Game of Thrones: Season One, Episode
One “Iron from Ice”
Publisher: Telltale
Games
Players: One
Genre: Graphic
Adventure
Distribution: Download
Desperately trying to get my Game of
Thrones fix while waiting for
the next season on HBO led me to downloading this game. I've enjoyed
my time with another Telltale Games offering (The Walking
Dead) so figured this would be
as good a place as any to assuage my need for something Game
of Thrones. The first thing I
noticed is that the Telltale Tool, the engine they use to produce the
game, is starting to show signs of its age. I know that it is
periodically updated to keep up with the times, but it might be time
to consider a rebuild from the ground up. Some of the animations
lack fluidity, there are a few glitches in the first episode that
cause characters to blink out of existence momentarily, and the
background has been made to look like a painting in many of the
scenes. I don't know if this was a design decision to allow for more
detail in the character models or if it was intended to be a style
decision only, but there were times that it was distracting.
The voice acting is
top notch, as we've come to expect from Telltale titles, with the
major characters showing a good range in what they're capable of
conveying. One of the dangers of publishing a game this closely
linked to a very popular title is getting familiar characters right.
While the models seem a little too smooth many of the facial
expressions that we've come to expect from Tyrion, Ceresi, and
Margaery Tyrell are present in the game, with Ramsay Snow seeming to
be a little more generic. The big positive from these characters is
that they're voiced by their television counterparts, so they player
won't have to get used to someone doing their best impression of
those characters.
In the first
episode of this game Telltale also does something new with their
points of view. Much like the show the player jumps from story to
story. There's Garret, a squire of House Forrester who provided most
of the action sequences, Ethan the new Lord of House Forrester
following the events of the Red Wedding, and Mira Forrester, Ethan's
eldest sister and handmaiden of Margaery Tyrell in King's Landing.
While Garret provides the action the other two characters are
embroiled in diplomacy and politics, striving to ensure the survival
of their House. Ethan's scenes were the most fun, as his back and
forth with several adults make the player appreciate his situation as
a child ruler. Mira's scenes provided the majority of the
appearances from familiar characters, and allowed for a change in
scenery that was needed after the drab North.
In
true Game of Thrones
fashion the ending was quite jarring. It reminded me perfectly that
while I may be experiencing Game of Thrones
on a different platform it's the same world, with the same life and
death situations and uncertain life expectancies.
Conclusion:
“Iron from Ice” serves as a decent introduction to Telltale's
version of Westeros. It's hard to decide this early what the impact
of the game will be, but the groundwork has been done to provide a
compelling and unpredictable story, which is instrumental to telling
a Game of Thrones
story. The multiple points of view is a welcome addition to the
Telltale formula, and they managed it well.
Rating:
7.5/10
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