Fallout was originally released in 1997, and in just over two decades, the retro-futuristic RPG series has taken the world by storm. Set in an alternate history after the end of World War II, the atomic age is in full swing, with nuclear-powered cars, autonomous robots, and laser weapons against biggies, checkerboard tiles, and white picket fences.
After a nuclear war, the world was destroyed, with the only remnants of humanity turning to violent raiders, irradiated ghosts, or taking refuge in a variety of experimental underground vaults. The series has jumped across the ruins of the United States, from the nuclear sea plaguing the eastern Commonwealth to the dusty sands piling up in the remnants of southwestern Nevada. Now it hits the small screen.
Prime Video originally announced a post-apocalyptic games adaptation in 2020, but most details of the series remain under lock and key. Fortunately — or unfortunately, depending on who you ask — IGN reported that the Fallout series would feature an all-original story completely separate from that of the games. We’ve seen other shows and movies over the years attempting something that seemed to have mixed results. The question is, will this be a good or bad thing for the Fallout series?
The Fallout world has many stories to tell
Having an original story isn’t necessarily a bad idea. After all, the Fallout series has told a wide variety of stories across the country. In the main games alone, the player does everything from taking over a hostile Washington DC to saving the world from turning into ravenous Super Mutants in Southern California. The multitude of side quests available also take the player on all sorts of adventures, with particularly memorable ones including a dispute between a pair of ‘superheroes’, revealing the mystery behind blue star bottle tops, or even navigating a haunted casino under the threat of a bomb collar attached to the neck.
From a writing point of view, the main missions in the main games weren’t always the most engaging. It was always the experiences the player made for themselves – straying off the beaten track, finding something they shouldn’t have found, being suddenly killed by a rampaging Deathclaw – that shaped the later entries in the Fallout series unforgettable. The world is the most important material to explore in a series, and there’s still so much the games haven’t even touched yet.
Will the series still feel like Fallout?
The problem with straying far from the games is that it risks removing itself from what’s made Fallout so compelling. It’s not just a post-apocalyptic world with 1950s horror-esque iconography; it’s a whole alternate timeline with its own rules, technologies, cultures and issues.
Recreational drug use is a common problem, reflected in both the frenzied robbers and the player, should they choose to use them. Each faction in the series exists for a set purpose, and while later games in the series played fast and loose with their backstories and intentions, there’s no real unique “good guy” in the original game’s lore. The ramifications of Cold War nuclear power and paranoia being integrated into technologies we now take for granted every day present themselves through rampant radiation poisoning, brains and machines becoming intertwined, and wildlife being horribly mutated in cruel monsters or ugly cattle.
It is important to understand what makes Fallout Tick. For example, some have criticized the recently released Halo show for not really getting what is made the games are so attractive to players. Aside from straying significantly from what fans understood to be the series’ canon, even casual viewers noticed some issues: a lack of action from a series synonymous with it, a new character dividing the series’ focus and a questionable romance plagued the season’s eight episodes. Yes, it’s officially an “alternate universe,” but to some it came across as an excuse to use an existing property for an unrelated story.
The Fallout series should be just that: a series based on Fallout. As long as it understands and applies the ideas and themes that loosely connect the games, it should successfully appeal to fans and newcomers alike. That means moving beyond just power armor and throwing Vault Boy posters into an otherwise irrelevant story. If it doesn’t bother to get the basics right, it might as well be another generic post-apocalypse show.
How can we set our expectations?
If you want to get an idea of what’s great Fallout live action series looks like, look no further than the Fallout: Nuka Break web series. Though now defunct due to internal issues, the miniseries followed the adventures of three unlikely companions as they scoured the vast Mojave Desert. Despite its status as a fan-made series, the work that has gone into replicating the games’ props, setting, and motifs is stunning, with Nuke pause it is even referenced in an official downloadable coat of arms for Fallout: New Vegas. Admittedly, it’s also quite funny. With 17 entries over two seasons, it’s worth checking out if you’ve played the games and want an idea of what they might look like on the small screen.
There is currently no release date for the Fallout series. Based on the status of production, we can reasonably expect the Fallout series that will be released sometime in 2023 or 2024.