Like the ashy remains of a nuclear holocaust, the days until the premiere of the Amazon Prime adaptation of Fallout drift away. The series, which will star Ella Purnell (Yellowjackets), Walton Goggins (The Righteous Gemstones) and Aaron Moten (Disjointed), will drop its eight episodes on April 11, and no one is hungrier for it than the starved-for-content Fallout fans. The rabid supporters of all things post-apocalyptic have thoroughly dissected every ounce of news that has seeped out of executive producer Jonathan Nolan and Bethesda director Todd Howard’s collective grip; indeed, some say that the show’s reputation will be built on its reverence to previously-established lore, of which the series’ notes, journals, and terminals provide in spades.
Flick a Fallout fan a tidbit of a reference or even a full-fledged Easter egg and we will lap it up greedily like thirsty mutant hounds. Unfortunately though, we can be just as zealous when it comes to taking possible contradictions to task, so one misstep could cost the TV show greatly. So how to best prepare for the upcoming adventure in the Wasteland, dear gamer? Likely the same way the cast and crew of the TV series best prepared, and that’s to dive back into the rich legacy of the Fallout games.
What to Do Before Fallout Premieres on Amazon
MAKE THOSE SPURS GO JINGLE JANGLE JINGLE
The best place to start, according to some basics about the show we know right from the jump, is to give Fallout: New Vegas another playthrough – or a first playthrough if you’ve never experienced this gem. To start, we know that the story centers around Vault 33, a vault located in the Southern California area, which is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from New Vegas. We also know that in the canon timeline, this happens after the events of New Vegas as well as Fallout 3 and 4. In fact, we know that the TV series happens after the events of all of the Fallout games. Fallout: New Vegas is the latest in the canon timeline to happen on the West Coast, so it would be a good point to catch up on the goings-on in that part of the Wasteland.
Though a canon ending is never specified, speculation suggests that the ending where the NCR defeats Caesar’s Legion at the Second Battle of Hoover Dam is most likely, with Mr. House as a semi-benevolent autocrat coming in second. We recommend playing through New Vegas with either the NCR or Mr. House as your faction of favor, as it may most closely replicate how things are in the current NCR… or were.
REMIND YOURSELF OF THE PLAYERS ON THE WESTERN STAGE
If you don’t have the time for a full Fallout: New Vegas playthrough, it would at least behoove you to know who your major players on the Western front of the Wasteland are. The most obvious, though the faction we’ve seen the least of from the trailers, is the New California Republic, or NCR. The seeds of the faction were planted in the first Fallout with Aradesh, Tandy, and the settlement of Shady Springs. By the time we see the NCR again in Fallout: New Vegas they’re more than just a tiny settlement – they have their own military forces, government, and currency. They truly have split themselves off from the rest of the Wasteland… but they’ll be back soon enough to try to conquer it. In the name of America, of course.
The Brotherhood of Steel is also present, but it’s important to note that in New Vegas, the Brotherhood is a shell of what they once were. Though their East Coast counterparts were bold, brash, brazen even, the Mojave Brotherhood chapter is hiding in bunkers in Hidden Valley. Rumor has it that Mr. House will make some sort of appearance, and the power he wields over the New Vegas Strip is ironclad. Rangers, Gun Runners, and your friendly neighborhood Raider may have influence in the Southern Californian Wasteland as well, so refresh yourself of those who would Follow the Apocalypse in the Old Mormon Fort, or be a Child of the Cathedral found in the decaying remnants of Los Angeles.
REPLAY – WHO ARE WE TRYING TO KID, PLAY FOR THE FIRST TIME – THE FIRST TWO FALLOUT GAMES
The Interplay-produced Fallout titles, Fallout and Fallout 2, take place in the very areas that the show will take place in; namely the Southern Californian Wastes, so surely they’re chock-full of good lore.
Not that any of us will ever know, because, come off it, you’ve never played either title all the way through.
Honestly, I lived through the 1990s, and I don’t blame you. The first two titles have such a stiff difficulty that “Mega Man Hard” became a downy-soft setting on your dryer. The original Fallout was as C of a CRPG as the ‘90s could possibly produce, with zero mercy and exactly no time to “git gud.” If players weren’t used to what CRPGs could pitch at them, such as awkward mousing over a hexagonal grid, clunky barter menus, and cruel difficulty, most of them just waited until Bethesda bought the rights to the IP for the third game.
CHECK OUT THE LATEST TRAILER… AGAIN.
Admit it… just like every Fallout fan, you’ve watched the trailer at least 17 times already. Give it one more go.
DIAL UP MR. NEW. VEGAS
Nothing can get a distraught courier back on their feet like an ice-cold Sunset Sasparilla and the sweet, dulcet tunes of Mr. New Vegas. He loves ya, and thinks you’re as pretty as the day you met.
Several YouTube channels, for those of us still living in Pre-War times, actually have the full playlist that can be heard on the Courier’s Pip-Boy in Fallout: New Vegas. Pick one and pump your ears full of the likes of Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Peggy Lee, and feel the Mojave radiation take over, putting you in just the right mindset to see what awaits the residents of Vault 33.
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Fallout premieres on Amazon Prime Video April 11, 2024. Subscription to the streaming service required.
