Iron From Ice
When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.
As anyone who has watched Game of Thrones on HBO or read the books will tell you, those words are just short of an understatement. In the world created by George R. R. Martin, there are two kinds of people. You have the brave, the proud, the righteous, and then you have the ones that get to live.
In Telltale Games’ first forage into Westeros, you will get to meet and play as five members of House Forrester. House Forrester is only mentioned only in passing throughout the books, which I’m inclined to think of as a good thing, since being Bannermen to the Starks, they already had a big fat “kick me” sign stuck to their collective backs.
The Forresters are ancestral protectors of the Ironwood Forest, and you guys, they really want to do the honorable thing, and like, not get slaughtered, but well—
There are these people:
This is probably a good time to talk about the art direction Telltale has employed in creating this game. It somehow achieves a high-res oil painting effect that comes across both realistic and highly stylized, and what’s more, it’s more than complimentary of the Medieval backdrop present throughout the series.
If you’re already a fan of the show, the inclusion of Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage, Natalie Dormer and Iwan Rheon‘s voice talents will make you as giddy as Hodor in a… um, Hodor. If not, then I suggest you catch up, or at the very least cheat in the best way you can (for instance, have us over for an evening, and we’ll lay the whole thing out for you over wine and pizza).
Telltale Games is by now, pretty well known for the decision-based episodic structure they’ve created. As they have done for other franchises (see Tales of the Borderlands and The Wolf Among Us for unexpected perspectives on the Borderlands and Fables universes), their approach adds a refreshing new dimension to the Game of Thrones mythos.
No longer limited to your role as an audience member (or as a reader, if you’re into the books), your involvement in the story is inherently much more pronounced.
More than once, you will be asked questions and hope that your answer is the correct one, and not the one that gets you decapitated. You will be forced to make decisions weighed against some very stacked odds. You will feel powerless. And when it’s all said and done, you won’t get to slink back into your role as a spectator. Nor will you want to, for that matter.
The choices you make are yours, and Telltale Games has by now, achieved complete mastery in the art of making you, the player, experience them as such, regardless of when/where you find yourself.
