Game of Thrones: Episode One - Iron From Ice

1. l-marc

   Feb 7, 2015

   10

   After falling in love with Telltale's Walking Dead Season 1, having mixed feelings toward Wolf Among Us, and completely hating Telltale'sAfter falling in love with Telltale's Walking Dead Season 1, having mixed feelings toward Wolf Among Us, and completely hating Telltale's Walking Dead Season 2, I had begun to lose all hope in the company's ability to create powerful character-driven plot. I had written them off as a one hit wonder that could never live up to the horror and heartbreak they created in the chilling and exhilarating story of Lee and Clementine. That was until I played the demo for their new series Game of Thrones.
   
   Telltale's Game of Thrones is everything fans of Martin's novels and the acclaimed HBO television series, are looking for and more in a video game adaption. Interestingly, the story does not alter plots already established in the hit show, but rather shows a different perspective from events already taken place, and the ramifications of the war between The Starks and The Lannisters on other noble families in the world of the story. The game begins at the night of The Red Wedding, an event fans of the show will be well aware of and affected by. The game is centered around events following House Forrester, noble bannermen to The Starks.
   
   What was lacking in Atlus' highly criticized release of their own Game of Thrones adaption, was the appearance of prominent characters from the show and their roles within the game. In this aspect Telltale goes above and beyond with appearances by: Cersei, Tyrion, Lady Marjorie, Ramsay Snow, and Jon Snow all within the first 2 episodes.What may be most interesting for fans of the hit show, is that all of the aforementioned characters are voiced by the actors who play them in the series.
   
   Just as is expected from Game of Thrones, each and every scene is filled with tension, treachery and tragedy. With that in mind, the Game of Thrones world is the perfect world for the mechanics of Telltale's episodic point-and-click adventures, where each and every decision the player makes affects which characters live and die. It's exactly like watching an episode of the show, but being able to make the character's decisions for them.
   
   What amazed me most, was the power of the story and the brilliant pace of the plot, which Martin is known for. I wouldn't have been surprised if Martin wrote the story for the games himself, nor was I surprised when it was released the Martin's personal assistant was a story consultant for the game. For gamers who have watched The Walking Dead and wished they could experience that apocalyptic world, Telltale made that dream come true. While time will tell whether they fulfill that same dream for Game of Thrones fans, they're certainly off to a powerful and promising start.
   
   Graphics: 4/5
   
   Soundtrack: 5/5
   
   Voice Acting: 5/5
   
   Gameplay: 4/5
   
   Story: ITS OVER 9000! / 5… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
2. aadms

   Jul 9, 2015

   9

   Am I suppose to rate each episode? I'm sorry, but I'm rating the whole series at this point, with two episodes to go. The game is nearAm I suppose to rate each episode? I'm sorry, but I'm rating the whole series at this point, with two episodes to go. The game is near perfect. Playing in the world of Game of Thrones is exactly the type of game that Tell Tale does the best. Excellent partnership here. I hate QTE during combat, but considering that this is a storybased driven game, it fits perfect with the cinematic feels. I realize that I only hate QTE in the combat games where you excel at your own skills only to have it taken away from you as you watch a battle. That's why I detest QTE generally. But in this game it works. And making decisions playing the game of politics is very intense. I recommend this to everyone.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
4. Ecko69x

   Dec 4, 2014

   9

   I preordered this game as I had high expectations from TellTale Games. I was not disappointed. The beautifully crafted environment and artworkI preordered this game as I had high expectations from TellTale Games. I was not disappointed. The beautifully crafted environment and artwork resembles the Game of Thrones universe. The game retains the same shock and awe factor as we've seen from the TV series. I love the GoT introduction they created for the game. It was not expected and I was blown away. This game is a MUST have.
   
   The only issue I have with the game is that the decisions once again seen to not ultimately matter. To avoid spoilers let's just say that the ending you get is the same regardless of your actions.… Expand

   • 4 of 7 users found this helpful
5. Malleskoda

   Dec 7, 2014

   7

   Since this game is far from over, it doesn't exactly seem appropriate to judge it yet.
   I'm giving episode one a 7, but keep in mind that thisSince this game is far from over, it doesn't exactly seem appropriate to judge it yet.
   I'm giving episode one a 7, but keep in mind that this easily could change as the rest of the episodes are released.
   
   First of all, if you don't know anything about Game of Thrones, and the universe of Westeros, i would not recommend this game. Even if someone knows just a little about the show/books, that won't cut it i'm afraid. Unless you don't care about knowing who's what, and what is happening in the game.
   
   If you do enjoy GoT, i would recommend this. Especially since it's the only game in the Game of Thrones world that actually is not a pile of human waste. (God that GoT RPG is horrible)
   
   The uniqueness of Telltale games i believe make all of their games worth a purchase. Even if i do think 1 and a half hour isn't really worth the money this first episode costs.
   
   Being unique can be both a good and a bad thing. In terms of choice, which is one of the key things of telltale games, do they matter? Uuuh, yes and no.
   Truth be told, in most cases, the choices in Telltale games are mostly an illusion of choice.
   A cosmetic change if you will. The dialogue might change, and in very few instances, some actual changes do occur to the game and the story, however a large portion of the choices you make do not matter. You might disagree, but it's the truth. The replayability is not as good as say a BioWare game, or a few Bethesda games. (Though that also has to do with different races, classes etc.)
   I'm fairly certain there are free visual novels that give you more choices that matter.
   
   The quality of the story is what makes Telltale great. Not the variety of choice. So far it's the same with this game. The story is intriguing, and while some of the "plot twists" aren't really plot twists, (seriously, was i the only one who kinda knew what was likely to happen at the end?) it's still a good story.
   Does it do justice to the source material? That's honestly too early to tell.
   
   A thing to keep in mind is, the first episodes of telltale games are usually pretty slow, and mostly serve as an introduction to everything. This was definitely no exception.
   
   Pros:
   -Good story, very intriguing plot so far.
   -Good voice acting, even from the GoT TV show actors (I knew you had it in you Dinklage)
   -Nice transitions between characters.
   -The graphics, though simple, are actually full of beautiful details.
   
   Cons:
   -Your choices don't serve any purpose other than a few changes in dialogue. You can't change any of the major plot points. Whether things in future episodes will change based on your actions remain to be seen.
   -While the facial animations are alright, the body animations are often stiff and awkward. This is most obvious doing combat scenes.
   -Gameplay is, like all Telltale games, very limited.
   
   Is it worth picking it up? Like i said, i don't think the current price is worth it for about 1 and a half hour of gameplay (a term used loosely in this instance) but i would recommend anyone who enjoys the TV show or the books to play this game at some point.… Expand

   • 0 of 2 users found this helpful
6. Cannily

   Dec 7, 2014

   7

   This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. When I first played it, I liked it very much. The atmosphere is great and the story, with the different characters you can play with, catches the feeling of the show and books.
   The only thing I was disappointed in, was the fact, that none of my decisions has an effect on the end of ep 1. It is really annoying, that the best part, which surprised me when playing it for the first time, is unchangeable, and becomes the worst part with that. Because with this, it is only an other TV Show you can watch but not a game.… Expand

   • 1 of 1 users found this helpful
7. WildingCarpet11

   Dec 3, 2014

   5

   The first episode is largely disappointing. You would think that with all those choices it would influence the ending or the course of theThe first episode is largely disappointing. You would think that with all those choices it would influence the ending or the course of the game by little, but that is not the case here. Worst telltale episode i ever played! Rest of the game is pretty good,funny characters and interesting plot but choices with no value and bad ending with the most irritating villain i have ever seen make the game worse than any of the walking dead,wolf among us or tales from borderlands episodes. I hope there will be improvements in the next episode really. If you don't know what game to buy (Tales from Borderlands or Game of Thrones) Tales from Borderlands should definitely be your choice because that game is unlike this one a masterpiece!… Expand

   • 4 of 15 users found this helpful
8. BaldursGate

   Dec 5, 2014

   0

   I just finished the game, and here are my pros and cons.
   
   Cons: - HORRIBLE mouse smoothing. - No support for Xbox-controllers. -I just finished the game, and here are my pros and cons.
   
   Cons:
   
   - HORRIBLE mouse smoothing.
   
   - No support for Xbox-controllers.
   
   - Horrible main menu. Play it to see it. Didn't manage to change settings... took a few hours to figure out how it worked (there is a small arrow that you click, looks like it's part of the "fluff").
   
   - The sound engineering is also horrible. Everything sounds weirdly phasey/reverby. There are also lots of part with clicks and such thanks to the min volume going above 0dB.
   
   - QTE with button mashing. WHO came up with this for an adventure game? If they would just skip the button mashing with QTE crap it would be a much better game. It is NOT interesting to randomly click buttons to solve "puzzles".
   
   - The camera angles are horrible. I think this has been the case for most Telltale Games. There are invisible walls everywhere, you can't see **** and the only time the cameras are good are in some of the conversations. I wish they would just do the dialogues and the rest could just be a movie. Would've been more fluid.
   
   - The technology/graphics feels so aged... textures with ultra low resolutions and other idiotic things that really have no reason.
   
   Pros:
   
   - The only thing good with this game is the story and the story driven choices.
   
   Summary:
   
   Really low quality game. If you give this anything above 3/10 you must be a Telltale-fan. I am a Telltale fan and I really love Telltale Games, but they really need to start fixing all these problems before release these games. There is so much promise yet they just **** it up.… Expand

   • 3 of 23 users found this helpful

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