Telltale's newest episodic series is out and it's based on the HBO
series Game of Thrones. Players view the war-torn world of Westeros
through the eyes of House Forrester, a minor house located in the North.
You'll plays as three separate characters connected to House Forrester
in the first episode titled "Iron From Ice": Gared Tuttle the squire to
Lord Forrester, patriarch of House Forrester, Mira Forrester, daughter
of the Lord and handmaiden to Margaery Tyrell in King's Landing, and
Ethan Forrester, the third-born son of Lord Forrester residing in
Ironrath the seat of House Forrester. This highly anticipated game
attempts to replicate the intrigue and suspense of the show and for the
most part it succeeds admirably.
The Good
The
writing is quite good, and I found myself on the edge of my seat in
some parts. Just like the show, the game revels in making you feel
uncomfortable and vaguely like no matter what happens things aren't
going to turn out picture-perfect. The voice acting is great and is
honestly of TV quality, almost matching the show in the actor's
conveyance of their particular characters. The first episode did a great
job of making me anticipate the second and I can't wait to see what
House Forrester's fate will be.
The Bad
The graphical
quality varies from scene to scene. While some settings looked great,
well-suited to the oil painting look that Telltale has gone for in this
series, some looked odd with graphical artifacts popping up and
inconsistency in the art style. Like previous Telltale games, the
characters are sometimes overly emotive to the point of awkwardness.
This was easier to forgive in Telltale's previous games, but one of Game
of Thrones claims to fame is its subtlety and intrigue, making this
quite distracting, Characters will go from a disappointed frown to a
cheerful smile in the blink of an eye and it would have been nice to
have more transitional animations to make the effect smoother. The
adventure parts that were an integral part of Telltale's previous games
are almost completely absent making this more of a TV episode than a
game, with absolutely no puzzles to speak of. The syntax of the
character's lines can be awkward at times too, as if their triggers
weren't set up right. Several times a character would make a statement
and after I selected my response my character would say something
completely different, or the person I was talking to would respond and
make the exact same statement that they just made. Adding to this,
playing with subtitles I saw many lines that either were removed or cut
down when it came to voice acting. Hopefully a patch can alleviate some
of the awkward parts of the dialogue. Lastly, this game is very much for
the fans of Game of Thrones. I could never get into The Walking Dead TV
show, but I loved the Telltale games because I was provided with
context as the game went on. Iron From Ice isn't so kind to those who
may not be familiar with Game of Thrones, referencing characters and
events with the assumption that the player already knows what's going on
in Westeros. Those who haven't watched the show or read the books wil
probably get much less out of this game than a fan.
The Verdict
As
a fan of the show and books, this game was fantastic. Aside from some
graphical issues and a few awkward moments with emotiveness and syntax, I
adored the experience. However, this game is one to be shared with
others on a bigger screen as it plays out more like a multiple choice TV
episode than a game, even more so than Telltale's previous entries.
Iron From Ice, while being immensely entertaining, is telling of the age
of its game engine and Telltale's formula. Luckily the writing and
setting is good enough to make up for this, but only if you're a fan of
the franchise. For those who haven't spent any time in Westeros before,
this game has little to offer. However, due to the wild popularity of
the Game of Thrones universe, I felt that deducting too much would be
unfair to the game. Hopefully, they get the kinks out of the series with
this first episode so that what seems to be like a great story will not
be sidelined by technical flaws.
