Telltale’s latest episodic graphic adventure series may suffer from the same problems its others games have had, it still perfectly replicates the feel and tension of the hit HBO series “Game of Thrones.”
Telltale had its work cut out for them in making this game. It isn’t like “The Walking Dead” and “The Wolf Among Us” series where you can jump straight into the story without having read the source material. This is a game which demands that you are already familiar with the big players and pieces of the world before diving in. I am recommending everyone reading or watching the first three seasons of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” before playing the game, considering it starts out with some fairly hefty spoilers. I’ll refrain from mentioning them anyway, but to be safe, get caught up.
The story of “Iron from Ice” follows the house of Forrester, one of the noble families of the North that rules over the Ironwood forests. After a great tragedy befalls the family and leaves the future of the house in question, the player must decide their fate. Gameplay takes on the roles of the second youngest Forrester son who has been made the new lord of the Ironwood, his sister attempting to survive the den of vipers that is King’s Landing and a squire loyal to the Forresters who is caught in the crossfire between two warring houses.
Telltale has captured this world magnificently. The characters and stories feel as if they have jumped straight out of the show. The political intrigue has been supplanted perfectly and even though the stakes are not as high as HBO series, I still felt connected to the Forresters as much as the Starks or certain Lannisters. The only thing missing is the shades of grey morality that comes from the conflicted perspectives that the show capitalizes on. You are with the Forresters and are meant to sympathize with them alone. This is fine, since they do a wonderful job characterizing the family, but I can’t help but miss that “full-picture” feeling.
Rather than keeping to its usual comic-book visual style, Telltale has gone for a literal painting visual style. You can see the brush strokes on the character models and the beautiful backdrops make everything you look at unique and vibrant. It is a shame that “Iron From Ice” falls into the same pitfalls of other Telltale games in that it has not quite mastered facial expressions and body emotions, but what they have is not a deal-breaker in any way.
Whereas previous Telltale games have managed to balance choice-driven conversations sections with its action-oriented puzzle sequences, “Iron from Ice” leans heavily on the conversation side. However, this direction matches the show anyway, as you are forced to make those hard and often tragic choices that plague the people of Westeros. This episode starts out small, as it should, but I would expect some really hard-hitting choices coming in future installments.
The addition of actors from the show help lend some prestige to the proceedings, but it really wasn’t necessary. Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Natalie Dormer and Iwan Rheon all bring their A-game and it’s great to see familiar faces pop up here and there. It does, however, come off as purposely trying to bait people into playing the game where they did not need to since they crafted a stellar cast of their own. I am glad to welcome Telltale’s small piece of Westeros into the larger tapestry and I can not wait to continue the story with the second episode “The Lost Lords” on February 3.
