By Jake Fillery
With an abundance of Fallout games as reference, the Fallout show on Amazon Prime Video has quite the selection when it comes to adapting live-action versions of characters, stories, and locations. For the latter, these locations have become staples of the show, especially with Season 1 of Fallout taking place in Los Angeles, and Season 2 of Fallout taking place in the Mojave Wasteland, both areas with iconic locations from the games.
Some incredibly famous locations from the Fallout games have appeared in the Fallout live-action series, which has forever changed how we perceive them when we re-enter Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout: New Vegas. However, there are some locations not featured in the show that feel forever changed due to the context around their existence, which we'll talk about in-depth below.
Shady Sands
The Capital of the New California Republic, Left in Nuclear Ruins
- Featured in (Game): Fallout, Fallout 2
- Featured in (Show): Fallout: Season 2, Episode 2 "The Golden Rule"
Shady Sands was a pivotal location in Fallout and Fallout 2, and it was a location that showed the Vault Dwellers that society was attempting to move on from the Great War, centuries after its occurrence. Shady Sands was a bastion of hope that society could rebuild within the ashes of the old world, and the New California Republic desired peace and prosperity. That was, until the Fallout TV show.
Shady Sands caught the eye of Hank MacLean, an executive from Vault-Tec who was cryogenically unfrozen to become the overseer of Vault 33. Hank's loyalties to the ideals of Vault-Tec forced his hand, and he destroyed Shady Sands with a nuclear bomb. By 2296, Shady Sands is a desolate memory, and fans of the first two games can do nothing but mourn and pay their respects to the locations in-game.
The Cathedral
The Secret Home of The Master Hits Different With the Arrival of New L.A. Vaults
- Featured in (Game): Fallout
- Featured in (Show): TBC
The Cathedral conceals the Master's headquarters, who was a diabolical villain in the original Fallout, who was infected with FEV, and was inspired to turn mankind into a race of Super Mutants under the Unity, unifying them against war to be one common faction. The Master was vastly intelligent and had an army of Super Mutants, all within the Boneyard of New California.
The Master was active for decades before his death in 2162, and the Master would send out legions of Super Mutants to find humans to turn into more soldiers. That included unlocking Vaults. With the Fallout show, we're introduced to Vault 31, 32, and 33, a trio of connected vaults brimming with humans. Knowing this, it provides more shocking context to the Cathedral and the Master, because he never found a perfect farming place for his Super Mutants, and we can only go here in-game and wonder how close he came to discovering these Vaults.
The Strip
Gambling Splendor Has Turned Into Desolation and Deathclaws
- Featured in (Game): Fallout: New Vegas
- Featured in (Show): Fallout: Season 2, Episode 4 "The Demon in the Snow"
A pivotal visit to anyone who dares embark through the Mojave Wasteland is the New Vegas Strip, where many can attempt to make their fortune through gambling. Powered by electricity and a promised safe zone for people to spend their money without fear of a bullet to the face, the Strip is where Mr. House calls his home, and ensures high society and a decent nightlife reigns supreme above all the violence outside those walls.
Cut to 2296, and the Strip has been completely abandoned. While the buildings remain fairly intact, the population has ventured elsewhere, as Deathclaws from Quarry Junction have decided to nest here as their new home. It's sad to go to the Strip in New Vegas seeking joy, only to remember that in a few years' time, this place has been abandoned and left to the Deathclaws and the feral ghoul Kings, with no House in sight.
Freeside
A Set of Slums Where Everyone Struggles to Survive
- Featured in (Game): Fallout: New Vegas
- Featured in (Show): Fallout: Season 2, Episode 5 "The Wrangler"
Freeside is a town near the Strip of New Vegas, and it's a place where all the vagabonds fester. While you won't fight high society in Freeside, you will find an abundance of merchants who are just trying to get enough caps to get by. Despite this, it's also where you might have the most fun, as there's plenty of interesting characters, including the King's School of Impersonation, where anarchists and fugitives alike are kept in check by the King, the Elvis impersonators.
Freeside hasn't changed much over the years, and even with the Strip having been taken over by deathclaws and abandoned, Freeside holds strong. It's nice to see a familiar location thriving, even if it is a tad sad to look at the King's School and think about all those ghoulified Kings in 2296.
Camp Golf
A Headquarters of the NCR Rangers, Since Abandoned
- Featured in (Game): Fallout: New Vegas
- Featured in (Show): Fallout: Season 2, Episode 3 "The Profligate"
By 2281, Camp Golf had become a staple of the NCR, and it was where their Rangers would call their headquarters. Camp Golf was filled with an NCR population that the Courier could interact with, and this building, once owned by Robert House, even had a portrait of him and Liberty Prime, showcasing his integral involvement in America's prosperity.
Sadly, by 2296, Camp Golf was completely abandoned. The NCR has left Camp Golf to be a forgotten part of history, and all that remains are memories of Fallout: New Vegas for the Couriers that ventured here, and surprisingly, Victor, one of Mr. House's Securitron scouts that fans of the games might fondly recognize.
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This article originally appeared on GameRant and is republished here with permission.
