Gameitall It’s been said before, movie/TV based games suck, and there are multiple games that prove this too; as well as theories on how to make a good movie game.
A Game of Thrones has become a major household name thanks to the amazing first season of the HBO series, and like most gamers would say just by watching the series; it’s has such a rich story that an RPG style game can be made of it. The team at Cyanide Studios were thinking the same thing.
A Game of Thrones takes place during the first season, or first book, of the series. You play as two characters, Mors Westford a member of the Night’s Watch, an elite group of warrior who are supposed to protect the north from invaders, and Alester Sarwyck, a Red Priest who returns home after 15 years due to his father’s death. Mors’ storyline tends to make him more of a powerhouse character while Alester is more based around the politics that the series is more renowned for.
When you start your character you’re given 3 different fighting classes for each character, along this is special gifts and curses that is set to your character, gifts giving you and your party some extra perks, such as faster attack speed, immunity to status aliments, etc. Then there are the curses that act as the complete reversal, making you more prone to fire, get tired easily or have less health in general.
If your someone who doesn’t like playing table top RPG’s that would be a sign that you will not enjoy A Game of Thrones, because that is exactly how the game feels. The combat for the game is ripped from Bioware’s Dragon Age Origins, while not necessarily a bad thing, although it’s a fun combat engine, it does has some major flaws.
First of which is that leveling up in the game is a task and doesn’t happen as quickly as one might like for to keep combat fresh and interesting. While attacks are set up in moves of three, in order to do special combat techniques you are required to open up a menu and select it for one of your three moves, slowing down the combat. Of course there is a nice silver lining here, as in Dragon Age, each weapon has a different kill move which feels very cinematic in nature and just a violent as book and TV series.
There is one major killer for most, and that is the fact that the graphics and audio work are just bad. Buggy animations, and graphic that look to be more on the shovelware side, while it almost sounds like every character is played by the same voice actor. The Music for the game is the exact same as the TV show which makes it the better part of the audio, but the I’ve experienced in the Audio and Graphic department does not do well.
George R.R. Martin did oversee the title, allowing the narrative to easily be the best part of the game, fans of the book will absolutely adore the story and will probably power through the 30 hour title, and while there are some genuinely good ideas in the title, the execution doesn’t fully deliver.
While I won’t say A Game of Thrones is a bad game, it is a mediocre Movie based title. If your a fan of the Book and the TV series, it’s an enjoyable addition to the series.
A Game of Thrones – 5 out of 10
Pros: Interesting Table Top RPG concept used in the game, excellent Narrative, Great Music
Cons: Under preforming Graphics, repetitive combat, no replay value.
