Top 10 Things to Know About Fallout if You Haven't Played the Games

From an outsider’s perspective, it can seem a bit odd in how “Fallout” is set in the far future, and yet everyone dresses and talks as if it is still the 1950s. The show never dives into this facet, so allow us to give a general explanation. With World War II introducing the power of nuclear technology, American politicians, scientists, and engineers began entertaining the idea of using nuclear energy in various everyday items. Of course, this effort never moved forward for a variety of reasons, such as the financial costs and, well, the obvious safety hazards. “Fallout” explores an alternate history where the fantasy became a reality and ultimately led to a world of violence birthed from the greed of corporations, most notably Vault-Tec.

While the “Fallout” TV series takes place in California, we have a hard time believing parts of it would look as lush and green after a nuclear apocalypse as it does in the show. We say this because none of the games ever look this lively. Sure, there are forests and some plant life, but for the most part, locations in the games are desolate, decrepit, and devoid of anything healthy-looking. If you decide to go play the games, you’ll find that much of your time will be spent trekking across lands covered in sand, dust, and ash with many landmarks being man-made from parts or built upon now decimated architecture. The only shade of green you’ll ever see will be from your Pip Boy or the blast of a plasma-based weapon.

At first, “Fallout” can seem like it goes way too hard on the gore and violence, more than many other TV-MA shows tend to. Some would easily dismiss this as the show trying to attain some level of shock value. On the contrary, this is very much in-line with the games. With the exception of the free-to-play “Fallout Shelter”, every game in the franchise has received an M for Mature rating, and excessive violence and gore are the biggest reasons why. The games even have perks you can obtain to make your enemy’s death even more explosive while giving you a small bonus in damage across all weapons. In our eyes, it seemed everyone in the show was running the Bloody Mess perk.

As you already learned from the “Fallout” show, Ghouls are humans who were exposed to an obscene amount of radiation. For better or worse, this has resulted in these people holding extensive lifespans at the cost of their skin and mental deterioration. Eventually, Ghouls can go feral, but as to how long until then… Well, that is yet to be answered. The show introduces a substance that supposedly prevents a Ghoul from turning feral. The games on the other hand never introduced this or ever gave an explanation as to how or when a Ghoul turns from civil to feral. They just do, and it happens whenever it happens.

“Fallout” the show places a heavy focus on Vault-Tec’s role in causing the nuclear apocalypse, with one scene explaining how they managed to obtain the funds to make and sell Vaults to people. And yes, all one hundred plus vaults were made just so a few individuals could play God and create programs for their buyers to “rebuild” society. Each game in the franchise hides a handful of these Vaults for players to discover, and they all harbor secrets that can range from the simply odd to the totally messed up. One Vault may have succumbed to mutated monster plants while another simply cloned a dude named Gary a bunch of times.

There are a few occasions in the “Fallout” show where characters use an item called a Stimpak to heal their wounds instantly. If you were one of the folks who thought it impossible for someone to recover so quickly just because of an injection, we can’t blame you for thinking so, but that is really how Stimpaks work in the “Fallout” games. Stimpaks are made from a mixture of stimulants and healing agents that were made to significantly accelerate an organism’s regenerative abilities. According to John Cassidy in “Fallout 2”, Stimpaks were made in massive abundance before the Great War. Yeah, it was a pretty easy way to insert video game mechanics into a story.

While we’re on the subject of video game mechanics, we should probably address all the injuries in “Fallout” that should have left a character mortally wounded, if not dead. From Maximus’s bullet wound to Thaddeus’s smashed foot, it’s hard to believe anyone could survive most of the violence inflicted upon them. We’d like to believe the show is secretly adhering to and making their characters with the “S.P.E.C.I.A.L.” system. Designed in the games for your character’s stats in Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility and Luck, we can believe someone like Maximus has a high enough stat in Endurance to survive a bullet wound. Cooper Howard, aka “The Ghoul”, probably has high stats in Perception, Charisma, and/or Agility, which would explain his exceptional gunslinger skills (not to mention his backstory).

One mechanic of the “Fallout” games that does not make itself known in the show is the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System, or “V.A.T.S.”. This allows users to identify and target specific body parts. Successfully landing hits can potentially cripple your enemy and inflict critical damage. Not once does the show allude to this mechanic in any way, shape, or form. This is probably because the game comes to a complete stop when the player activates V.A.T.S. You gotta keep the show rolling and not get too deep in the mud with the video game stuff, you know?

Towards the end of “Fallout’s” first season, characters talk of factions inflicting fear to convince others to believe in their truths. One faction that we saw at play in the show’s beginning was the Enclave. Newcomers may only know of the Enclave in terms of Siggi Wilzig’s escape with Dogmeat, but booting up “Fallout 2” or “Fallout 3” will reveal an even more sinister side of the organization. Though it looked and sounded patriotic in anthems and its leaders’ voices, the Enclave conducted inhumane experiments while exercising authoritarian practices to control their followers, all in the name of creating “the true humans.” We’re anticipating they’ll be making their presence more known in “Fallout’s” second season.

Oddly enough, “Fallout” makes a glaring omission when it comes to the other enemies and races from the games. Sure, we saw the Assaultron head in the second episode, but where are the Protectrons or Robobrains? Perhaps the biggest omissions of all were the Super Mutants. Even though they were mentioned in passing once or twice, these green hulks weren’t seen in any of the episodes. These folks are just as mysterious as the Ghouls on account of their varying levels of intelligence. You’ll come across plenty of hostile super mutants, but most of the “Fallout” games also introduce settlements of much more civil and organized super mutants. But between the Deathclaw skull and the wide shot of New Vegas that concludes Season one, perhaps fan favorite super mutants Marcus and Lily are scheduled to make an appearance in Season Two?

Before we get the second season, which “Fallout” game are you planning to tackle first? Let us know down in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo for more great videos everyday!