Fraser Brown

Fraser Brown

Online Editor

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.

Latest articles by Fraser Brown

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Assassin's Creed 3's greatest feature was pushed to the side until Black Flag because Ubisoft was worried that 'the tech wouldn't work'

By Fraser Brown Published

News We had to wait another year for a proper high seas adventure.

News
People of Note demo
This musical RPG is doing important work by letting you beat up music snobs, but I really stuck around for the painful (brilliant) puns

By Fraser Brown Published

Lollapunlooza I'm easily entertained.

Lollapunlooza
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The best Geralt, Doug Cockle, completed The Witcher 3, got the best ending, and was driven 'bonkers' by the Bloody Baron quest

By Fraser Brown Published

News And now we know he's got a thing for red heads.

News
Transport Fever 3 preview
Understandable AI paranoia has inspired a developer to change the handcrafted character art in its upcoming sim: 'They look a bit AI'

By Fraser Brown Published

News Transport Fever 3's characters look pretty uncanny, and that's a bigger problem than it used to be.

7 Comments
News
Avowed
Obsidian was 'surprised' that Avowed players bounced off one of the RPG's most important systems: 'That frustration came through loud and clear'

By Fraser Brown Published

News Who's got time to upgrade their gear when there are adventures to be had?

46 Comments
News
Avowed - Kai smiles happily at camp
Avowed's massive anniversary update adds new playable races, but they don't get any unique dialogue because there were 'no dedicated narrative people available'

By Fraser Brown Published

News The new races are just a "mechanical distinction".

17 Comments
News
Transport Fever 3 preview
I didn't expect to kidnap alligators, save Woodstock or give people dysentery in a game called Transport Fever 3—but here we are

By Fraser Brown Published

On the road again It's OK, I released the alligators.

9 Comments
On the road again
An inquisitor surrounded by his retinue, including an ogryn, a kroot, and an aeldari
Warhammer 40k: Dark Heresy might just have everything I want from a CRPG

By Fraser Brown Published

Future crimes Owlcat's found my wishlist.

15 Comments
Future crimes
An anthropomorphic rabbit
Age of Wonders 4's next expansion introduces nomadic, post-apocalyptic bunnies

By Fraser Brown Published

news A new species, magical post-apocalyptic maps and a trio of new tomes are coming with Rise from Ruin in March.

news
A rocket blasting off
Medieval physics romp Besiege has spent a decade letting us conquer the land and sea, so naturally its next expansion is heading to the final frontier

By Fraser Brown Published

News Flit off into space to conquer alien worlds.

News
Fallout 76 guy drinking beer
Fallout 76's design director is still defending its original absence of NPCs: 'At the beginning, we wanted it all to be player-driven'

By Fraser Brown Published

News I guess they briefly forgot about all the other player-driven Fallouts full of NPCs.

News
Baldur's Gate 3 Act 3
I'm the biggest Baldur's Gate 3 fan, but the HBO TV show is filling me with dread

By Fraser Brown Published

Baldur's irate A linear follow-up to my favourite non-linear RPG? Get outta here.

14 Comments
Baldur's irate
Nioh 3: The player character in samurai attire with a stern expression, with a glowing white Guardian Spirit over their right shoulder.
Nioh 3's open world is incredibly formulaic compared to Elden Ring's, so I'm slightly embarrassed by how much I'm loving it

By Fraser Brown Published

Playing it safe The traditional approach is less exciting, but it works well for the series' first open-world outing.

16 Comments
Playing it safe
The Vault Dweller from Fallout 4 standing in front of mountains from The Elder Scrolls 6
Bethesda's former Elder Scrolls loremaster won't tell us where The Elder Scrolls 6 is set, but the team originally agreed on it way back in the Fallout 4 days

By Fraser Brown Published

News Keep guessing.

12 Comments
News
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Nearly 20 years ago, the makers of Age of Empires tried to make a Halo MMO, and then the studio closed: 'I still feel like no-one has really done the action MMO I see in my mind'

By Fraser Brown Published

News The audacious quest ended all the way back in 2008 after five years of development.

8 Comments
News
Manor Lords promo art - knight on horseback looking at a medieval village in the distance, viewed from behind
Indie devs should avoid 'most indie publishers' says Manor Lords indie publisher Hooded Horse: 'The vast majority of indie publishers are predatory and opportunistic'

By Fraser Brown Published

News "People can hate me for this if they want."

12 Comments
News
VValak and Milky looking afraid
Earth Must Die review: An inventive adventure game that's just a bit too obsessed with orgies

By Fraser Brown Published

Killer jokes Point and click, now with servants.

Killer jokes
Against the Storm art
'We will f*ck up': The publisher of Against the Storm and Manor Lords is committed to keeping generative AI out, but it's easier said than done

By Fraser Brown Published

News It's everywhere and unavoidable; it's probably going to slip in.

13 Comments
News
Manor Lords promo art - knight on horseback looking at a medieval village in the distance, viewed from behind
CEO of Manor Lords publisher Hooded Horse wants it to be 'a positive influence and a great company for 100 plus years' by fighting AI and treating devs ethically

By Fraser Brown Published

From the horse's mouth The indie publisher keeps striking gold, but CEO Tim Bender is still "fundamentally unambitious", prizing stability and ethics over massive growth and profits.

8 Comments
From the horse's mouth
The creepiest guy leans in front of an NPC mid-conversation in Starfield.
Skyrim's co-lead designer says Starfield's main problem is that it never fully cohered as a game: 'It was a releasable game, but it wasn't the best'

By Fraser Brown Published

News And the reception was what he expected.

53 Comments
News
Sitting on a cart
Skyrim's co-lead designer was building real-time horse and cart travel and a dynamic civil war: 'We were pretty disappointed that didn't ship'

By Fraser Brown Published

News Kurt Kuhlmann was co-lead on Skyrim and Bethesda's Elder Scrolls loremaster.

20 Comments
News
The player gives a thumbs up to someone in a small red car
My Winter Car is a 'dangerous, depressing and tiring' life sim, and the developer doesn't want you to play it unless you've mastered the infamously tricky My Summer Car

By Fraser Brown Published

News Don't expect to have much fun.

7 Comments
News
Tavern Keeper GOTY Personal Pick
Tavern Keeper is the management sim of my dreams, and the best thing I've played in early access in 2025

By Fraser Brown Published

🏆 Where everybody knows your name.

🏆
Grounded 2 early access
In a year where Obsidian released a pair of RPGs, its best game was an early access survival romp

By Fraser Brown Published

Park ranger It turns out that a small community garden offers more compelling adventures than a magical island or a capitalist nightmare.

22 Comments
Park ranger
Spider-Men doing the Spider-Man Points meme in Marvel Rivals
Marvel Rivals wants to go big for 2026, and the team has 'already planned more than a year ahead'

By Fraser Brown Published

News "2025 was more of a warm-up."

News
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