By: Robert Murphy
You know that scream at the screen moment you get when you watch just about every moment in Game of Thrones? Well, now you can live out that moment yourself in Telltale's new game for the Game of Thrones universe. Telltale Games have already proven their worth with The Walking Dead franchise and now aim to do the same here with Game of Thrones as they tell the story of House Forrester. This noble house has served the Stark family in the north for generations and has supplied them and most of the North with expertly crafted Ironwood for shields, boats and many more things. The story though takes a dark turn immediately though, as you would expect a Game of Thrones game to do, placing you right on the down turn for all the North, the Red Wedding. Difficult choices are flung at you right from the get go and you must choose to save lives, bring honor to your house and a great deal other things before your first night in the game is through. It's exactly what I want in a Game of Thrones title and I set out for the series first episode, Iron From Ice.
The turbelent time that this first episode is set in sets the tone for the entire episode, The War of the Five Kings has taken it's tole on everyone and House Forrester has given a lot to Robb Stark and the cause. Now though, things have changed and the North and House Forrester are about to witness serious hardships. This story is less about the combat and more about interactions with the people you meet, you never know who might be able to help you or hurt you and any little thing you say and do has a consequences to it. A verbal battle is exactly what Game of Thrones does increasingly well and you will need to prove yourself worthy in that regard to some of the series biggest characters. You don't want to risk saying the wrong thing to Cersei Lannister or test the patience of the bastard born Lord Ramsey Snow, no you must know your place and how to play the game or else your goose will be cooked. During this first episode, you will take on the role of three different characters of House Forrester, a young but able bodied steward Gared Tuttle, the third born son of Lord Gregor Forrester, Ethan Forrester, and lastly is the eldest daughter of the House, Mira Forrester, who is currently living in King's Landing and is also handmaiden to Margaery Tyrell. All of them have their role to play in the future of their House and in order to save it you must make the right friends and right decisions but given the time you have to do this can make things challenging.
My first time through the first episode, I was sweating bullets as I stood in front of Cersei, trying to think of just the right thing to say to her that would appease her and not lead me to have my head on a spike. The choices you face are sometime agonizing and you will always try to make the right choices but as you know things don't always go the way you want in GoT. But there in lies the fun for this game, the panic you feel for character during the show is now brought to life right in front of you and you feel the weight of making certain decisions for yourself and your House. Sometimes you need to choose self preservation to maintain a friendship and loyalty from someone close to you and sometimes you need to make the hard decision that changes your character and the way other characters look at you. Characters will remember how you treat them and the actions you took in front of them, every time the prompt came up in the corner saying "so and so will remember that" I cringed but it's not always a bad thing. As I said, people will remember your loyalty as well, making smart decisions and reassuring others faith in you will allow them to trust you more later on in the game too. The whole first episode created an atmosphere that I deeply enjoyed, I like and or liked these characters and fell for them is such a short time and that's what I truly love about the show as well. Even though most of what is done in this first part is setting the stage it is an excellent stepping off point to be sure.
Telltale Games have done a great job once more as they've managed to pair a game and a franchise together in a way that fans will love. The characters and movements do have some work to be done though, there are moments with glitchy characters stumble about and slow scene changes occur but this is the extent of my issues with the game. Iron From Ice serves as a great jumping off point for this Game of Thrones story and hopefully I will continue to make wise choices as I progress through. I definitely feel the weight of what it must have been like to square off with many of these iconic characters and I don't know if I would survive long in this world if given the chance. Never the less, I am looking forward to the next episode and hope you all pick up this first part of what looks to be an amazing story. Hopefully, I'll survive long enough to keep reviewing them as they come out.
Good:
- Taking part in a piece of Game of Thrones history is incredibly fun
- The Forresters may not be House Stark but they're pretty darn close in many regards and I loved playing as their family members
- The anxiety inducing decision making makes you feel on par with what an actual GoT experience might have been like
- Facing off with iconic characters is both thrilling and terrifying
Bad:
- Characters movements and some slow screen changes prove that some of the games design may need to be worked on
Scully Rating: 8.8 out of 10
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