The Fallout TV series has come back to Prime Video, and it's fair to say that fans were agreeably astonished by the caliber of its debut season. By illustrating the atomic-age, post-apocalyptic United States through the lenses of three separate characters, it managed to capture different facets of the gamer's experience.
We followed vault-dweller Lucy, trying to act with integrity and discovering that the ruined world made that exceptionally challenging; Max, the Brotherhood of Steel initiate, who starts challenging his cult's dogma and unleashes a lot of havoc in robotic power armour; and the Ghoul, a fan-favorite figure who has completely shed any ethical bearings out in the irradiated wastes.
The show's first season conclusion unveiled key information about who helped cause the nuclear war that sealed a population in bomb-proof bunkers for centuries. It also raised plenty of questions open for the upcoming chapter – and, now, expectations are much greater.
“We’ll take ‘not terrible’ – let’s get that on a poster,” quips the show's co-creator.
“Going into the initial season, people were like, ‘Just get it right’,” adds the game director. “We are ecstatic with the response to the show, so this time people are coming in with more eagerness and different expectations.”
The new season is taking place in the neon-lit city, the backdrop of the 2010’s game Fallout: New Vegas, which is often praised for having the most compelling narratives and personalities in the series, despite the fact that it was technically flawed at launch.
“It has a desert vibe, a Mojave vibe, that’s so essential to that game,” explains the co-creator. “That parched, blasted-out Route 66 vibe of the game is so much enjoyable to incorporate into the show.”
In the show's timeline, a long time has elapsed since the story of the New Vegas game by the time the characters arrive there. Nevertheless, the creators indicate that it acknowledges the fan's adventure.
The Fallout TV series is notable for its tangible quality – its makers prioritized authentic items and sets were fabricated, mirroring the improvised nature of the outposts in the games.
“Being a genre enthusiast, so many series I watch, I’m aware that they’re all filmed against a digital backdrop,” comments another of the showrunners. “The primary goal of an translation, particularly of a video game, is to seem like it’s real.”
In fact, pretty much each creature you see on-screen is practical, even the infamously terrifying radioactive creatures known as Deathclaws. In the show, they are portrayed by animatronics, and were reportedly rather intimidating up close.
The Fallout series succeeds because it is developed by skilled directors who are also longtime fans, alongside the visionaries behind the video games. This shared passion for the lore is evident in the end result.
The new batch of episodes is launching on a episode-by-episode basis rather than as a all-at-once release, marking a change from the initial release. This approach will allow for a new weekly discussion, a dynamic the team themselves are looking forward to observe.
“It has more depth, it’s bigger, it’s wittier, it has a lot of surprises,” teases the game director. “I can't wait to seeing what people think.”
A tech journalist with over a decade of experience covering emerging technologies and digital innovation across Europe.
