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. Nadrac

   Dec 12, 2014

   9

   Great game from telltale, feels they enjoyed less freedom with this title, but in exchange we meet the characters we love from the show, and iGreat game from telltale, feels they enjoyed less freedom with this title, but in exchange we meet the characters we love from the show, and i certainly got a kick out of that. As the first part i felt they should have focused on less characters and let us know them better, but certainly got me looking for ward to it. It's like a very promising first episode of the show that tried to do bit too much, but overall still excellent and they portray the game of thrones universe flawlessly.
   
   On the bad side options felt less different and important than usual, but we will truly only see that later. Other issue i saw in it is the ending, feels too convenient and doesn't make much sense, mainly happens for drama and as a cliffhanger. I did notice the same flaw in the first episode of their new borderlands game, but it was easier to look past and still deserved maximum point.
   
   If you love Game of Thrones you will love this game.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
4. hanihamawi1

   Dec 16, 2014

   9

   the game is fun to play especialy if u are a devoted game of thrones fan..the storyline is close to the stark store line but offers enoughthe game is fun to play especialy if u are a devoted game of thrones fan..the storyline is close to the stark store line but offers enough differences to make it stand out..and the presence of much loved characters from the tv series really adds a good taste to the storyline and expands the lore of the universe ..+the 20 $ only price tag is very gd..the only thing that is wrong is that certain decisions don't matter but of course know from the walking dead..they may matter in the coming episodes ..a great game but may be harder to appeal to non readers of the books and or tv show watchers ..… Expand

   • 3 of 3 users found this helpful
5. flametail23

   Dec 7, 2014

   7

   For a TellTale game, this is disappointing. I was not really exited for this game but I bought it anyway. It's good but it's no where near asFor a TellTale game, this is disappointing. I was not really exited for this game but I bought it anyway. It's good but it's no where near as good as TWD, TWAU OR TFTB.
   7/10… Expand

   • 1 of 2 users found this helpful
6. Riskyreview

   Dec 2, 2014

   6

   Let me start by saying this game is not bad but it's not good either, this review is going to focus more on Telltale as a whole rather thenLet me start by saying this game is not bad but it's not good either, this review is going to focus more on Telltale as a whole rather then just this one game.
   Telltale can be compared to a roller-coaster ride, they used to make games that where terrible until they made TWD S1 that game was the start of a whole new genre and it was amazing, all the characters where interesting and so was the story, but after they made TWD S1 they hit a downhill again.
   TWAU was the start of the downhill it was pretty good but not as good as TWD S1, then came TWD S2.
   Jesus H. Christ what a disappointment that was, none of the characters where interesting or likable except for the ones brought over from TWD S1!
   And now they're getting closer to the bottom with Iron from ice.
   First of it doesn't capture the feel of the show at all, second yet again none of the characters are interesting or likable in any way and yet again except for the ones brought over from the show.
   The story is extremely dull apart from some gory scenes.
   I think it's time for Telltale to hire some new writers or at least try and beg the ones that wrote for TWD S1 to come back.… Expand

   • 11 of 46 users found this helpful
7. sisho

   Dec 4, 2014

   5

   Iron from Ice is a strange game. It sure is a Telltale game, but it looks and plays like something far bellow. It's like they built it overIron from Ice is a strange game. It sure is a Telltale game, but it looks and plays like something far bellow. It's like they built it over the skeleton of their former games in such a rush, caring little for textures (which are mediocre), gameplay mechanics or characters. It is clearly an attempt of HBO to push the show to other medias and colonize new markets, but they did not succeded. Maybe in the other episodes they improve it.
   Play at your own will, but be advised that except for the usual design, it is nothing like The wolf Among Us or The Walking Dead series.… Expand

   • 0 of 1 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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