Video game commentary works best when it comes from someone who actually plays, replays, and thinks hard about games long after the credits roll. That’s the approach Brian Wilks brings to his writing. His video game commentary spans franchise deep-dives, honest reviews, and long-form looks at the characters that make games worth remembering. He writes for players who care about story and substance, not just release-day hype, and his work treats games as what they are: a storytelling medium worth taking seriously.
The Fallout franchise is where Brian's gaming writing is most at home. He came to the series years ago and never really left. What keeps pulling him back is the same thing that makes great storytelling in any medium work: a world that feels lived in, choices that actually carry significance, and enough layered information that you're still noticing new things on your fourth playthrough. Fallout 3 holds a special place in his video game commentary. He's covered its story, its world-building, its atmosphere, and the way it drops players into a version of Washington D.C. so meticulously constructed that it almost feels archaeological. It's a game that rewards curiosity, and Brian is nothing if not curious.
Beyond Fallout, Brian writes reviews across a range of titles, generally skewing toward narrative-driven, open-world, and RPG-style games. His reviews are less interested in technical specs and frame rates and more focused on the experience of actually playing something: how it feels, what it's trying to say, and whether it earns the time investment it asks for. He structures his takes around what he thinks a reader actually wants to know before committing to a game. Is the story worth following? Do the mechanics hold up after the first few hours? Is this something you'll still be thinking about a week later? Those are the questions he tries to answer. His review content lives on his blog alongside his hockey writing, all in one place.
If there's one thing Brian will happily go on about at length, it's character writing in video games. He genuinely believes that a well-written character can carry an otherwise flawed game, and a poorly written one can sink an otherwise excellent one. He's written deep-dives on standout Fallout characters, the ones with enough complexity and backstory to feel like actual people rather than quest dispensers. Those pieces tend to resonate with readers who share his conviction that narrative depth is what separates a good game from a genuinely memorable one. For Brian, that's the real standard.
