The Fallout live-action TV show is a great advertisement for the influential games it’s based on.
Amazon’s splashy, widescreen adaptation wastes no time in introducing the biggest locales, plot elements, and factions from developer Bethesda’s Fallout series.
In this ravenous world, paramilitary knights stomp around in their armoured super-suits like gruff Iron Men; idealistic vault dwellers dream of repopulating an America vaporised by nuclear war; and humans and mutants fight over scraps in a lawless society.
So faithful is this recreation, that when the doe-eyed protagonist Lucy Maclean, played by Brit Ella Purnell, wanders into a dusty shanty town, you’re half-expecting her to start trading goods with the local merchant.
Which Fallout games can you play for free?
If you’ve been bingeing the show on Prime Video and want to experience (or relive) the games, the good news is you can for free.
Xbox, PS5 and PC gaming marketplace Steam is currently offering free play days for Fallout 76 – the latest instalment in the long-running sci-fi franchise – until April 18.
Unlike a demo that lasts a few hours at most, here you get access to the full game during the trial period. Of course, that means you’ll have to download it to your platform of choice to play.
Or, you can grab Fallout 76 for free (along with spinoff Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel) with an Amazon Prime membership. For the unfamiliar, subscribers to Amazon’s fast-delivery service can nab a revolving line-up of monthly games for no extra cost via Prime Gaming.
Fallout 76 is currently available for Xbox and Windows PC, while 2001’s Fallout Tactics can be claimed from Steam alternative GOG.com.
Where can you play Fallout?
Aside from the platforms mentioned above, don’t forget you can download or stream a bunch of Fallout games on cloud-gaming services.
PlayStation Plus Extra subscribers, for instance, can get Fallout 4 and Fallout 76, while Premium members can grab those along with Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas.
All four games are also on Xbox Game Pass, which is hardly a surprise seeing as Microsoft owns Bethesda.
Joining the Fallout love-in, GeForce Now started offering Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 to subscribers this week.
You may want to hold off playing Fallout 4 until the free next-gen update spruces it up for PS5s and Xbox Series consoles on April 25, however.
