game of thrones episode 1 – iron from ice

Margaery? You look different. Hair cut? Or did someone try to build you out of ham?

publIsher TELLTALE GAMEs / develOper TELLTALE GAMEs / fOrMaT XBOX 360 & XBOX OnE (REVIEWED) / release daTe OuT nOW

revIewer

kaTe Gray live OXM Kate @hownottodraw

The knOwledGe whaT Is IT? Game of Thrones for people who prefer reading to leading and words to swords. whaT’s IT lIke? Familiar but slow, like an ageing family dog. whO’s IT fOr? People who haven’t yet declared war on George RR Martin’s trigger-happy series.

Hodor Hodor, Hodor Hodor Hodor. Hodor!

In the game of thrones, you win or you die. In the game of the game of thrones, it’s more subtle than that. Telltale’s visit to George RR Martin’s notoriously unfair universe gives you the reins in a world where the concept of finality is taken seriously.

Most of the time, this means someone getting a knife through the throat, but here it’s more a case of sticking with decisions – even if they don’t satisfy everyone. Where Telltale normally relies on fairly social choices, options with little effect outside of the personal, Game of Thrones – like the books – deals with far grander ramifications.

At one point, a criminal needs to be punished for stealing. You’ve just been promoted to Lord, and you need to show your authority. But he’s telling you he’s innocent, and the crowd are alternately jeering and calling for mercy. Do you cut his fingers off, the standard punishment for thievery? Banish him to the Wall, far from his family? Or let him go, and risk seeming soft? There’s no wrong answer, but there’s no right one either. Where Game of Thrones differs from the Telltale formula is that you’ll feel unsure in your choices whatever you do. Effects aren’t limited to an inner circle – the fates of hundreds of lives are in your hands.

The game shines in these moments of heart-wrenching diplomacy, but they arise too rarely in a story penned in by wider Westeros happenings. Beginning in the camp outside the Red Wedding – with no context for newbies who don’t know what that is – you never shake the feeling you’re experiencing a ripple on the periphery of the exciting HBO splash. As the playable Forrester clan aren’t in the show, you get the impression theirs is a fundamentally unimportant story. Admittedly, Telltale was never going to let us rewrite main events, but the inclusion of characters from the TV series only reminds you that more exciting things are going on.

That said, it still charms with its lovely smudged pastel look, and there’s no doubt the writers nail the show’s fruitier grasp of language. But as solid a representation of TV’s Westeros as this is – you will need to have seen up to series three to enjoy or understand it – it’s a narratively stymied start to what we hope will unfold into a much more well-rounded series. OXM

The OXM verdict

WOrse THaN…

Tales frOM The bOrderlands

TFTB has a quick-witted pace that sweeps you up into the action. Game of Thrones is more like a lazy river – enjoyable enough, but quite a lot more sedate. COMPleTION ClOCK

2

HOuRs

DID YOu KNOW?

?The game

starts at the end of TV season three, and while you don’t need to have watched that far, it helps. WHaT HaPPeNs NeXT?

?Anticipate

Episode 2 to arrive in somewhere between one and two months – the usual time between Telltale’s episodes. Overall

This first episode falls a little short of expectations. Passive, minor characters form its backbone – but just like the series, it may take some time to build them up into solid characters.

7

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