Fallout Episode 1 (Review)

There will be some spoilers ahead, so if you haven't seen the show yet, maybe give this post a miss until you have.

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It's Really Good So Far

I've only watched the first episode, and while I wanted to continue on to the second episode last night, I was too tired so we decided to save it until tonight to continue watching.

I watched it with my partner who has never played a Fallout game, so it was interesting hearing her questions throughout.

One of the first things she mentioned was during the opening of the show, which was set in the Pre-war times right before the bombs dropped.

The show had the 1950s Americana style, blended with modern tech, such as Mr. Handy robots - common in the Fallout games - and she said it looks old, but the house looks too modern.

I was like, yeah, that's Fallout and kind of chuckled. I wonder how many people are watching the show while knowing nothing about the game series that made this show possible.

It feels very Fallout, and there are many moments of quirkiness, coupled with violence, and gore, which fits the tone common amongst all of the games.

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West Coast, or East Coast?

I was delighted to see that it's set on the West Coast, as it gives the possibility of potentially seeing places, and potentially characters from Fallout 1, 2, and even New Vegas.

The TV show is set in the year 2296, which is set 219 years after the great war of 2077.

Fallout: New Vegas is set in the year 2281, so characters from that game could appear in the show.

Some characters/ factions I'd love to see would be, The Fiends, The Great Kahns, or even The Kings. I don't know if any of these factions will appear, or if the show will make it as far as the Mojave Wasteland, but it would be cool to see a few cameos.

Fallout 2 is set in 2241, so characters may not show up from that or Fallout 1, however, Ghoul characters/ super mutants may, as they are semi-immortal.

One character who appeared in both Fallout 1, 2, and 3 is Harold, the friendly Ghoul who is famous for having a tree growing out of his head who he calls Bob.

Harold at some point traveled from the West Coast to the East, where he put down roots in Washington DC. However, for them to add him into this show they'd need to change the canon slightly as Fallout 3 is set in 2277, so I'm not holding my breath in seeing him appear.

Another character though who may appear is Marcus, the super mutant who appeared in both Fallout 2, and New Vegas.

I'm fine with potentially seeing no characters appear from the games as cameos because I'm interested in seeing their own original creations. Some of the factions would be good to see, as well as locations we know of.

The BOS showed up in the first episode, which was a given, We saw some vault life, which was cool, and I assume - since we're on the West Coast - we'll see the NCR.

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One Thing I Noticed

In the first game the concept of the vaults, and living underground for many years gave the original creators some ideas for adverts to help vault dwellers prepare for a life outside of the vault, and this has been a common thing among all of the games.

One of the adverts I remember is one where they stressed the importance of wearing protective eye gear when emerging, as generations of no sun could make your eyes extremely sensitive to sunlight.

It would have been a nice call back if the main character had used some type of goggles when leaving the vault, but it's just a nitpick and since that's one of the only things that could have been changed, the first episode done well to set up the rest of the series.