“A Game of Thrones”, published in 1996, was the first book in the series “A Song of Fire and Ice” by author George R. R. Martin. The title shot to fame in 2011 when it exploded onto TV screens, and for many, like me, this would have been a first point of contact with the franchise.
Most will agree that the TV show is truly epic; I certainly was made an instant fan. So you can imagine when the chance came around to play the game, I was excited.
I’ve come to realise that I am not very bright and that I’m extremely optimistic. I was hoping for something epic, something I could play for hours; instead I was slapped in the face, disembowelled, and kicked in a ball-shattering fashion by something that has so much promise, but is ultimately let down by flawed key aspects.
You are first mislead by an epic introduction. The story is where Game of Thrones shines; it is thick with lore and rich in content, and you become immersed into the world of your character in the opening moments of the narrator’s monologue.
Game of Thrones
Players fill the boots of Mors Westford, a former veteran and hero of King Baratheon’s rebellion, who due to betraying his lord, is now a Brother of the Night’s Watch – the exiled guardians of The Wall. The Wall is an immense construction of ice, stone, and magic along the Northern border of the kingdoms, the only thing separating civilisation from the horrors that lay beyond in the frozen wastes.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Game of Thrones series (shame on you), once you choose/are forced to take The Black (i.e. join the knights watch), you are stuck there until you die. You cut all ties with everyone you know and live on the cold, icy wall.
Most of the fine young gentlemen of the the Night’s Watch are criminals. I can only imagine that this is what it must feel like once you have immigrated to Australia. If you do ever decide to defect and leave you will be hunted down by your brothers and slaughtered.
This game’s story has little to do with the series, with none of the main characters appearing in it. However fans of the series and of the books who are veterans of the RPG genre will feel right at home, and could even overlook the dodgy, pointless combat system.
Game of Thrones
Once you’ve watched the opening sequence you are taken to your character creation menu, where you are given some detail about Mr. Mors and his questionable past. You then choose from one of three combat styles, namely:
- Hedge Knight – All round fighter, good at ranged and melee combat, uses two-handed weapons, and can absorb damage rather well. His main attacking stance is through Domination and he can be upgraded to have Secondary stances (at level 7) which include Elite Warrior, Defence and Dexterity.
- Magnar – A fierce warrior who favours melee combat, prizing brute force over finesse, he uses a weapon in both hands and is rather agile. His main attacking stance is Frenzy and his upgrade Secondary stances include Berserker , Domination and Intensity.
- Landed Knight – Well versed in the art of combat, favours defence over attack. He has a sword in the one hand and a shield in the other. Main attacking stance is Defence and his secondary stances are upgradable (at level 7) to Elite Knight, Domination and Frenzy.
From there you are taken to the Attributes screen where you can upgrade your character’s five main attributes; strength, agility, luck, endurance, and intelligence.
The next screen allows you to choose three abilities. The abilities are available according to your class so, if you chose to be a landed knight your main stance is defence. The selection hierarchy allows you to choose three abilities within the defensive tree.
At the next screen you upgrade character skills. This screen is rather detailed and has too many options to list in this review.
The final screen is where you choose your characters traits. You must choose 3 strengths and 3 weaknesses, which is quite a balancing act. All of this can be accessed later on in the game through the character screen and you can upgrade your character as you go along.
Game of Thrones
Finally, you get into the actual game, and unfortunately this is where it falls apart. It is one of the most pointless turn based systems that I’ve ever used. By turn based, don’t think along the lines of Final fantasy, and it’s not like a card based game either.
You have to queue up your next three moves, whether its a block or an attack. This was very frustrating and I couldn’t figure out why until I did some research on Cyanide Studios; they are famous for Pro Cycling Manager 2006 -2012. That epic portfolio pretty much speaks for itself, and if it doesn’t, then allow me to say that any studio that creates management sims should not be attempting to create an action-RPG, let alone be allowed to unleash their sheer lack of creative prowess on the beloved Game of Thrones franchise.
Unfortunately the creative impotence reaches its peak in the games visuals. What Cyanide Studios have successfully done is take the absolutely fantastic Unreal Engine 3 – which has powered many beautiful games – and produced a game that would have been acceptable back in 1999 on the id Tech 2 engine.
This game is repulsive, dull, depressing, pixelated, and irritating. If they just spent 6 months on the visuals this would have been a completely different beast. Sadly, poor visuals, clumsy controls, and audio that is not only out of sync but placed improperly, sums up the clumsiness of this game.
The only positive that can be taken from this game is that once it loads up, you are treated to the moving Game of Thrones intro song – “A song of Fire and Ice” – which continually repeats itself. So my advice is don’t press start; leave it there and you’ll be happy.
This game should be avoided at all costs – it will make your eyes bleed. If you have ever questioned whether you have a soul or not, play this title for more than 15 minutes and you’ll feel a little part of you die as its soul sucking failure destroys the light that lives behind your eyes.
