Fallout thrills TV critics as video game adaptation is released

New series based on post-apolcalyptic video game has been praised by reviewers

Great news for fans of post-apocalyptic thriller series – the first reviews for Fallout have arrived, and critics agree that audiences are in for a treat.

The new eight-part action series is an adaptation of the video game of the same name, and is set in an alternative imagining of the world post-World War II. In Fallout, nuclear warfare has led to the emergence of a retrofuturistic society, with people taking refuge in bunkers and battling for resources.

Among the cast includes Ella Purnell as the series protagonist, Lucy, as well as Walton Goggins, Kyle MacLachlan, Sarita Choudhury, Aaron Moten, Moisés Arias and Xelia Mendes-Jones.

The Independent’s reviewer Nick Hilton praised the performances of Goggins and Purnell, stating that they are “on excellent form in the dual role of a terrifying antagonist and his deeply human, pre-apocalyptic counterpart”.

His three-star review noted some issues with the narrative structure, but ultimately celebrated the energy and excitement shown on screen.

Hilton wrote: “What Fallout lacks in narrative coherence it makes up for in sheer cyberpunk chutzpah. That may leave non-gamers a little baffled, but for those already invested in this atomic dust bowl, it should prove a satisfying, if not sensational, extension of the franchise – just about more bang than whimper.”

Lucy Mangan at The Guardian was even more enthusiastic about the series, calling it an “absolute blast” and giving it five stars in her review.

Fallout (AP)

“It’s a perfectly paced story that is both funny and self-aware without winking at the camera, undercutting our increasing emotional investment in characters who reveal – and sometimes unexpectedly redeem – themselves layer by layer,” she wrote.

Fallout has another fan in The Telegraph’s reviewer Ed Power, who gave the series four stars. The series is co-created by Westworld’s Jonathan Nolan, the brother of Oppenheimer director Christopher, and Power referred to the projects’ contrasting handling of the nuclear disaster theme.

“The tone won’t be for everyone. As Prime Video has demonstrated with The Boys, violence played for laughs is always an acquired taste,” the review reads.

“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 humour. It’s hard to think of another video game adaptation that better conveys the sheer, giddy hedonism of a top-notch shoot ‘em up.”

Walton Goggins in ‘Fallout’ (AP)

In the States, reviewers are similarly satisfied with the adaptation. Variety’s critic Aramide Tinubu described the show as “twistedly fun”, adding: “Bizarre but intensely fun, Fallout is like nothing you’ve ever seen; for that reason alone, you won’t be able to turn away.”

Elsewhere, a glowing review from IGN reads: “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.”

Fallout is streaming on Prime Video now.