When Telltale announced that they were venturing into the Game of Thrones universe for their
next video game I was excited and worried at the same time. While many of us know them
for their excellent Walking Dead series some of us also know them for their less than stellar
previous titles such as Jurassic Park the game and Back to the Future. Is this journey
into westeros worth of your time or should you avoid it at all cost?
Before I continue my review I must point out one thing. Even if you're not a gamer you
can still enjoy this. I know that some of you who watch Thrones feel as though you're
a bit past that age where you could enjoy a video game but don't let the media make
you think that it's only a kid thing. You also don't need an Xbox or Playstation to
play it. The beauty about Telltale's games is that they don't require a powerful engine
to run the graphics. I could play this on my phone and on my tablet without a problems
so if your big concern is not having a gaming console? you should be all set if you have
a smart phone or a computer and most of us do.
The game has you play as several members of House Forrester: a lesser house in the North
who owes their allegiance to House Stark. But ever since the Starks were betrayed and
defeated at the Twins your family has to deal with the aftermath. For the entire game you
will be living events from the show through the eyes of the characters who just happen
to be there. Whether it's the Red Wedding, Tyrion's arrest or the siege of Mereen, it
just so happens a Forrester is around the corner. But unlike in Assassin's Creed 3,
there is no Forrest Gump treatment where characters are specifically put in these situations to
make it interesting. There is actually reason for them to be there and it is believable...sometimes.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Telltale's style of games then I will tell
this now it'll be a hit or miss for some of you. The game basically plays itself and ocasionally
asks you to join in to walk around, fight or make decisions. You're paying for an interactive
movie in a sense but that doesn't take away from the enjoyment and it does engage you
like the show. Each character will have to make their own tough choice that decides the
fate of others and even yourself and a lot of the times, just like in the show, certain
things play out beyond your control especially when major characters come on screen.
The timeline of the game is around Season 3 Episode 9 to Season 4 episode 5 so for those
of you afraid of spoilers? don't worry. If you're caught up with the show then you should
be fine. What I have to praise Telltale for is bringing in actors and actresses from the
show to reprise their roles. Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage and Kit Harington all come
in to voice their characters as Cersei, Tyrion and Jon Snow and yes you do get to interact
with them for a little bit.
I also have to praise Telltale for capturing a lot of the Game of Thrones elements from
the HBO show. minus the nudity, it's all here: betrayal, blood, scheming and the occasional
magic creatures. Each episode plays out like an actual episode of the show with the intro
and the outro, as well as the "next time on Game of Thrones". It even has the dreaded episode
where shit goes down and someone dies which I thought was great. The one thing I wasn't
a big fan of was the artistic style they went with. Some times colors and the enviroments
seem a bit faded, almost as though they hired some random guy to it. Also character movements
seem a bit stiff at times, even on the Playstation 4 and Xbox One. Another thing I wasn't a big
fan of was the one sided, unrealistic choices you have to make sometimes. For example there
will be a moment in the game, if you progress far enough, that you can choose to take out
an enemy by way of ambush. Your objective is to wipe out both enemy leaders but you
can only pick one guy to follow and kill instead of splitting up your team and taking them
both out and I thought that was kind of bullshit, to be honest. The problem with Telltale games
is that, despite it asking you to make choices, sometimes the end results are the same.
But despite all that the game is worth the 20 dollar price tag I paid for the season
pass, which is a good deal, by the way and I recommend it instead of getting each episode
individually. If you liked episode 1, which is pretty intense and filled with good moments
then I recommend the getting the whole package. The entire game itself will take you 5-7 hours
to complete depending on how fast you are with your choices and even longer if you decide
to replay it to check out the different outcome of your in game decisions because there will
be a season 2 for the game and your choices will carry on over. But because this is my
review and I have to give it a rating I would give the game a 3.5 out of 5. It's not Telltale's
best but it does enough to keep you entertained and that's why you should check it out and
give it a try. It takes all the elements from the HBO television show, minus the nudity
and puts them in nicely. Voice acting is pretty good and despite all that it does leave behind
some memorable moments.
All of Telltale's Game of Thrones episodes are out now and if you're a Thrones fan you
won't want to miss this one. If you have played it feel free to comment your choices down
below because I be posting my choices in the description. Thanks for watching, have a good one