Fallout: one of the 'most faithful – and best – video game adaptations'
This 'genre-bending' new Amazon series is set in a post-apocalyptic wilderness where survivors shelter below ground

The apocalyptic setting of Amazon's new TV adaptation of the video game "Fallout" makes comparisons to 2023's mega hit "The Last of Us" inevitable.
But not only are the "two shows tonally distinct from each other, they're also very differently structured", said The Independent. The new series from "Westworld" showrunners Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner "picks and chooses its iconography, characters and plot from across the game series".
And "rather than follow the source material to the letter", said The Verge, "it feels more important to strike the right tone", so it's the "jokes, rather than its plot, that make it one of the most faithful – and best – video game adaptations".
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
There is also no need for viewers to be "au fait" with the original, said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian. "This intelligent, drily witty, immaculately constructed series set in the 'Fallout' universe fully captivates and entertains on its own terms."
It's set amid "the blighted landscape of a nuclear-scoured California and the sickly sweet sterility of living in an underground bunker engineered to resemble a 1950s infomercial", said The Verge.
The plot spans "several threads primarily anchored by three characters", said Vulture. Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell) is a "doe-eyed vault dweller" who ventures to the surface after her father (Kyle MacLachlan) is kidnapped. There's Maximus (Aaron Clifton Moten), a sweet young man who aspires to join the Brotherhood of Steel, a "militaristic religious order". And then there's the Ghoul, a noseless mutant of a "bounty hunter".
Walton Goggins is "wonderful" as both former TV star Cooper Howard and the Ghoul, said Mangan, Moten brings such "nuance to what could easily be a one-note role" and Purnell "performs Lucy's fall from innocence brilliantly".
Amazon has "spared no expense" to make this "genre-bending series", said The New York Times. The result is "satirical and self-aware, rich with ironic detail" and its "sets and costumes lovingly blend B-movie conventions from multiple genres, including Westerns, horror and Atomic Age sci-fi".
Ultimately, "however fans respond to 'Fallout', no one can doubt the creators' commitment".
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Adrienne Wyper has been a freelance sub-editor and writer for The Week's website and magazine since 2015. As a travel and lifestyle journalist, she has also written and edited for other titles including BBC Countryfile, British Travel Journal, Coast, Country Living, Country Walking, Good Housekeeping, The Independent, The Lady and Woman’s Own.
-
Scottish hospitality shines at these 7 hotels
The Week Recommends Sleep well at these lovely inns across Scotland
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
7 ways to drink spectacularly across the United States this spring
The Week Recommends A bar for every springtime occasion
By Scott Hocker, The Week US Published
-
6 welcoming recipes for cooking and baking during your spring days
The Week Recommends You want it flavorful, and you want it exciting
By Scott Hocker, The Week US Published
-
Spring's best new cookbooks, from pizza to pastries
The Week Recommends Pizza, an array of brownies and Cantonese-American mash-ups are on the menu
By Scott Hocker, The Week US Published
-
10 upcoming albums to stream in the hazy spring
The Week Recommends Ring in the end of the cold weather with some new music
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Video games to play this spring, including 'Split Fiction' and 'South of Midnight'
The Week Recommends A meta co-op game puts you in a game within a game, and a life simulator that can compete with the 'Sims' franchise
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
7 new and long-established musicals to see on tour this spring
The Week Recommends Even 'Les Misérables' is back on the road
By Scott Hocker, The Week US Published
-
Museum exhibitions across the globe are in artful bloom this spring. These are 5 to experience.
The Week Recommends See treasures from ancient Japan, Versailles and the Forbidden City
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published