NOTE: This review was originally posted on my site 'The Motherboard' but I know a few of you from this site enjoy Game of Thrones and wouldn't mind a review.
With a show/book series as immensely popular as ‘The Song of Fire and Ice’ series; it was inevitable that we were going to get a video game. While we did get the RTS Game of Thrones: Genesis a while back; many fans (including myself) looked for a comprehensive RPG set amongst the world of Westeros.
Let’s start out positively; while Game of Thrones does not feature on any of the early tales of King Robert, Ned, Lyanna Stark, and Rhaegar Targaryan (A tale ripe for adaptation!); the story that runs parallel to the first book/season of the show is serviceable. There are plenty of twists and turns to the story, and any fan of the series should appreciate what Cyanide was trying to do. Again, I would’ve thought having Ned as the central character back during Roberts Rebellion would’ve served as a better story but at the end of it all this story does what it needs to.
Now, we go downhill. Presentation suffers the most here. Whether it’s the voice acting, where decent lines are delivered as in a melodramatic fashion. The graphics, which at best look like they belong on the original Xbox or PS2 — known characters from the series are barely recognizable. The game recycles character models and textures too. Making what could’ve been a unique experience a drab and boring one.
There are also a multitude of bugs. I got stuck in a wall plenty of times, had enemies and environments clip right through me, and even had times when I’d fail a mission and be unable to restart.
Combat isn’t terrible in its concept. It’s brutal, as it should be. Team members skills can be used, and instead of stopping the action when selecting an action it simply slows everything down. This is good as it keeps the impending doom of an enemies sword on your mind. PRoblem is, once you get enough skills, it just becomes a repetitive mess. Combat never really gives you more challenging enemies or more rewarding skills. You get the basics and that’s it. I said in my Paradigm Shift article that I wanted the combat to be as fluid and intense as a Ninja Gaiden game. There’s hints of this here, and I’m happy that Cyanide went with a more action oriented approach; but like the rest of this game it’s not the ideas that are lacking it’s the execution.
In Summary
While rich in potential, the Game of Thrones RPG just lacks the grit in its execution. Developer Cyanide simply needed more time to flesh out their ideas. As is, this is simply a great game that plays like a mediocre one.