El papel de Vault-Tec en el lanzamiento de las bombas nucleares sigue sin estar claro, ya que todavía existe la posibilidad de que el gobierno realmente las haya lanzado.
El viaje del demonio en Fallout Season 2 depende de la verdad de quién causó el apocalipsis.
Si Vault-Tec arroja las bombas, la búsqueda del demonio será la venganza, pero si es el gobierno, probablemente esté buscando una verdadera reunión con su familia.
La verdad sobre quién arrojó las bombas nucleares, si Vault-Tec o el gobierno, nunca ha sido completamente revelada en… Él cae El programa, revelación completa, cambiará por completo la historia del demonio en la temporada 2. Durante años, Él caeSe creía que el apocalipsis nuclear era producto de la guerra chino-estadounidense, librada entre China y Estados Unidos por los recursos naturales. El programa pareció contradecir esto cuando A Él cae La teoría sobre el papel de Vault-Tec en el apocalipsis, pero esto también ha sido cuestionado. La verdad sobre la causa del fin del mundo redefinirá el viaje del demonio Él cae Temporada 2 y toda la franquicia.
Al final de Él cae En la primera temporada, Ghoul anunció que tenía la misión de encontrar a su familia, Barb y Janie Howard, debido a la historia de fondo de Ghoul como Cooper Howard. Esta búsqueda parece llevarlo a New Vegas, lo que también abre la posibilidad de desentrañar el misterio detrás de la destrucción de la ciudad. Este no es el único misterio que Ghoul puede resolver, ya que su búsqueda probablemente finalmente conducirá a una explicación de quién arrojó las bombas que destruyeron el mundo.
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Para celebrar el lanzamiento de Fallout en Prime Video, aquí está la guía completa de Screen Rant sobre los personajes, ubicaciones, historia y cambios de la serie.
¿Por qué hay tanta confusión sobre quién arrojó las bombas en The Fall?
Vault-Tec estaba dispuesto a lanzar las armas nucleares, pero podría haber sido el gobierno quien lo hubiera hecho
La reunión de Vault-Tec fue una gran revelación para Él cae Excelencia, pero en realidad planteó más preguntas sobre el comienzo de la Gran Guerra de las que respondió. Si bien Barb demostró que Vault-Tec estaría dispuesto a lanzar las bombas y comenzar el apocalipsis, no se demostró explícitamente que realmente las arrojaran.. Todavía es posible que el apocalipsis fuera en realidad solo una escalada de la guerra chino-estadounidense como se mencionó anteriormente. Él cae juegos. A la confusión se suma el hecho de que hay evidencia que respalda cualquiera de las secuencias de eventos, y no hay una indicación clara de cuál es la verdad.
2:23
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Una teoría convincente afirma que la gran revelación de Fallout Season 1 sobre Vault-Tec no significa lo que sugiere sobre el comienzo del apocalipsis.
Apoyando la idea de que Vault-Tec arrojó la bomba está el hecho de que Él cae El programa fue absolutamente una gran revelación. Si bien la revelación de que Barb quería destruir el planeta fue crucial para su relación con Cooper, también fue un poderoso presagio de otra revelación de que en realidad lanzarían las bombas. Por otro lado, también hay indicios de que Barb se sorprendió cuando cayeron las bombas, lo que sugiere que fue obra del gobierno. Si Barb hubiera sabido cuándo iban a caer las bombas, ya habría estado en el sótano con Janie y no la habría dejado ir a la fiesta con Cooper.
Cómo los orígenes del Apocalipsis de Fallout cambian la misión de la temporada 2 de The Ghoul
El demonio busca reunión o venganza.
La historia del demonio en Él cae La temporada 2 se basa completamente en la verdad de quién arrojó las bombas.. Si los gobiernos del mundo fueron la causa, entonces Barb era tan víctima como cualquier otra persona, y su búsqueda para encontrarla probablemente fue solo un intento de reunirlo con su esposa e hija. Si se trata de Vault-Tec o alguna otra corporación de antes de la guerra, probablemente esté intentando rescatar a Janey y vengarse de Barb. No sólo cambia la motivación del demonio para buscar a su familia después de 200 años, sino que también afectará la forma en que maneja las cosas una vez que las encuentra.
Si bien la verdad sobre quién arrojó las bombas será de suma importancia para la historia del Ghoul y su futuro. Él caeEsa no es la única razón para estar emocionado por la temporada 2. Todavía quedan varios hilos argumentales que deben resolverse, como el poder de la Hermandad en la fusión fría y la destrucción de New Vegas. Esto debe hacerse, junto con la capacidad de descubrir quién realmente causó el fin del mundo. Él cae La temporada 2 es increíblemente importante para la franquicia.
Él cae
Basada en la franquicia de videojuegos del mismo nombre, Fallout es una serie dramática ambientada en la post-apocalíptica Los Ángeles. La serie sigue a los supervivientes de la raza humana en una línea temporal alternativa ambientada en la década de 1950, donde la guerra nuclear ha devastado la Tierra, dando lugar a grandes áreas irradiadas y a humanos mutados que ahora deambulan por el planeta.
el calumnia
Walton Goggins, Ella Purnell, Kyle MacLachlan, Zelia Méndez-Jones, Aaron Moten
– Announced in mid-April – No release date revealed yet – Unsurprisingly, a trailer is yet to be unveiled – Cast and plot details are thin on the ground – Main cast members are expected to return – Should pick up right after the season 1 finale – Season 3 hasn’t been greenlit, but discussions about future installments have taken place
Fallout season 2 is officially in development. That’s right, the hit Amazon series has been renewed for a second season after the *ahem* rad reception season 1 was met with. So, gear up for more outlandishly funny moments, bizarre retrofuturistic adventuring, captivating melodrama, and a smorgasbord of Easter eggs from Bethesda’s iconic video game universe (which the TV show is also set in).
With the popular Prime Video show’s next entry still in early development, it’ll be some time before we learn anything official about its release date, get news about its cast and plot, and see any footage. Still, based on what happened in season 1 of Amazon’s Fallout TV show, we can speculate on all of the above and more in this guide.
Before you dive in: if you haven’t seen Fallout‘s first season, a) what are you doing here!? and b) read our Fallout season 1 review first to see what all the fuss is about. Then, go and stream it because, from this point on, major spoilers follow for Fallout season 1.
Fallout season 2 release date: what we know
Wouldn’t want to keep you on the edge of your seat, now, would we? See you back in the Wasteland for SEASON 2. pic.twitter.com/ULs6DEPHDWApril 18, 2024
Fallout season 2 doesn’t have a release date. It was only announced by Amazon on April 18 and, as it’s in early development, a launch date won’t be revealed for a long time.
It’s difficult to pinpoint when we might see one of the best Prime Video shows make its irradiated return, too, as we’ve no idea how far along in the development process it is. In short: it could be 18 months to two years before the first live-action story set in Bethesda’s satirical post-apocalyptic game series re-emerges from its vault.
Fallout season 2 rumored cast
Lucy MacLean should return in Fallout season 2. (Image credit: Prime Video/JoJo Whilden)
Amazon hasn’t announced which cast members will be back in Fallout season 2. Based on season 1’s ending, however, we’re confident that the following will return:
Ella Purnell as Lucy MacLean
Aaron Moten as Maximus
Walton Goggins as The Ghoul/Cooper Howard
Kyle MacLachlan as Hank MacLean
Moisés Arias as Norm MacLean
Xelia Mendes-Jones as Dane
Johnny Pemberton as Thaddeus
Frances Turner as Barb Howard
Leslie Uggams as Betty Pearson
Other supporting cast members are also likely to be back, including Dave Register’s Chet, Annabel O’Hagen’s Stephanie, Zach Cherry’s Woody, and Rodrigo Luzzi’s Reg for the Vaults-based storyline.
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Michael Esper and Sarita Choudhury might reprise their roles as Vault-Tec employee Bud Askins and the New California Republic (NCR) commander Lee Moldaver, too. We’d be surprised if season 2 doesn’t deliver more flashback sequences that predate the Great War and/or explore more about the NCR’s creation and role in founding Shady Sands. If it does, Askins and Moldaver will certainly be back.
There are also bound to be new additions to the show’s acting roster. Speaking to IGN, season 1 director and executive producer Jonathan Nolan revealed that Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad, Westworld) has already inquired about featuring in season 2, so don’t be surprised if more famous faces cameo in the same manner as Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows) in season 1.
Fallout season 2 plot speculation
What does the future hold for Maximus in the Brotherhood of Steel? (Image credit: Prime Video)
There isn’t a plot synopsis for Fallout season 2 yet. Nobody – outside of the main creative team, anyway – knows what it’ll entail, but we can speculate on where the series might go, based on season 1’s numerous unresolved plot threads and what some of its crew have teased in interviews.
In non-spoiler terms, Nolan exclusively told TechRadar (ahead of season 1’s release) that the Fallout crew have “had some really cool conversations” about season 2, some of which could impact future games in the series that Bethesda creates (remember, everything that happens in Fallout‘s TV show is canon in the wider franchise). He declined to elaborate further when pressed for more details, though. Now that the first season is out in full, however, we have a better idea of what might lie in store for Lucy and company very soon.
Full spoilers follow for Fallout season 1 from now on. Don’t read past the image below unless you want firm details on what’ll be part of the second season.
Fallout‘s season 1 finale was an explosive one. (Image credit: Amazon Studios)
One of the most important storylines, if not the most, that needs to be built upon involves Hank, Lucy and Norm’s dad.
In the season 1 finale, Hank was revealed as one of Vault-Tec’s junior employees who was placed in cryosleep, alongside the likes of Betty Pearson, inside Vault 31 before The Great War. He was then reawakened over 200 years later to help Vault-Tec try to tyrannically rule the post-apocalyptic United States. He was also responsible for The Fall of Shady Sands – a cataclysmic event that saw a nuclear bomb dropped on the town that the NCR operated out of. As an aside, the NCR were almost wiped from existence during their showdown with the Brotherhood in episode 8 but, speaking to IGN, Howard teased: “I don’t think you’ve heard the last of the NCR.”
But we digress. Lucy’s mom, and Hank’s wife, Rose was turned into a ghoul as a result of radiation poisoning from said warhead (Lucy kills her to end Rose’s misery in episode 8, by the way), while Maximus’ entire family was killed during the initial blast. Oh, and Hank was also the Vault-Tec employee who was one of the biggest fans of Cooper Howard – i.e. the A-list actor that The Ghoul used to be. In short: Hank has strong ties to all three of the series’ main characters.
Fallout episode 8 revealed Hank’s real identity and villainous role in the show’s story. (Image credit: JoJo Whilden/Prime Video)
After those revelations came to light, Hank – who was accidentally freed by Maximus before Lucy could tell Maximus about Hank’s villainous past – managed to escape in a stolen T60 power armor suit. He suffered a facial injury after being shot by The Ghoul, though, so he’ll have the physical scars – as well as the mental and emotional ones – to show for his misdemeanors.
Okay, why is all of this so important? The final few minutes of episode 8 revealed that Lucy and The Ghoul had formed an uneasy alliance to track Hank down. For her part, Lucy will want more answers about her dad’s involvement with Vault-Tec and his familial betrayal.
As for the harrowing, eye-opening, and world-shattering journey Lucy has gone on throughout season 1, it’s clear it’s left its mark on Fallout‘s primary protagonist – Purnell telling GQ that “I don’t know who she’s gonna be in season 2, [but] this is what happens when you break the unbreakable. I don’t know who she’s about to become. How Lucy feels about her hope… she recognises that something is irreversibly lost, or broken, inside her. Maybe she still does maintain it in season 2, but it will never be the same. It can’t.”
And what does Purnell want to tackle in Lucy’s season 2 arc? “I’d like to see her become her own person,” she tells GQ. “I’d like to see her form some opinions that feel truly and wholly hers, and not a product of her upbringing, or a product of Vault-Tec. I think part of her being a good person is just truly her, and I think that is just who she is. I don’t know if that’s going to stay or going to go, I’d be down to play it either way. But I’d also like to see her go, like, ‘No, I don’t like this food,’ or ‘No, I don’t think what you…’ A little tiny rebellion, maybe.”
Read more of our exclusive Fallout season 1 coverage
Meanwhile, The Ghoul needs to find Hank to learn which vault his wife and daughter – Barb and Janey – are in. As Barb revealed at various points in season 1, the high-ranking Vault-Tec staff member secured a place in one of the evil corporation’s most prestigious underground bunkers for her family, Cooper included. Of course, the implied breakdown of Cooper and Barb’s marriage – something we should learn more about in season 2 – suggests that Cooper’s reserved place was taken away following their divorce, forcing him to survive as an irradiated ghoul on the surface. It’s possible Barb and Janey survived The Great War if they were cryogenically frozen in Vault 31 or another subterranean location and Hank may know where.
The Ghoul – formally Cooper Howard – continues to search for his missing family. (Image credit: Prime Video)
All of this points to Hank being the show’s primary antagonist moving forward, right? Not necessarily. Speaking to IGN, Nolan simply teased “you’ll have to stay tuned” to find out if this is the case.
So, who else could it be? The season 1 finale revealed that Barb was also involved in concocting the idea of The Great War in a bid to line Vault-Tec’s pockets and ensure it was well positioned to laud it over the US after the nuclear apocalypse.
She was joined in that pivotal meeting by other scheming executives looking to make a quick buck, including RobCo owner Robert House (played by Rafi Silver). In Bethesda title Fallout: New Vegas, this Machiavellian individual (known as Mr. House in New Vegas) is the enigmatic ruler of the titular city. And, with Fallout season 2 seemingly heading to a dilapidated version of New Vegas – it’s the location we see Hank look out onto in the season 1 finale’s mid-credits scene – there’s the potential for Mr. House to take a leading, villainous role in the show’s sophomore outing.
Speaking to GQ, co-showrunner Graham Wagner didn’t exactly shoot down that possibility, saying: “We certainly intend to expand on that [the Vault-Tec meeting and its nefarious characters]. That is an interesting moment to be double-clicked, as they say, in a future story.”
The New Vegas tease isn’t the only thing that delighted long-time fans in the mid-credits scene. We also got a glimpse of a Deathclaw skull, one of the most formidable monsters in the Fallout universe. Speaking to The Wrap post-season 1 release, Wagner confirmed Deathclaws would appear in season 2, adding: “It’s such a monumental piece, we want to save something for season 2 to be able to do it properly, not just added onto the massive world building we had to do already in season 1. So season 2, we’re very excited to finally tackle one of the most iconic elements of the games.”
Let’s not forget Maximus’ role in proceedings heading into season 2. With his fellow Brotherhood of Steel, erm, brothers believing that he was the one who killed Moldaver – his friend Dane convinces them that this was the case – it seems he’s set for a more influential role in the group’s hierarchy. But, with Maximus having fallen for Lucy during the pair’s excursions across the Wasteland, coupled with his worldview being altered by all of those season 1 revelations, we expect Maximus’ allegiances to be torn between staying with the Brotherhood and wanting to find and be with Lucy.
There are plenty of other subplots that require further examination. One of the more prominent ones concerns how Norm will free himself after being trapped in Vault 31. As Arias told Inverse, Norm is “going to have to use every ounce of intellect he has to get himself out of that one”, which hints at a protracted jailbreak for Lucy’s inquisitive brother.
Will Norm and Chet ever reunite to reveal the truth about Vaults 31 to 33? (Image credit: JoJo Whilden/Prime Video)
Other notable storylines include some of Vault 33’s inhabitants resettling in the deserted Vault 32 (and whether Chet will finally reveal what actually happened there), how Moldaver survived for over 200 years without turning into a ghoul like Cooper (Choudhury declined to give away any answers when asked by Inverse), and how and when Cooper and Barb’s marriage ended. The answers to this trio lie in flashbacks to a time before The Great War and what Vault-Tec’s overarching goal is, so we can expect more glimpses into the past when season 2 rolls around.
In the present, we might catch up with Thaddeus, who believes he’s starting to become a ghoul after he consumed a mysterious serum from the cryptic Snake Oil Salesman that healed his mangled foot and saved him from a near-death experience with an arrow-based trap. We may get more details on cold fusion, a new non-Vault-Tec technological advancement that might offer hope of a brighter future for the surface-dwelling common folk. Oh, and let’s not forget Lucy and Maximus’ burgeoning romance, which is on ice for the time being, given the pair have temporarily gone their separate ways – Nolan teasing to IGN that “we’ll see if they can find each other again”.
Then there are subplots that were cut from season 1. During their chat with GQ, Wagner and fellow co-showrunner Geneva Robertson-Dworet revealed that “a cannibal encounter” was dropped for runtime purposes, but the pair are confident “we’ll find a place in season two for some of those, because some of them were really fun, and it was tragic to lose them.”
It goes without saying, but we’ll also get plenty more Easter eggs and references to the dense Fallout universe that Bethesda created in its game series. There were tons of those in season 1, so don’t be surprised if its follow-up is similarly stuffed with callbacks to the show’s action role-playing game siblings.
Fallout season 2 trailer: is there one?
Pensively waiting for that season 2 trailer to arrive like… (Image credit: JoJo Whilden/Prime Video)
No, and there won’t be a Fallout season 2 trailer for a long time. Once one is released, we’ll update this section.
Is Fallout season 2 going to be the final installment?
Can we expect Lucy and company to appear in a potential third season? (Image credit: Amazon Studios)
Nobody knows. Right now, Nolan and Co are focused on developing Fallout season 2 and that’s likely to be the case until its development is complete.
Chatting to IGN, Nolan said of plans for future seasons: “I think you have a responsibility when you undertake one of these journeys to have a bit of a plan. You’d also be foolish to not account for the things along the way… but you also want to be flexible enough and adaptable enough that you’re not locked into that. And for the obvious reason that especially these days with these shows, you want to make every season as great as you can.
“If you’re lucky enough to go again, you make a follow-up, you leave enough material and you have enough of a master plan from the beginning that you know what the next step would be, and we have been talking for some time now about the next steps for Fallout, and we’re very excited about it.”
Given the richness of Bethesda’s Fallout franchise, there’s plenty more for Prime Video’s adaptation to explore and expand on from the games. If the show doesn’t wrap up its main characters’ stories by the end of season 2, it could continue to follow them in a third installment. Alternatively, season 3 could be set in an entirely new location (not unlike the games) and introduce us to new characters to not only fall in love with but also see how they navigate a post-nuclear war-torn Earth and potentially unearth new revelations about Vault-Tec. Think along the lines of an anthology series like True Detective (now available on Max), or Fargo and American Horror Story (Hulu and Disney Plus), and you’ll get the gist.
Whatever direction Amazon’s Fallout TV series goes in, then, there’s plenty more material – old and new – to mine and explore respectively. War never changes – and neither will our adoration for this show if it continues to be as good as season 1 was. Roll on season 2 and more besides, we say.
There’s always been tons of merchandise to match the popularity of the Fallout series, and this lovely custom gaming PC is easily one of the best.
The chassis for the NZXT H6 Flow PC is based on the iconic Vault-Tec aesthetics of the game series, with the blue paint covered in old rust stains and the bright yellow highlights complementing it.
The inside also features the same design as well as the series mascot Pip-Boy, which can be seen through the glass side panel. One of the main fans even has the Nuka Cola emblem on its center, another nice touch.
(Image credit: NZXT / POPeART_)
Not only is this an incredibly well-designed desktop – from PC manufacturer NZXT and renowned hardware artist POPeART_ – but it packs some serious punch in terms of specs. It sports some of the best processors and best graphics cards with an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D processor, an AMD Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 GRE graphics card, 32GB RAM, and 2TB of storage. More than enough to handle the best PC games at the highest settings.
Unfortunately, you can’t purchase this PC anywhere, as it’s only available through a UK-based Bethesda giveaway which runs until April 26, 2024. If you wish to enter for yourself, you’ll need to be a legal resident of the UK, follow the official Bethesda UK Twitter / X account, and quote retweet the competition information.
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Fallout, Prime Video’s adaptation of the beloved game franchise, appears to be a hit: it’s currently sitting with 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and a whole bunch of rave reviews.
Inverse says it’s “as utterly addicting as it is innovative, and could very well become the new benchmark for the video game prestige series as we know it”, while Uproxx says “it manages to tread new ground within a genre that’s been covered almost too extensively thus far, mining comedy from its most mundane horror elements”.
With just eight episodes to binge in your bunker, however, it’s a pleasure that won’t last much longer than a cool bottle of Nuka-Cola. So here are three more sci-fi suggestions for you to stream on Prime Video.
Invincible
It’s hard enough being a teen without having a superhero for your dad, but that’s the cross Mark Grayson has to bear: he’s the kid of Omni-Man and has inherited powers of his own. This smart, violent and funny sci-fi animation has a whopping 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. Jessie Gender says it’s “Game of Thrones for the superhero genre”, while Consequence says “this is so much more than just another superhero cartoon. No, this is humor, mystery, drama, romance and science fiction, all rolled up into one absolutely addictive treat.” According to Ars Technica, “not even Smallville could combine YA [young adult] drama and superhero DNA this well.”
The Peripheral
Gamer Flynne Fisher is stuck in a dead end job supporting her brother and her ill mother – but when her brother asks for her help with a game, she gets dragged into something strange and dangerous. The show comes from the same creators as Westworld, and stars Chloe Grace Moretz as Flynne in a story that’s often deeply odd. io9 says “It’s a lot to take in—but hardly any of it is extraneous, and nearly every nugget of information… becomes important.” The Peripheral is an adaptation of a William Gibson novel so it’s smarter than a lot of cyberpunk sci-fi, and according to The Wrap it’s “a joy to watch” for fans for cyberpunk crime drama anime. Isn’t that everyone?
Outer Range
Josh Brolin stars in this visually stunning sci-fi western that CNET says is “intense and unnerving” and that Inverse describes as “one of the boldest, weirdest, and most affecting sci-fi shows of the 21st century”. There are some pretty strong Stranger Things vibes here, and maybe some Lost and a bit of Westworld too, and while not everybody who watched it loved it – IndieWire isn’t a fan of the sci-fi elements – The Mary Sue says it’s well worth a watch: “What’s so great about Outer Range is that it’s something fresh while having the feel of a western in all the right ways.”
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Fallout games are having a moment in the wake of glowing reviews for the new TV series adaptation on Prime Video. Amazon has added two of the series’ best games as freebies for Prime members on Luna, its cloud streaming service. Fallout 4 is also getting some love, as Bethesda said it will drop the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S update for the 2015 game on April 25.
Amazon Prime members can playFallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas on Amazon Luna for the next six months at no extra charge. Like other cloud streaming services, Luna requires a stable and low-latency internet connection since the games you play are processed on remote servers. Amazon recommends a network that can sustain at least 10Mbps for 1080p quality. An ethernet connection works best, but if you’re on Wi-Fi, using the 5GHz band is preferable if your router supports it.
They join Fallout 76, already announced as an Amazon Prime Gaming free game for April. As long as you claim it this month, you can download and keep it forever. It’s redeemable for both Xbox and PC. In addition, the game has a free-play week for all platforms. From Thursday through April 18, you can playFallout 76 for free on PlayStation, Xbox and Steam. You only need to download the game and sign in with a Bethesda account.
Bethesda
The long-delayed big console update for Fallout 4 finally arrives for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on April 25. The “next-gen” (now current-gen, if we’re being technical) version lets you choose between Performance and Quality modes for prioritizing speed or spectacle. It also supports 60fps and higher resolutions alongside stability improvements and bug fixes. The stability fixes will also arrive in a Fallout 4 update for PS4 and Xbox One consoles to provide a more dependable experience for older hardware users.
The Fallout TV series is damn good — and possibly the second-best gaming adaptation behind The Last of Us. The show starts with a bang and reels you in with magnetic characters and alluring visuals. “Fallout is more than just a video game adaptation,” Engadget’s Sam Rutherford wrote in his review. “It’s a really good show in its own right — an apocalyptically good one at that.”
Fallout is now streaming on Prime Video. It stars Ella Purnell (Yellowjackets) as Lucy, Aaron Clifton Moten (Father Stu) as Maximums, Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks) as Hank and the scene-stealing master of ornery characters, Walton Goggins (Justified), as The Ghoul.
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Fallout’s transition to TV starts with a bang (or three depending on how you’re counting). But even after the show emerges from the vault, the hits keep coming. That’s because unlike a lot of other video game adaptations that receive a thin veneer designed to appeal to fans of the source material, the essence of Fallout runs so deep throughout this series it could weather an atomic blast. Its characters are magnetic and its visuals are downright impressive. But most importantly, just like HBO’s The Last of Us, Fallout is more than just a video game adaptation. It’s a really good show in its own right – an apocalyptically good one at that.
The first thing that stands out about the show is just how good it looks. Every set and costume is packed with detail. The clean blues and yellow of vaultsuits are the perfect counterpoint to the dilapidated buildings and shaggy clothes of surface dwellers, which look so grimy you can almost feel the rads coming out of your screen. Meanwhile, Fallout’s Power Armor might be some of the best-looking live-action mech-suits this side of Pacific Rim. Locations are also incredibly diverse and fleshed out while still paying homage to the franchise that inspired them. The settlement of Filly looks almost exactly how I imagine Megaton might appear in real life, you know, aside from having a massive bomb in the middle of town. The show’s audio is also a treat, right down to the crunchy sounds of analog electronics and all the rockin’ oldies that wafting in the background (including an obligatory playing of the Inkspots’s “I don’t want to set the world on fire”).
Courtesy of Prime Video
I really liked how all the show’s easter eggs and references to the video game never felt forced. Iconic gadgets like the Pipboy help build the world while simultaneously pushing the plot forward. Even its cinematography makes callbacks to the game with slow-mo that evokes the V.A.T.S. mechanic during firefights. And all the little critters Fallout fans love and hate like rad roaches, irradiated bears and a very good canine companion make appearances that feel right at home.
Of course, all this would simply be window dressing without characters that bring the world to life. And once again the show doesn’t disappoint. As a vault dweller, Lucy MacLean (played Ella Purnelle) is the perfect foil to ease us into the world of Fallout. As she explores and adapts to the surface, we get to meet an incredible cast of characters who highlight the struggles and revel in the weirdness of a post-doomsday world. I also need to call out the casting of Walton Goggins as the Ghoul, which feels like an especially enlightened choice. This man was made for this role, and even considering some of his previous appearances in Justified and The Hateful Eight, this might be his most engaging performance yet.
Courtesy of Prime Video
The most impressive thing about the Fallout show is how it balances several different stories with grace and intrigue. So often when you have branching plotlines, one arc drags while the others shine. But in Fallout, they are woven together so well that even if one scene goes long, the show on the whole never bores. Now I will admit that those new to the franchise may need to be a bit more patient, as Maximus’ arc and the story surrounding the Brotherhood of Steel takes some time to get rolling.
Perhaps the biggest issue with Fallout is its brutality. This is not a series for the faint of heart. Warning: There is some animal cruelty and there’s so much gore that a regular bullet wound seems tame in comparison. It’s also important to mention that the jump from pixels to live action adds even more impact to this. But coming from a franchise that’s reveled in crass and crudeness since the beginning, it would feel weird any other way.
Courtesy of Prime Video
As a fan of the franchise, there’s always a little trepidation when a game tests the waters of a new medium. But Fallout has absolutely nailed it. And looking back, it probably shouldn’t have been a surprise, because unlike Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat whose stories always felt like afterthoughts, it was the world and the characters of Fallout that kept people coming back to the wasteland. While the game may have provided the blueprint to make the show a success, this adaptation can stand on its own.
The Fallout series is available to stream today starting at 9PM ET on Amazon Prime Video.
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Fallout TV show creator Jonathan Nolan says that “really cool conversations” have taken place about a possible second season amid reports that a follow-up is already in development.
Speaking exclusively to TechRadar, Nolan – who also directed the Amazon series’ first three episodes – suggested that Prime Video’s Fallout TV show wouldn’t end after a single season. However, when I pressed him for more details on what a second season could be about, Nolan was hesitant to confirm anything official, choosing instead to tentatively tease that more stories might be in the pipeline.
The forthcoming Prime Video series is set in the same universe as the Fallout games developed by Bethesda. Each title in the studio’s ever-expanding dystopian action-RPG franchise is based in a different location, with new characters to interact with, monsters to fight, settlements to visit, and missions to complete. In that sense, Fallout is an anthology-style game series that puts players in the shoes of a new protagonist with each new release.
Sitting around waiting for that Fallout season 2 renewal like… (Image credit: Amazon Studios)
Fallout‘s TV adaptation, then, seems tailormade to adopt a compendium-like form of seasonal storytelling akin to Bethesda’s ‘new game, new location’ mantra. And, with popular and award-winning duo Fargo (one of the best Hulu shows) and True Detective (one of the best Max shows) recently leading the anthology TV show charge, there’s clearly a market for this kind of TV-based narrative format. So, is that a creative path that Nolan would look to walk? Or would he prefer to continue the journeys of season 1’s protagonists?
“It’s an ongoing conversation I’ve had with [Fallout co-showrunners] Geneva [Robertson-Dworet] and Graham [Wagner] about how the show moves forward,” Nolan said. “We’ve had some really cool conversations about it but, for now, we’re concentrating on one great season of television. If there are enough people out there who love it, and we’re lucky to get the chance to go again, then we’ll be playing in the same space, but not necessarily with the same elements.”
Has Fallout season 2 secretly been renewed by Amazon?
Don’t look so sad, Lucy – Fallout season 2 might be happening! (Image credit: Prime Video/JoJo Whilden)
Taken at face value, Nolan’s answer is an evasive one – and, really, that’s to be expected. If Fallout season 2 has already been greenlit by Amazon, he’s not going to confirm the series’ renewal before an official Prime Video announcement is made. Given the streaming industry’s penchant for canceling shows, regardless of how popular they are, it wouldn’t be in Nolan’s best interests to reveal potential season 2 plans ahead of time in case Fallout isn’t the big hit I expect it to be.
That said, there are rumors that Fallout season 2 is already in development. Yesterday (April 9), The Hollywood Reporter suggested that Amazon’s Fallout series had been gifted a $25 million tax credit by the California Film Commission (CFC) to try to coax its cast and crew to relocate production from New York to the west coast.
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Now, this isn’t confirmation that Fallout season 2 is on the way, but the CFC only offers these financial packages to projects that have all but been confirmed (well, at least internally by the studio that’s making them). At this point, then, it’s very likely – although again, I’m keen to stress that this isn’t confirmation of a second season of Fallout – that another installment has secretly been greenlit.
FALLOUT, now arriving April 10 @ 6 p.m. PT. pic.twitter.com/a31D8Q5AqLApril 9, 2024
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While we wait for the seemingly inevitable news that Fallout season 2 is in the works, there’s another slice of good news where one of the best Prime Video shows (potentially, anyway) is concerned.
As the X/Twitter post above confirms, Fallout season 1 is due to launch on Prime Video, aka one of the world’s best streaming services, earlier than anticipated in the US. The live-action show was originally set to be released worldwide on Thursday, April 11, with all eight episodes dropping simultaneously. However, US audiences will be able to stream it a few hours earlier than expected. Fallout will now make its Prime Video debut on Wednesday, April 10 at 6pm PT / 9pm ET. UK and Australian viewers, however, will have to wait until April 11 at 2am BST / 11am AEST to watch it.
Bethesda boss Todd Howard has opened up on the one big difference between the iconic Falloutvideogame series and its Prime Video TV adaptation.
Speaking exclusively to TechRadar, Howard revealed that he was keen for Amazon‘s live-action take on Fallout to explore what the world was like prior to events depicted in the popular post-apocalyptic first-person shooter (FPS) games.
The franchise is set on a dystopian Earth, on an alternate timeline, hundreds of years after The Great War. The cataclysmic event, which occurred on October 23, 2077, sees the US and China engage in all-out thermonuclear war, resulting in the deaths of billions and the end of civilization as we know it. However, while each game in Bethesda’s beloved series explores the, well, fallout from the in-universe Sino-American War, none of them have explicitly shown said events to players in the 27 years since the franchise began.
Lucy, arguably the Fallout TV show’s main protagonist, emerges from Vault 33 into a desolate, seemingly uninhabitable world. (Image credit: Amazon Studios)
Howard, who has overseen development of each game since 2008’s Fallout 3, believes Amazon’s Fallout TV show is incredibly faithful to almost every aspect of the franchise that Bethesda created. He admits, though, that the decision to depict The Great War in the TV adaptation – a stunning but harrowing sequence that plays out in the first seven minutes of episode one – was a necessity to immerse audiences old and new in the story it tells.
“The big [change] was exploring the past,” he told me. “In our [mine and creator Jonathan Nolan’s] initial conversations, we knew we wanted to tell a new story that feels like a new chapter in the Fallout series, much like we do with the games, where each one has its own geography and story, but still has all of the hallmarks of previous titles.
“We both wanted to do that with the show, but the one thing we could never do in the games was [explore] the past. The way Jonah and everyone else has explored what the US was like, what’s the threat of the atomic bomb and what will people do if a nuclear war happens, what’s the Red Scare, who’s Vault-Tec… they brought all this fabulous history and lore to Fallout. All these things then affect the present day characters in the show, so it was a treat for me and everyone at Bethesda who has worked on Fallout to think ‘Oh, this is really fresh, but it’s also quintessential Fallout‘.
‘It’s horrifying… I was so surprised with the finished product’
Hank MacLean is one of the many Vault-33 inhabitants who knows little to nothing about life before The Great War. (Image credit: JoJo Whilden/Prime Video)
Having seen Fallout‘s first four episodes – look out for my review shortly – I can say, without spoiling too much, that the show’s examination of a pre-Great War Earth is flamboyant, elegantly retrofuturistic and fully lived-in. Through the eyes of big-screen star Cooper Howard (Walton Goggins), we get to see what life was like before the bombs fell, with flashback sequences interspersed through the show’s primary present-day events.
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It’s the aforementioned beginnings of The Great War, though, that are – perhaps unsurprisingly – the most striking and moving aspect of hat exploration. Fallout‘s various trailers and clips have invited us to a hilariously grim party at the end of the world and shown us some funny Western stand-off-style action, but its opening salvo of inescapable horror is as chilling, albeit not as long as, an opening as viewers were treated to with The Last of Us‘ TV adaptation on Max. Indeed, as Goggins and fellow cast member Kyle McLachlan, who plays Vault-33 oversees Hank MacLean, told me, they were emotionally floored by seeing said scene for the first time.
“Watching the show’s first seven minutes with an audience was illuminating but horrifying,” Goggins revealed. “Any version of trauma, at any level, is tough to see, but I was so surprised by the finished product and seeing how emotional everyone, who I watched it with, was. I think that’s when the show is at its best – it’s funny, but there are real consequences for the people involved.”
“The impact of those opening minutes is profound,” McLachlan added. “Cooper is trying to save his daughter and make everything okay but, as an audience member, I also found myself thinking ‘oh, we – society – have really let them [the generations to come] down’. This was in the powers that be’s control and in their power to pre-empt, but they didn’t. There are many themes in our show, but I think its examination of having responsibility, taking action, and living with your choices is one of the more powerful ones.”
Look out for more exclusives from Howard, Nolan, and the show’s main cast with myself in the lead-up to Fallout‘s April 11 launch on Prime Video.
While I know first-hand how awesome the digital world of technology is – if I didn’t love it then I’d be in the wrong profession – I’m also the first to admit it can all get a little overwhelming.
Back in January, I offered my personal board game recommendations to help you fend off the New Year blues without turning on a screen, and this month I want to do the same for three trading card games (TCGs) that I love – and that don’t require any tech for you to enjoy them.
More importantly, they’ve all just had new releases on March 8. So if you’re reading this when it gets published, your friendly local game store might be running events where you can check these games out in a beginner-friendly environment.
Card games are my go-to way to get away from tech, and I’ve found that they’ve been a really useful tool for meeting new people so I can combat the rise in loneliness brought about in the post-pandemic era we find ourselves in. I hope they can help you too.
So, with that all in mind, here are my low-fi, low-tech recommendations for March 2023.
Magic The Gathering x Fallout
Rather than gaming on a PS5 or one of the best gaming laptops, why not bring the game to the kitchen table with one of the new Fallout Commander Decks for Magic The Gathering. Of the three TCGs on this list, Magic is by far my favorite, and Commander is one of the best ways to play the game.
Ideally played with four players (though games with more or fewer players are allowed), each person has a 100-card deck – one stack of 99 and a 100th ‘Commander’ that sits separately from the rest and can be cast at any time during your turn. By playing a mixture of lands and spells, your goal is to bring your opponent’s life totals from 40 to zero (you can also win if their deck runs out of cards or you achieve a special win condition based on the cards you play) before you’re eliminated.
(Image credit: Shutterstock / Ivan Krivenko)
Because of its multiplayer format, I find Commander is more casual and a lot more social than other card games. It’s easier to chat during matches, and sometimes you’ll need to work together with other players rather than against them to stop whoever is ahead from stomping you both.
What makes these Fallout decks special is that they feature exclusive new game pieces and reprints of iconic cards from the game’s 30-year-long history that show characters, themes, and items from the Fallout video game series – which is soon to be a TV show on Prime Video.
There are four to choose from: ‘Scrappy Survivors’ headed up by Fallout 4’s loyal canine companion Dogmeat, ‘Hail Caeser’ for all of you who love to play the villain, ‘Science!’ if you’re fascinated by Fallout’s Nuclear science, or ‘Mutant Menace’ if you’re interested in irradiated monsters and hazards that have been left in wake of the ‘Great War.’
(Image credit: Bethesda)
If you’ve never played Magic before, picking up one of these decks is an excellent place to start. Not only does it take all the hassle out of designing your deck – a challenge for newer players – but while I’ve yet to use one of these specific decks myself, I’ve seen plenty of preconstructed Commander decks like these win games straight out of the box.
You can also bling out your new deck with exclusive-Fallout Collector Boosters which offer exclusive reprints and artwork not found in the decks. Though the disadvantage is you don’t know what you’re getting, and one pack can be pricey – so you might be better off buying the exact card you want from your local game store or online (I use eBay and Cardmarket).
Lorcana: Into the Inklands
If you prefer Disney to Fallout or are a little newer to TCGs and frightened by the complexity of the game, then you might want to try Lorcana instead – a game that brings the best Disney films to life in cardboard form.
The game shares a lot of similarities with Magic, chiefly that you have a resource – Ink in your Inkwell – that you use to summon iconic Disney characters, play items, and use special powers. But it has several advantages that I think make it way more approachable for people who aren’t super familiar with card games – while still being a blast for veterans like myself.
The first is that the new Into the Inklands set is only the game’s third expansion. While it does add an exciting new card type – Locations that your characters can visit, and that offer benefits for as long as you have them in play – the card pool is still very easy to wrap your head around.
(Image credit: Future)
Also, the recognizability of the Disney characters puts their abilities into context.
The Titans in Hercules are all about destroying Greece and Olympus, so it makes sense that they like to mess with Locations in Lorcana; there are famously 99 Dalmatian puppies (with mum and dad Perdita and Pongo making 101) so it makes sense that you can have 99 of them in your deck instead of the usual limit of four; and the Mousketeers are all about protecting Princess Minnie in the film, so, of course, they’d be Bodyguards who protect your other characters.
Lastly, Lorcana has simplified a few rules you might know from Magic. Rather than special cards you use for Ink, you can play most cards face down in your Inkwell to build up your resources – making deckbuilding way simpler. Plus, opponents can’t play cards on your turn, so you generally only have to worry about what’s on the table in front of you, especially hidden info that can disrupt your strategy for each turn.
(Image credit: Ravensburger / Disney)
If you’re looking to try the game out, a draft or sealed event at your local game store is an excellent way to start. Everyone only plays with the cards they open at the event so you don’t have to fret about someone stomping you with a deck they’ve dropped hundreds on.
Alternatively, a couple of starter decks can be a fun way to learn with a friend. They aren’t the most competitive, but they are well-balanced against each other and show off most of the core mechanics.
Star Wars: Unlimited
Lastly, if you feel three set releases are still too many then why not try Star Wars Unlimited? It has just launched its first-ever set. So if you go and play you’ll be just as much of a noob as anyone else there.
This also means this is the game I’m least familiar with – I’ve only played it once or twice – but so far it seems to be a blast.
It combines a few ideas already seen in this list – the familiarity of characters and locations, cards as your resource (here called Resources), and the Commander (here called a Leader, who’s paired with a Base of your choice) from Magic The Gathering. But there’s also a lot of freedom that satisfies the Unlimited name.
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(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
If Luke Skywalker is your Leader, you’re incentivized to play Heroism and Vigilance cards – aspects that fit his on-screen personality. But if you want to throw the odd Villainy or Aggression card in, you can embrace the Dark Side – albeit at a cost of more resources.
Because it’s so new, your local store will likely be running lots of beginner-friendly events. I’ve found store staff are generally very happy to help TCG newcomers get to grips with any of the options on this list (as well as others like Pokemon, Flesh and Blood, and One Piece), and they should be especially ready to aid you and others with this completely new release.
There’s also a Starter Kit on sale that comes with two decks and a bunch of handy cardboard and paper accessories so you and a friend can get up to speed on the new Star Wars Unlimited experience in your own time.
