Like many other reviewers here, I am a diehard fan of the Fallout games. My introduction to the game series began 25 years ago when I picked up a copy of Fallout 2 and I've been hooked ever since. Never, in all that time, had I ever wished for a spinoff TV series to be made about it. Who asked for it? Not me! But nevertheless, here it is. It exists whether we like it or not and no matter how many negative reviews people submit based on pride, protest, or principle it will not change that fact. Look, no one is forcing anyone who strongly objects to this series to watch it (not yet anyway). But if its mere existence truly offends you, just don't watch it! What is there to gain by coming here to thumbs down positive reviews because you are so aggrieved? Anyone and everyone is free to ignore the show, just like I'm choosing to ignore the sense of entitlement these petty review-bombers have by giving this new series the glowing review it rightfully deserves based on the merits.
With that business out of the way, my review here is for anyone with a sincere interest in this series in deciding whether they should give it a chance. And to that I say yes, absolutely you should whether you are a fan of the games or not. As I previously mentioned, I never asked for this show and was prepared to hate it. But I kept an open mind as I watched and did my best to be fair in my overall judgement. And the truth is, the show is actually pretty fantastic. I was not prepared for it to be as good as it is. This show definitely caters to fans of the franchise with its high attention to detail and faithfulness to source material. I sympathize with those who would have preferred that Hollywood not make the series in the first place, but at the same time, now having watched it, the hate towards it is pretty unjustified if the only crime is that it exists.
To the angry Fallout fans I ask you this: Imagine a TV series is being made about this game that you and I both love. Imagine that it's completely out of your control, and production is actually happening. If a Fallout series HAS to exist, what exactly would you want it to look like? Would it not be similar to exactly what Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy have created? I mean, visually it's pretty spot on. They've built an immersive world that feels very authentic. It feels like Fallout, it looks like Fallout, and it sounds like Fallout. Okay, maybe you would have preferred the show was modeled after the Interplay games and not Bethesda's Fallout 4, or maybe you would have preferred the show runners double and triple check the accuracy of the lore because you find any cannon inconsistency unforgiveable.
So let's address the elephant in the room: Yes, there are some glaring lore issues. But it doesn't bother me. Why? Because a TV series is a different medium for storytelling than a video game. For the sake of argument, let's assume this new series runs for 8 seasons with 8 one-hour episodes each. That's a total of 64 hours screen time. That's just a fraction of what most people put into playing a single game. I've put hundreds of hours into Fallout 4 alone. When playing a game, you have the luxury of time to explore it and study it as much as you like. That's the beauty of Fallout games. But television doesn't work that way. It's not interactive. The entertainment comes from literally just sitting in front of a screen and watching/listening to a story. Viewers are going to tune out fast if it becomes overly pedantic and boring. Sometimes it is necessary to truncate and/or modify original source material so that it translates better on screen and can hold the viewers' attention.
For me personally, as a longtime fan, what mattered most was that the series captured the spirit, message, and immersive atmosphere of the games. No matter what, it needed to look and feel like Fallout, and Nolan and Joy nailed it. I don't know what more they could have done to make the series better than it is, and I'm honestly relieved that the creative liberties taken were not so egregious as to disrespect the entire franchise and its fanbase. On the contrary, they've done an excellent job here. They could have reimagined Fallout into some truly terrible fan fiction, but they didn't. It feels like a true extension of the Fallout universe and that's all I had hoped for. Jonathan Nolan made this series because he is also a fan and avid player of Fallout games. If anyone could pull it off, it was him.
With that business out of the way, my review here is for anyone with a sincere interest in this series in deciding whether they should give it a chance. And to that I say yes, absolutely you should whether you are a fan of the games or not. As I previously mentioned, I never asked for this show and was prepared to hate it. But I kept an open mind as I watched and did my best to be fair in my overall judgement. And the truth is, the show is actually pretty fantastic. I was not prepared for it to be as good as it is. This show definitely caters to fans of the franchise with its high attention to detail and faithfulness to source material. I sympathize with those who would have preferred that Hollywood not make the series in the first place, but at the same time, now having watched it, the hate towards it is pretty unjustified if the only crime is that it exists.
To the angry Fallout fans I ask you this: Imagine a TV series is being made about this game that you and I both love. Imagine that it's completely out of your control, and production is actually happening. If a Fallout series HAS to exist, what exactly would you want it to look like? Would it not be similar to exactly what Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy have created? I mean, visually it's pretty spot on. They've built an immersive world that feels very authentic. It feels like Fallout, it looks like Fallout, and it sounds like Fallout. Okay, maybe you would have preferred the show was modeled after the Interplay games and not Bethesda's Fallout 4, or maybe you would have preferred the show runners double and triple check the accuracy of the lore because you find any cannon inconsistency unforgiveable.
So let's address the elephant in the room: Yes, there are some glaring lore issues. But it doesn't bother me. Why? Because a TV series is a different medium for storytelling than a video game. For the sake of argument, let's assume this new series runs for 8 seasons with 8 one-hour episodes each. That's a total of 64 hours screen time. That's just a fraction of what most people put into playing a single game. I've put hundreds of hours into Fallout 4 alone. When playing a game, you have the luxury of time to explore it and study it as much as you like. That's the beauty of Fallout games. But television doesn't work that way. It's not interactive. The entertainment comes from literally just sitting in front of a screen and watching/listening to a story. Viewers are going to tune out fast if it becomes overly pedantic and boring. Sometimes it is necessary to truncate and/or modify original source material so that it translates better on screen and can hold the viewers' attention.
For me personally, as a longtime fan, what mattered most was that the series captured the spirit, message, and immersive atmosphere of the games. No matter what, it needed to look and feel like Fallout, and Nolan and Joy nailed it. I don't know what more they could have done to make the series better than it is, and I'm honestly relieved that the creative liberties taken were not so egregious as to disrespect the entire franchise and its fanbase. On the contrary, they've done an excellent job here. They could have reimagined Fallout into some truly terrible fan fiction, but they didn't. It feels like a true extension of the Fallout universe and that's all I had hoped for. Jonathan Nolan made this series because he is also a fan and avid player of Fallout games. If anyone could pull it off, it was him.