The list of game franchises that maintain a high level of critical and commercial success over the years is a short one. Fallout an action RPG set in a dystopian irradiated future is undoubtedly high on that list. With 11 titles dating back to 1997 and a pop culture imprint going back just as far Fallout is a series that has had highs and lows but maintained it’s place in the world of gaming, expanding from their core series to a series of successful spin-offs, tabletop games, and even a pinball release.
Set in a 1950s style world of Americana gone wrong the terrain is full of armored soldiers, mutants, vast wastelands and wildlife intent on killing you, the central plot and characters change game to game but general idea that the series tries to impart stays the same. No matter how bad things get, there will always be people that want to make them worse and that war is a core part of the human experience.
Fallout is the latest in a line of video game to series adaptations the results of which are wildly varying from astounding (The Last of Us, The Witcher) to harmless (Sonic The Hedgehog) and all the way down to “WTF, did they even play the game?” (Halo). I’ve found that the key indicator of quality on a video game adaptation is how well the show runner understands what made the game popular in the first place. If that theory is right then the trailer just released by Prime Video for Fallout is an omen of good things to come. See, while my earlier synopsis of this game may sound bleak, Fallout is, at its core, a darkly funny, action-packed time that never takes itself TOO seriously.
While the footage below doesn’t exactly spell out a laugh riot of a time it does promise that fun is going to be had. Just as important is the attention to detail paid by the filmmakers. Fallout has a ton of iconic imagery, whether that’s the raw intimidation of the power armor or the oddly peppy “Pipboy” smart watch. If that’s what your looking for, not to worry, its here in abundance.
Probably the most striking thing glimpsed in the trailer is a quick shot of an unrecognizable Walton Goggins as “The Ghoul”, for the uninitiated that would be the nasally challenged cowboy near the end of the clip. I have yet to see Goggins take on a role halfway and it’s obvious, thanks to the close-up, that the makeup and CGI were done with care.
Make sure to look for Fallout on Prime Video until April 12th, 2024
Official Synopsis:
Based on one of the greatest video game series of all time, Fallout is the story of haves and have-nots in a world in which there’s almost nothing left to have. 200 years after the apocalypse, the gentle denizens of luxury fallout shelters are forced to return to the irradiated hellscape their ancestors left behind — and are shocked to discover an incredibly complex, gleefully weird and highly violent universe waiting for them. From executive producers Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, the creators of Westworld, starring Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten, Walton Goggins and more. Arriving April 12 on Prime Video.
