Prime Video’sFalloutseries is a smash hit with fans and critics. The series isCertified Fresh at 94% on Rotten Tomatoesand is being hailed by fans as an excellent video game adaptation. Starring Walton Goggins, Ella Purnell, and Aaron Moten,Falloutis set in a post-apocalyptic, retro-futuristic (try saying that three times fast) world ravaged by nuclear war. The series follows the three distinctly different survivors as their personal quests become intertwined in a hunt to find a scientist’s head and alter the future of the wasteland.
Series creators Graham Wagner and Geneva Robertson-Dworet put painstaking detail into translating every element from the beloved video games to the screen.Falloutis filled with Easter eggsand nods that fans of the games are sure to pick up on, and incorporates the games' lore into its original story. However,there is one major feature from the video games that Prime Video’s adaptation forgot to include.
Fallout Didn’t Include the V.A.T.S. System
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V.A.T.S., otherwise known as the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System, is a fundamental feature ofFalloutand has been a staple of the series sinceFallout 3(2008). BeforeFallout 4vastly improved the series' shooting mechanics, V.A.T.S. was essential for players to master to survive combat encounters.The system slowed down time and allowed players to target specific parts of their enemies. The system was integrated into the game’s core mechanics, improving as the player leveled up their SPECIAL stats and via perks.
Fallout Showrunner Says Season 2 Is “Ready to Go”
Fallout’s showrunner, Graham Wagner “started working on Season 2” as soon as Season 1 wrapped.
Falloutis not subtle in its inclusion ofelements from the games. The design of the vaults and power armor are taken, pixel for pixel, from the games.But the V.A.T.S. system isn’t mentioned in the show.It feels strange that a system integral to the video games was hardly referenced in Prime Video’s series. For a series that was so overt with its incorporation of features from the games, there are many ways V.A.T.S. could have appeared in the series. The targeting system could have popped up in the HUD of Maximus' (Aaron Moten) power armor. Alternatively, the feature could have been referenced in one of the many shots of Lucy’s (Ella Purnell) Pip-Boy – the wrist-mounted computer.
Prime Video’sFalloutseries feels closest in design to the later entries in the video games, primarilyFallout 4andFallout 76. Both games featured greatly improved shooting mechanics, similar toCall of Duty, and V.A.T.S. became more optional for players to use. However, games likeFallout: New Vegasrelied on the targeting system to counteract its difficult shooting design. With the final shot of Prime Video’s series showcasing the unmistakable New Vegas skyline, there is a chance that V.A.T.S. could appear in the eagerly anticipated second season as the series has officially been greenlit.
Some fans believe the series references the system in an early episode. WhenThe Ghoul (Walton Goggins)is spraying lead at the citizens of Filly, the action sequence features a lot of slow-motion shots. The V.A.T.S. system didn’t just slow down time when players are aiming; it also featured a ‘bullet time’ style kill-cam as the player’s projectile (be it a bullet, a mini-nuke, or Jangles the Moon Monkey) hits its target. The series uses slow motion to showcase the ‘Bloody Mess’ (aFallout 4perk) The Ghoul makes as his explosive rounds (anotherFalloutfeature) rip through the bodies of raiders. While thismay be a subtle nod to the V.A.T.S. system, fans still want to see the system explicitly shown in future seasons of the show.
Fallout Is Still an Amazing Video Game Adaptation
Falloutnot featuring the V.A.T.S. system doesn’t, at all, make it a bad video game adaptation. The show is still near perfect in its translation of the games to live-action. After decades of Hollywood studios missing the mark withvideo game adaptations, gamers are finally relieved to see a consistent run of movies and shows getting it right.
Of course, the most prominent example is HBO’sThe Last of Us, but Netflix has also nailed it with theirArcaneandCastlevaniaanimated shows. TheSonic the Hedgehogfranchise has also seen tremendous success with its feature film adaptations, andThe Super Mario Bros. Moviewas also a hit last year. Surprisingly, even theAngry Birds Movieresonated reasonably well with critics and audiences in 2016. However, Prime Video’sFalloutis perhaps the least ashamed of its video game roots and embraces these features in its storytelling.
Fallout’s Full Season Drop Highlights Its Biggest Issue
Prime Video’s decision to release Fallout Season 1 all at once does a disservice to the series by undercutting its season-long mysteries.
While the design and setting are easilytaken from theFalloutgames, Wagner and Robertson-Dworet, along with series producer and director Jonathan Nolan, have even incorporated aspects from the games into the dialogue. When Lucy and Maximus meet two travelers on a bridge, with Maximus and the strangers preparing to fight each other, Lucy attempts to talk them out of potential conflict so they can pass each other peacefully. Fans have likened this moment to the speech checks that appear regularly throughout the series and are based on the player’s Charisma skill.
Earlier in the series, when Lucy encounters a half-naked man in front of his ruined house and asks him for directions, she does so with her gun instinctively pointed at him, then realizes and puts the weapon down. This is a distinct reference to the first-person camera in theFalloutgames, which always makes it appear as though the player is pointing their weapon at NPCs when talking to them until, after a certain amount of time, the weapon is automatically dropped from the frame.
WithFalloutSeason 1 being immensely popular, exploding to the top of Prime Video’s streaming chart immediately upon release,Season 2 has finally been confirmed.Luckily, audiences will eventually get an answer to thecliffhanger endingFalloutwas left on.Season 1 ofFalloutis streaming now on Prime Video.
