Fallout Show Reviews Are Nearly Unanimous

Prime Video’s Fallout, an adaptation of the post-apocalyptic video game series, is getting glowing notices from critics who say show’s trip though the irradiated wastelands of Los Angeles is well worth a watch. The series is based on Bethesda’s influential RPG series that takes place within an alternate history where the world is ravaged by nuclear war, and humanity is left to rebuild in what remains of the old world. Ella Purnell portrays Lucy, a young woman raised in the safety of an underground Vault that emerges into a harsh world of scarred survivors, aspiring and warring factions, short-circuiting machines, and mutated beasts.

As Fallout earns a glowing Rotten Tomatoes critics score, reviewers praise the series as another successful modern video game adaptation.

Finding a tonal balance between the drama and the comedy is a razor’s edge, but “Fallout” makes it look effortless. As a result, spending time in this hardened world is as fun, engaging, and engrossing as the games. The production design from Howard Cummings, reteaming with Nolan and Joy from “Westworld,” is absolutely staggering. Much like with “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” it appears that Amazon spared no expense in providing the proper resources needed to bring “Fallout” to life accordingly. That extends to the franchise’s aesthetic obsession with 1940s cultural nostalgia, which is lovingly rendered through the clothes, cars and music throughout the show. – Screen Rant

A bright and funny apocalypse filled with dark punchlines and bursts of ultra-violence, Fallout stands up there with The Last of Us among the best game adaptations ever made. Brilliantly constructed, its three distinct leads travel through cleverly linked storylines that build to a fantastic finale. Along the way, there’s a megaton of treats for long-term fans thanks to immaculate production design and attention to detail, but never at the expense of making this an ideal starting point for the uninitiated. It’s another special effort from Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, and easily earns a big thumbs up. – IGN

Much like the games, part of what makes “Fallout” fun is the juxtaposition between the dark, depressing state of the world and its cartoonish violence and grim comedy. This is a place where everyone wants to kill you and/or eat you, where ghouls roam the wasteland, but also where giant radroaches and monsters with fingers for teeth try to kill you. Fallout” is in an interesting position as an adaptation. It isn’t “The Last of Us” and its carbon copy remake, or even “Castlevania” and “Arcane” which have original stories using their games’ characters. Instead, both characters and story are wholly original here, even if there are plenty of nods to the games. Characters like The Ghoul share elements with Hancock from “Fallout 4,” while the story of the MacGuffin that drives the plot works similarly to the water purifier in “Fallout 3.” This results in the season feeling like another game in the series, one that is familiar to players of the first games because war never changes, while also being fresh and new. –/Film

It’s the end of the world – just not as we know it. The Fallout TV show, an adaptation of the RPG video game series overseen by Bethesda, sees the post-apocalypse head to Prime Video with a joyous mix of uproarious comedy, physical humor, and gnarly violence. While it may be guilty of cramming too much into its initial eight-episode run, the first steps out from the Vault and into the streaming landscape for the hugely popular franchise gets a big Vault Boy-style thumbs up from us. – GamesRadar

The first half of “Fallout” is undoubtedly the strongest, as Lucy tries to grapple with the lies she’s been told about the world while barely keeping herself alive. Still, even as the storylines linger too long in less exciting places, viewers are eager to see how the varied mysteries and secrets of the surface and the dwellers will reveal themselves. Bizarre but intensely fun, “Fallout” is like nothing you’ve ever seen; for that reason alone, you won’t be able to turn away. – Variety

But if you’ve had enough of the dark and stormy Oppenheimer and would rather look at the bright side of nuclear annihilation, Fallout delivers the perfect payload of OTT action and childish humor. It’s hard to think of another video game adaptation that better conveys the sheer, giddy hedonism of a top-notch shoot ‘em up. – MSN

From the very first episode one thing is clear: the show is weird, funny, and incredibly well made.The Fallout series was always an ambitious choice to adapt – as it is well known for mixing vibes, jumping at a moment’s notice from heart-hitting drama to whacky comedy to unsettlingly chilling moments of near-horror.This was always going to be the hardest part of the show to adapt – and they smash it out the park. – UniLad

Screen Rant‘s own Kate Bove praised Fallout for capturing the series’ darkly comedic and outlandish tone, a sentiment shared by IGN, /Film, GamesRadar, Variety, MSN, and UniLad.

That most of Prime Video’s Fallout consists of getting sidetracked by bullshit is simultaneously one of its main charms and one of its most frustrating flaws. At its liveliest, the sci-fi adventure captures the fun of simply getting to explore a strange new world, meeting colorful characters and going down mysterious rabbit holes. But the lack of urgency also means its eight hours take an awfully long time to get where it’s going. – THR

Finding a tonal balance between the drama and the comedy is a razor’s edge, but “Fallout” makes it look effortless. As a result, spending time in this hardened world is as fun, engaging, and engrossing as the games. The production design from Howard Cummings, reteaming with Nolan and Joy from “Westworld,” is absolutely staggering. Much like with “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” it appears that Amazon spared no expense in providing the proper resources needed to bring “Fallout” to life accordingly. That extends to the franchise’s aesthetic obsession with 1940s cultural nostalgia, which is lovingly rendered through the clothes, cars and music throughout the show.- The Wrap

That said, Fallout needs to find its own way, anyway. It can’t be a video game, so it has to achieve a larger purpose within its own restrictions. And on that token, it benefits from having a fully realized protagonist who isn’t just a blank slate for the player. The show takes the right risk in affording Lucy specificity as a character, and therefore a defined personality that can measure up to the wacky mayhem of the other weirdos she meets. The show’s clearly committed to being the definitive Fallout adaptation, a love letter to fans, no question, while still opening the vault door to welcome in just about everyone else brave enough to step inside. – TV Line

While there are a lot of cooks playing in the show’s radioactive broth, Fallout ultimately hinges on Lucy’s journey, both physically and thematically speaking. Much of the show’s success rests on her, so thank the overseer that Purnell decided to leave Yellowjackets – a show she already excelled on – to star here in the lead role as Lucy. – Digital Spy

Still, over eight episodes, I often had a good time with Fallout, particularly because its primary characters and their experiences are so engrossing. The show makes a lot of hay from the weird and goofy setting of the game series, and does a great job of filling it with fun, fascinating people. Though it feels like the show could have leveraged its setting even more, seeing how characters cope with life in a world that is both murderous and ridiculous keeps Fallout entertaining, even through its shortcomings. – GameSpot

However, the series’ original characters and lore also struck a note with THR, The Wrap, TV Line, Digital Spy, and GameSpot.

Fans of video games can rest assured that the rest of the 8-episode season features plenty of nudges, nods, winks, callbacks, twists, turns, lore, laughs, reveals, revelations, and more to keep them comfy for the duration — and, notably, does so with only minor hiccups to interrupt its near-relentless pace. That’s not including the peripheral details of interest to diehard fans, which would require multiple viewings to spot every tucked-away touch that must’ve been a production team’s absolute pleasure or a total nightmare. For those who have never played the Fallout series, especially those of the time-strapped ilk who can’t just pour hundreds of hours into a game, they should give Prime Video’s Fallout a go. – CBR

But even where the Fallout show slips on occasion with an unneeded kiss or a questionable encounter, time and time again, I kept marveling at how authentic the world felt. The original story told in Fallout is paramount to this trait since it lets us focus on the characters, world, and narrative rather than getting hung up on shot-for-shot remakes of key moments. Fallout is technically canon, according to Bethesda’s Todd Howard, so it’ll be under the microscope for nitpicking and “well actually” moments, but even when the show takes leaps to expand on the world, it always feels deserved. – Comicbook.com

Alongside the characters, Prime Video’s realization of the apocalyptic alternate timeline impressed CBR and ComicBook.com.

“Fallout” amounts to its Vault Boy concept art—the Monopoly-aesthetic-looking smiley thumbs-up character the game is famous for— with blood splattered on top of the colorful image as if that ironic disparity is meant to be enough. It’s not. “Fallout” may look the part and nail the video game’s cheery optimism/dog-eat-dog inhumanity mein, but by its umpteenth attempt at making this funny—Glen Miller big band cliches overtop of a transmogrified giant fish trying to eat a young squire!—you want this one trick mutated pony to die a quick and painful death already.- The Playlist

Despite this, The Playlist deemed the series as unfulfilling and unable to keep viewers invested.

Has Fallout Been Renewed For A Second Season?

With a primarily positive reception from critics, future expeditions across Fallout‘s nuclear wastes from feel incredibly likely should audiences feel the same and show the series love when all eight episodes are released. Alongside comments from co-showrunners Graham Wagner and Geneva Robertson-Dworet that tease a world-establishing conclusion, the series also secured a $25 million tax credit assurance in California despite season 2 not officially being greenlit. As such, the series earning this record-setting sum to contribute towards a potentially high budget could make a second season a more ideal investment.

Despite this, a second season of Fallout may not focus on Lucy, and could take inspiration from the video game series’ anthology structure. Unlike other series, each Fallout game has its own standalone story set within a different region of the scarred American wasteland, with only a handful of characters appearing between games. Robertson-Dworet hopes to explore new locations and factions and bring unused ideas to the screen, but admitted that there is also some attachment to the cast they created for the first season, leaving it uncertain who may lead a second venture into the ruins of the old world.

While Fallout‘s future may be hard to pinpoint, season 1’s positive reception makes future adventures incredibly likely. While faithfulness to the source material would guarantee video game fans would be pleased with an authentic Fallout experience, praise for the series’ original characters shows that the series can stand alone and act as an entry point for newcomers. As such, Fallout has safely claimed its place as a top contender for the best video game adaptation to date.

Source: Various (See linked above)