Fallout Season 2 Critics Are Missing The Point, Life Before Bethesda

Over the years, it’s fair to say that video game to TV and film adaptations have been very cursed. As a huge fan of Resident Evil, this community of survival horror enthusiasts perhaps know this more than most.

Thankfully, it feels like in recent times, that curse has been lifted somewhat. Sure, it’s far from perfect, after all, we had season two of HBO’s The Last of Us (this is coming from a huge fan). Let’s face it, those writers turned our Ellie into an unlikeable fool.

However, for every negative, we’ve had positives, such as season one of The Last of Us, the Sonic the Hedgehog movies, and the topic of today’s discussion, Fallout. The latter of which has recently entered its second season on Amazon’s Prime Video streaming platform.

As a fan that dabbled in the original games from the '90s and truly fell for the series with 2006’s Fallout 3 (Bethesda’s first release in the series), Amazon’s live-action adaptation, in my opinion, is not only a faithful adaptation that veteran fans will appreciate, but it’s produced in a way that new fans can enjoy it just as much.

In my opinion, the essence that the live-action series has captured is its tongue-in-cheek and dark humour. That being said, seeing as humour is incredibly subjective, it’s garnered a passionate discussion with Fallout fans on Reddit.

Maximus in live-action Fallout series, Amazon Prime Video

Fallout Has Always Brought Plenty Of Laughs

“Certain reasons why people are upset with the TV show highlight just how many people have not played Fallout 1 or 2,” said a Reddit user, kicking off a topical discussion.

Much of the humour in the original two Fallout games focused on the Cold War and the paranoia of nuclear propaganda. A lot of the humour, due to the trimetric/pseudo perspective, is delivered via text (as well as some visuals).

In the series from Fallout 3, due to being able to play the game in first and third-person, sure, plenty of humour was delivered in text form, but it also had a large shift towards a more in-your-face formula. It might also be fair to say that humour post-Fallout 3 was also a little more silly (in a good way).

“There is no humour in Fallout! Meanwhile, Dr Klein and FISTO,” replied Rooobviously, mentioning two popular characters from Fallout: New Vegas.

“Gangs of Elvis impersonators, pint-sized slashers, delusional fighting men who think they are superheroes, giant robots that spout hilarious anti-communism slogans, tunnel snakes, robots convinced that they are pirates, Gary Vault... This list could go on forever,” explained HeyNowHoldOn

“Fallout is purposefully ridiculous and stupid. It is what makes it so special. I truly do not understand how people play these games and have blinders to the ridiculous nature of it all. If the games were dead serious, the fun would be gone,” they concluded.

“I feel like the tone of the modern games is generally still pretty silly,” said TheMightyCatatafish. “I thought the show captured the spirit of the games incredibly well. I’m having a blast with it.”

“As someone who grew up playing the originals, I never thought I'd ever see it grow to the point of having a TV show,” exclaimed ROACHOR. “The people who whine about minor crap should be grateful it exists.”

There are four more episodes to go in season two of Fallout, ending on 4 February 2026, which will then begin the agonising wait for the next outing.