Commentary: ‘Fallout’ Nails All The Walking 

Playing a video game is an interesting experience. The action and the shooting usually takes up a lot of the attention. So when a game-to-screen adaptation comes around, that’s usually the main focus. However, there’s a lot that happens in a game that’s pretty mundane. In fact, Fallout players will spend a vast majority of their time just walking across the wasteland while getting from one location to another. Of course, the Fallout TV series employs plenty of action and ridiculous game-related antics. But it also has its characters walking across vast stretches of land, which is exactly what it’s actually like to play the game.

The series follows Lucy (Ella Purnell), a woman who grew up in a community fallout shelter. Her father eventually leaves the shelter because of a secret agenda he kept from her. Determined to discover his secrets, Lucy leaves the shelter and goes after him, venturing across a post-apocalyptic wasteland of monsters and outlaws. Along the way she encounters a centuries-old ghoul named Cooper (Walton Goggins). He is in search of family he believes is still alive. Although they have different goals, the two form a temporary partnership as they journey together.

There are some vehicles in the world of Fallout, but they aren’t readily accessible for Lucy and the Ghoul. Instead, the two just walk. There are settlements and outposts along the way. But the wasteland is mostly just dead space occupied by sporadic pockets raiders. There’s nothing for the two to do but stride in the direction they are headed with nothing more than each other’s company. This is an accurate recreation of the games. By design, the Fallout titles force its players to venture across large expanses, either meeting obstacles head-on or finding ways around them. It gives each playthrough a great sense of exploration and it translates very well in the television series.

Fallout is now streaming on Amazon Prime.