Like most reviewers out there right now, I've been a Fallout game series player for many years (quick self-plug, check out my YouTube video: "Fallout 3: The Many Deaths of Tenpenny"!). When the trailers first came out, I was skeptical. Video games to movies usually turn out poorly. But this one, did a pretty good job staying true to the nature of the games, while appeasing both loyal fans and audiences hearing about the game series for the first time.
Fallout is a world that poses the hypothetical question: what if the WWII era lived on for over a century, never evolving socially, only technologically, and eventually leading to a complete nuclear apocalypse? Once the bombs were dropped, people led their whole lives underground, from birth to death, having never known the way of life on the surface. But certain "vault-dwellers," as they are called, yearn for freedom and adventure. On the surface, it is a harsh, cruel reality. But by braving hostile organisms and environments, treasure can be found. Usually, bottlecaps.
Let's get the negatives out of the way. First, CGI is once again, too much of a special effects crutch. It's sloppy and cheap looking. I'm mostly talking about the heat-of-the-battle gore effects. You might as well have characters biting down on firecracker berries. Secondly, it's yet another big-budgeted project with a carefully selected balance of gender and racial roles, because we just can't afford to offend anybody these days. Third, it sometimes feels like it tries too hard.
That's mostly it. So far, one episode in, and I am doing my best to hurry this review up to start the next episode. It's fun, it appeals to modern audiences (especially those who hate a dull moment and rely on immediate satisfaction and constant action. Kinda like those die-hard Call of Duty players, and no I'm definitely certainly most likely possibly not one of them), because it follows the modern tv show formula, and features violence that'd make your great grandparents pull you out of their will if they knew you were watching it.
Game references are certainly abundant. From chems like jet and stimpacks and food like Cram and tatos (and drinks like nuka-cola!!), to the structures and tech, to enhancements and perks, to the different factions and enemies. It's almost like they want you to play a drinking game where if you took a sip of beer every time there's a game reference, you'd be sloshed after the first episode.
The game series does a tremendous portraying a seemingly innocent and amiable atmosphere at first glance. As you play the game, the apparent charming mood of the world of Fallout is often disrupted by moments which bring about an unnerving feeling that something isn't quite right. Sometimes these moments are subtle, and eerie. Sometimes the moments are shocking interactions of blatant, spine-tingling horror.
The way this first episode is pulled off makes me think that one of the goals of the show was to capture this bi-polar quality. It can be light-hearted and comedic, but also unnerving, and sometimes violent and freaky. But while I appreciate them staying true to the nature of Fallout, of all the creepy things that occur in the the world of this first Fallout episode, nothing can be creepier than the heavily implied "cousin stuff."
Things I'm hoping they'll include in future episodes: Nuka-Cola Quantum, a jacked up raider on psycho-jet, unnecessarily excessive powerfist use, Strong from Fallout 4, a cool action sequence using the VATS system, heavy gun modding, wacky easter eggs, and a friggin' DEATHCLAW!!!
Fallout is a world that poses the hypothetical question: what if the WWII era lived on for over a century, never evolving socially, only technologically, and eventually leading to a complete nuclear apocalypse? Once the bombs were dropped, people led their whole lives underground, from birth to death, having never known the way of life on the surface. But certain "vault-dwellers," as they are called, yearn for freedom and adventure. On the surface, it is a harsh, cruel reality. But by braving hostile organisms and environments, treasure can be found. Usually, bottlecaps.
Let's get the negatives out of the way. First, CGI is once again, too much of a special effects crutch. It's sloppy and cheap looking. I'm mostly talking about the heat-of-the-battle gore effects. You might as well have characters biting down on firecracker berries. Secondly, it's yet another big-budgeted project with a carefully selected balance of gender and racial roles, because we just can't afford to offend anybody these days. Third, it sometimes feels like it tries too hard.
That's mostly it. So far, one episode in, and I am doing my best to hurry this review up to start the next episode. It's fun, it appeals to modern audiences (especially those who hate a dull moment and rely on immediate satisfaction and constant action. Kinda like those die-hard Call of Duty players, and no I'm definitely certainly most likely possibly not one of them), because it follows the modern tv show formula, and features violence that'd make your great grandparents pull you out of their will if they knew you were watching it.
Game references are certainly abundant. From chems like jet and stimpacks and food like Cram and tatos (and drinks like nuka-cola!!), to the structures and tech, to enhancements and perks, to the different factions and enemies. It's almost like they want you to play a drinking game where if you took a sip of beer every time there's a game reference, you'd be sloshed after the first episode.
The game series does a tremendous portraying a seemingly innocent and amiable atmosphere at first glance. As you play the game, the apparent charming mood of the world of Fallout is often disrupted by moments which bring about an unnerving feeling that something isn't quite right. Sometimes these moments are subtle, and eerie. Sometimes the moments are shocking interactions of blatant, spine-tingling horror.
The way this first episode is pulled off makes me think that one of the goals of the show was to capture this bi-polar quality. It can be light-hearted and comedic, but also unnerving, and sometimes violent and freaky. But while I appreciate them staying true to the nature of Fallout, of all the creepy things that occur in the the world of this first Fallout episode, nothing can be creepier than the heavily implied "cousin stuff."
Things I'm hoping they'll include in future episodes: Nuka-Cola Quantum, a jacked up raider on psycho-jet, unnecessarily excessive powerfist use, Strong from Fallout 4, a cool action sequence using the VATS system, heavy gun modding, wacky easter eggs, and a friggin' DEATHCLAW!!!