Alright so strictly speaking things didn’t exactly go well for our heroes last time. A few misplaced words and suddenly everyone’s all swords and axes and everyone is out for blood. As is traditional with Game of Thrones, a series that has to have a body count equal to that of a teenage weekend at Camp Crystal Lake. We open with more death and blood for a change, or at least you can choose to have it that way.
Telltale games are amazing at their story driven gameplay, and this one is no exception. Truly it seems that there was no better company to make a Game of Thrones video game, especially after the last one. Now don’t get me wrong I’m sure the last one had its fans, but for a series as story driven as Game of Thrones it really does beg for more than just slashy stabby gameplay.
With that being said of course there are combat sequences and yes they are quick time events, the dreaded bane of gamers. Telltale have made enough games now for me to expect the QTE’s and it’s stopped surprising me now. What does surprise me is how well they’re pulled off despite them traditionally being as intuitive as pressing the pause and play button on your DVD remote.
The frantic nature of Game of Thrones means that it takes a somewhat realistic stance which means you’re just as likely to die from falling on your sword rather than someone actually killing you. Each time someone thrusts a pointy object your way you can’t just chug health potions or gnaw on carrots until it’s all better. If you mess up, that’s it.
But of course that’s not the main focus, the main focus is the plot. By the Old Gods and the New what a story it is.
The game takes the same stance as the books and television show it’s based off by showing us the perspective of multiple characters in rapid succession. This helps us familiarize ourselves with a lot of different locations and gives us a scale of things as and how they come.
I will not give away the plot, but I will say it’s gripping. The continuing troubles of House Forrester, a house in turmoil after the events of the Red Wedding, grabs you as much as the turmoil of any character from the books or show. Considering that House Forrester have not appeared in either properly that’s an amazing feat.
Of course no game is without it’s flaws. It does remind us of The Walking Dead, of The Wolf Among Us, and of other Telltale classics. They can do one thing and they do it well. That is by no means a criticism of what they do, just how much they do it.
My biggest criticism isn’t the source material or the company that made it. It is a comparison to the books and the show. In those they’re pre-made, each choice has been set and characters are unaware of what’s happening, for the most part, from the Wall to Kings Landing. Of course in the game you can play as Mira in Kings Landing and be fully aware that you don’t need to make a certain choice because your brother in Essos is already on it.
It takes away some of the anticipation of shouting at the screen and telling characters what they should do when they will just do it anyway.
However the game is still a great representation of the source material it comes from. It does it’s own thing and doesn’t try to retell anything we’ve already seen. What happens just happens and, like it’s original, it isn’t afraid to let you know when you mess up.
Overall a great addition to the series and it’s left us clamoring for Episode 3.
Score: 4/5
- A great addition to the story
- Wonderful to play
- Another classic from Telltale.