To say I am fan of Game of Thrones, or more properly A Song of Ice and Fire, is a bit of an understatement. Owning all the books and all the graphic novels, and I would probably even have some of the replica swords hanging in my gaming area if my wife didn’t forbid me from acquiring them, I am indeed a fan. With that in mind I got really excited when I saw that Game of Thrones was at Sony’s Spring Preview Event and it was easily one of the games I jumped on right away.
Visually I got the impression of Dragon Age meets Lord of the Rings, where you will find dark, gritty images combined with very unique visuals that make the game a world of its own. The developers worked with the author of the books very closely to re-create the world that George R.R. Martin (GRRM) envisioned and it really shows. Not only did they draw on the expertise of the author they worked with, the game’s developers also worked with HBO to bring the likeness of each of the characters into the game as well, doing their best to keep fans of both mediums happy.
The gameplay was interesting to say at least as it departs from the norm that RPG players have become accustomed to. Typically when in combat you could pause the game action, assign commands to your group of adventurers, then unpause it to unleash a barrage of attacks. Often you would have to wait for your attacks to charge up again and repeat. Game of Thrones is similar in this model, except instead of pausing the action you slow down the game to make your attack choices. This means you have to be quick about your choices because the enemy is still going to come after you, albeit at a slower pace. Personally, I didn’t mind the controls that much as it does help the gameplay stand out a bit, but traditionalists may have a harder time adapting to this style.
Aside from this different gameplay mechanic everything else seemed quite familiar with attacking and defensive moves. I felt that they were quite amazingly realistic. For example, a warrior wielding a giant axe attacked me and when he swung and ultimately missed the axe thudded into the ground, just like you’d expect in real life (as real as this may be) and took time for my foe to lift it once again. In some other games that axe would be back up in his hands instantly, or insanely quick, but in Game of Thrones my enemy had to slowly pick up that huge weapon before taking another swing at me.
The narrative takes place sometime in the second half of the first book and is a stand-a-lone story from the novels and television series in an effort to provide something fresh for everyone. The main characters are two men unknown to those knowledgeable of the series, and if I remember correctly the female character that these two men are searching for crops up in one of the later books, but I definitely would to play the whole game to figure that puzzle out. What I found really awesome about how the storyline plays out is that they tell the narrative in the format of the novels, with each chapter being from the perspective of a specific character and weaving those perspectives into one huge story.
The depth of details that has been brought to Game of Thrones is truly amazing and as a fan of the novels I find this quite welcoming, as the other recent titles inspired by Game of Thrones didn’t turn out as well as fans were hoping. Based on my limited time with the game at the Sony Spring Preview Event I think that fans of the series, and fans of RPG’s in general, should take a look at this game as it is looking like a sleeper hit to me. We hope to have more details as the game continues hits its scheduled release date soon.
