

While Fallout keeps flashing back to Cooper’s backstory before he turned into a noseless, ghastly-looking Ghoul, most of the action unfolds 219 years after The Great War. We find Cooper again and while we’re not quite privy yet as to how he is still alive, we do know that something has definitely gone terribly wrong with his appearance. Just look at the featured image on this review.

Throughout the first four episodes Nolan and Joy build the world more and more. The Ghoul is awarded the most time and care as his backstory is fleshed out the most. If there’s a problem in Fallout, it’s that there are too many interesting subplots going on and the first four episodes are stuffed with interesting details and characters that you want more of.


Maximus is by far the least developed character even though actor Aaron Moten pours his all into the performance. The fourth episode doesn’t feature him at all, but features plenty of fun tidbits for gamers. Overall, the series mixes a lot of different elements from all of the Fallout games.

That being said, the series will probably prove to be controversial among hardcore Fallout fans. As a TV show, it’s compelling and stylishly made, but there are also some notable differences, especially to the power armor. The trailers also showcased the knights being able to fly around, much like Iron Man, using wrist jets rather than a full on jetpack as introduced in Fallout 4.

It’s not fair to compare Fallout to last year’s The Last Of Us, because the games themselves are so different. But I found myself wanting Fallout to have a similar kind of emotional impact. The very first sequence in episode one feels as bold as episode three or episode nine of The Last Of Us, but overall, the first four episodes occasionally struggle to pull all the narrative threads together. They are still thoroughly gripping and there’s plenty of mysteries here to solve in the final four episodes.

Film Stories: positive


Let’s goooo!

 

[MikeM]

Are they releasing a new episode a week? Or can we binge watch the season already?

 

[RagnarokIV]

Are they releasing a new episode a week? Or can we binge watch the season already?

All available to watch now!

 

[Ribi]

I'll wait until the majority of the bugs are fixed by community patches.

 

[SmokedMeat]

I need to check this out. The trailer looked great.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Seems pretty decent

Expected it from the creators of westworld (rip)

 

[Markio128]

It looks well worth a watch.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Not in the mood to watch anithing right now, so I'll wait and check reviews at a later date.

 

[splattered]

Hell yeah had a good feeling about this, happy to see its reviewing well!

 

[Giallo Corsa]

All available to watch now!

Wait, isn't it out on the 12th of April ?

 

[Hrk69]

NICE

 

[Strategize]

92% on Rotten Tomatoes atm, looks like the best game adaption since TLOU. Might be even better for some since it's an original story.

 

[RagnarokIV]

I recently re-read the old treatment for the Fallout movie that never was, it had so much promise.

Let's hope this can make up for never getting that movie, fingers crossed and I can't wait to get home!

 

[Draugoth]

IGN gave it a 9/10,

Lets see if its that good

 

[Gamezone]

I wonder if this is actually good, or The Last of Us "good".

 

[adamsapple]

Can't wait. Glad they're dropping all episodes at once.

 

[Gamezone]

IGN gave it a 9/10,

Lets see if its that good

Same as The Last of Us, which in my opinion was horrible.

 

[Sanepar]

Wow this looks great

 

[Draugoth]

Same as The Last of Us, which in my opinion was horrible.

Yeah, it makes me suspicious but hopeful. I will tey to binge watch it.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Let's Goooooo!

Hyped!

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Is it out now?

 

[Raven117]

I mean… a few legit, funny moments… a decent story with some interesting characters… I’m in.

My bar is pretty low these days… but somehow, most shows still don’t manager to clear it.

 

[Punished Miku]

The Gogginator strikes again.

 

[Draugoth]

 

[nowhat]

Expected it from the creators of westworld (rip)

The first season was great. The second ok. And then it turned to absolute trash.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

So bought out corporate reviewers are good now?

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

The first season was great. The second ok. And then it turned to absolute trash.

I liked the later seasons

Only one I didn’t like was the Asian setting

 

[Strategize]

If it's really this good maybe releasing all the episodes was a bad move. Should've done the first 3.

 

[simpatico]

So everything in the trailers are a complete misrepresentation of what the show is actually like? Because those trailers are trash. The smarmy vault lady teaching manners and civility to a wild ghoul cowboy??

 

[Herbspiceguy]

As a huge fan of the original Fallout games (fuck Bethesda's lame efforts) I want to watch this. I'm just internally debating wether to nerd out solo or watch it together with my gf.

 

[Punished Miku]

So bought out corporate reviewers are good now?

I'm mostly just going off my own opinion from the trailer. It looks solid. It has gore, which we know Amazon can do like with The Boys. It has a Nolan leading it. It has Walton Goggins. These are all good indicators. Reviews are just a little sprinkle on top. Then I watch and decide for myself.

 

[RagnarokIV]

So everything in the trailers are a complete misrepresentation of what the show is actually like? Because those trailers are trash. The smarmy vault lady teaching manners and civility to a wild ghoul cowboy??

Let’s hope so, that trailer and sneak peek scene were pretty bad.

 

[willothedog]

The Gogginator strikes again.

Although he looks a little different in Fallout I assume.

 

[Chuck Berry]

How many episodes revolve around Gay Vault Dweller Couples?

 

[BadBurger]

I may purchase a month of Prime to binge this now that I see the reviews are good. I also want to see Walton Goggins as a ghoul.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Reviews looking good. Gonna watch the first episode tonight.

 

[Bert Big Balls]

I thought the trailers looked really good, and didn't really get any of the negativity around it. Excited to watch this.

 

[Bert Big Balls]

The first season was great. The second ok. And then it turned to absolute trash.

Stopped watching after S2. I don't know wtf happened from the brilliant first season, but it went down hill fast.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

Great reviews. Now where the hell is the Fallout 4 current gen patch?

 

[DenchDeckard]

Its going to be Yuuuuge!

 

[Ogbert]

Really pleased about this.

 

[Negotiator101]

Yeah the trailer looked great, 150 million budget and decent talent behind it, I'll bite.

 

[SJRB]

Rings of Power has a 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Wait for actual legit audience scores.

 

[adamsapple]

 

[Ammogeddon]

Although he looks a little different in Fallout I assume.

10/10 would bang

 

[keraj37]

I have already seen it on HBO:
Spoiler alert: its sheeite.

 

[Spyxos]

All available to watch now!

Don't see it on Prime.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Goggins and Dale Cooper. That’s all I needed to hear.

 

[StereoVsn]

Yeah, going to take the reviews with a grain of salt since it’s Eurogamer and IGN. And for Rotten Tomatoes, those scores were way too high for other Amazon shit shows like Rings and Wheel of Time.

 

[John Bilbo]

Don't see it on Prime.

Yeah I don't see it either. I'm located in Europe though.