Fallout changed the game when it came to video game adaptations. The Prime Video series came across like a response to HBO’s The Last of Us, but Fallout zigged where The Last of Us zagged. The Last of Us was incredibly faithful to the original game, often feeling like a shot-for-shot remake. But Fallout took the exact opposite approach: its story was set in the world of the Fallout video games, but the characters and story were completely new, even incorporating pre-apocalypse flashbacks.
It was a big risk, but it more than paid off. Now, the Fallout series is going back to its roots and incorporating this new story with the old one — and its fan-favorite star is coming along for the ride.
At a preview event (via Polygon), Bethesda Studios offered a glimpse at the new update for Fallout 76, the latest edition of the classic post-apocalyptic open-world game that launched in 2018. This new update, entitled Burning Springs, is set in a post-apocalyptic Ohio, the state that borders West Virginia, the setting for the main game.
Burning Springs is clearly meant to echo the tone of the upcoming Fallout Season 2, which will visit the town of New Vegas from the previous Fallout game Fallout: New Vegas. There’s even a mini golf course full of giant dinosaur statues, much like New Vegas’ Dinky the T-Rex.
But one of the biggest parts of this update is the addition of a new bounty hunter game element, starring none other than The Ghoul (neé Cooper Howard), with Walton Goggins providing original voice lines for his character. The Fallout series may take place completely outside the Fallout games’ timeline, but that is apparently about to change. It’s still unclear whether or not this is the Ghoul before or after his time in Fallout, but it’s pretty likely it’s before, as Fallout 76 is set more than 200 years before Fallout the series.
We still don’t know if this video game appearance will factor into Season 2 of the show, but it’s definitely a sign that the TV and game sides of these franchises may be more closely enmeshed than we first thought. With the series stepping into New Vegas, we’ll probably see more game references than ever.
