Game of Thrones

As a fan of the books and the (excellent) TV series, I pre-ordered this game as I thought it would be worth checking out.
Although it arrived on release day, I didn't get around to installing the game for more than a week, during which time I spotted some fairly critical reviews and began to worry that I'd bought a piece of rubbish. It was therefore with a certain amount of trepidation that I loaded it up last weekend and began playing it.
It's possible (though unlikely) that the poor comments I saw had lowered my expectations (or that the 75 MB patch that downloaded when I checked for updates fixed problems that others may have had) but I think the game is excellent.
Yes the graphics are more on a par with Dragon Age: Origins or Mass Effect 1 (or Knights of the Old Republic) than Skyrim but that's perfectly acceptable and doesn't detract from your enjoyment of the game. And yes, fights do have a bit of a consoley feel but the combat mechanic is fine. (You can pause combat to queue up actions (4 max) - power permitting - or just click on targets to use a basic attack).
Levels / missions are also pretty linear (just like DA:O & ME, then) but, again, that's not a problem and variety is added by having the game flip you between playing 2 different characters and their respective stories. In another nice touch, the game lets one of the characters possess his pet war dog and roam around in canine form (essential for completing some missions where a human is too big to reach the objective).
Once you get used to which buttons to click, (it's slightly counter-intuitive) the inventory management, item-equipping and trading screens are simple, clear and straightforward and the interface is generally good and easy to use (MUCH better than the default Skyrim PC user interface!).
But what makes you want to keep playing this game is what has always made the difference between good & bad RPGs - the story - and this game does a great job of making you interested in the characters and their fates pretty much from the word go. Mors and Alester are both interesting and fun to play in different ways and their tales tick along nicely with plenty of roleplaying opportunities (spare the prisoner? / torture him for info? / kill him? - it's up to you) so that you can play the way you want to. There's also enough of a flavour of the Game of Thrones world here for fans to feel immediately engaged (even though you're not playing as a member of the Lannister or Stark family) and the story is neatly woven into and around known places and events from the books. Don't worry if you aren't familiar with the source material as enjoying the game doesn't depend on it).
Experience with ME3 has taught me that you can't properly judge a game until you've finished it (!) but 10 hours in, I'd happily recommend this to anyone who has played and enjoyed similar games, from KotOR and Morrowind to ME3 and Skyrim

Mors Westford is a former knight in the service of House Lannister. For refusing to take part in the mission to kill Princess Elia Martell and her children during the Sack of King's Landing, Mors was declared a traitor. He escaped punishment by taking the black and now serves on the Wall as one of the Night's Watch's finest trackers and soldiers. When wildlings cross the Wall and hole up in the abandoned castle of Icemark, it falls to Mors to flush them out. After this mission Mors encounters a young woman on the run and discovers a labyrinth conspiracy originating in King's Landing.

Meanwhile, Ser Alester Sarwyck returns home to his castle of Riverspring (near the source of the Blackwater Rush) upon learning of the death of his father. Riverspring is in danger of falling into the hands of Alester's brutal bastard half-brother, Valarr, so Alester travels to King's Landing to win the support of Queen Cersei in his attempts to succeed his father. He also discovers evidence of a conspiracy involving a young woman on the run to the Wall, and begins his own investigations. Ultimately, his and Mors's paths will cross, and they will have to join forces to defeat the conspirators even as Westeros descends into the chaos of the War of the Five Kings all around them.

It would be fair to say that Cyanide's first crack at the Song of Ice and Fire computer game license, Game of Thrones: Genesis, was not a notable success. An exceptionally poor strategy game that failed to capture the flavour of the novels, it was unsurprisingly critically pounded. Expectations for their second game based on the franchise, a roleplaying game, were accordingly lowered.

For its first third or so, Game of Thrones: The Roleplaying Game meets these low expectations. Graphically, the game is serviceable but disappointing. Talk of it looking like a previous-generation game is somewhat hyperbolic, and there's some nice design work in the game, but ultimately it does look about five years old. Cyanide had limited resources to use to work on the game, and graphically some shortcuts had to be taken.

In terms of structure, the game is more successful. Game chapters alternate between Mors and Alester, with each chapter usually ending on a cliffhanger before switching characters. In this manner the game reproduces the structure of the novels. It's a nice conceit which actually works quite well. The game also initially unfolds in two different timelines, with Alester playing catch-up with days and weeks passing during his adventure whilst Mors's story unfolds in real time. This results in a countdown until the two storylines meet and synch up, which also gives the game a feeling of progress.

Control-wise the game is a mixed bag. The game is overwhelmingly focused on combat to the exclusion of almost any other game mechanics. All of your skills relate to combat (none of your skills affect dialogue choices, for example) and the game throws you into battle extremely frequently. Combat is undertaken almost entirely through status-altering attacks and managing your health and energy (special attacks cost energy, and working out when to use a special attack and when to conserve energy is vital). However, once you gain access to certain skills, most notably knockdown attacks, combat becomes almost perfunctorily easy (a couple of late-game boss fights aside). It isn't the worst combat system ever (it's a huge improvement over the likes of say, The Witcher's) but it falls short of its potential.

The game otherwise unfolds in the traditional modern CRPG formula, with you having a main questline to pursue as well as side-quests. Whilst still favouring combat as your main way of progress, some of these quests can be resolved through dialogue instead, which mixes things up nicely. Unfortunately, the writing and dialogue tends towards the banal, making following these side-quests somewhat tedious in places.

After a first half that can charitably be called 'variable' in quality, however, the game unexpectedly takes a turn towards the impressive. The plot twists and turns through a series of brutal, murderous twists that equal anything in the novels and the storyline accelerates into high gear, moving from an action-based storyline of conspiracies and intrigue to more of a gut-wrenching tragedy. The finale is surprisingly affecting, and definitely one of the best endings to a CRPG in recent years.

Game of Thrones: The Roleplaying Game (***½) is a long, slow burn which takes an apparent age to really get going. Indifferent graphics, dodgy writing (for the most part) and only a semi-successful combat system threaten to sink the game altogether before the writers spring a series of impressive surprises on the player that takes the story in an altogether unexpected direction. Ultimately, however, the impressive ending justifies all that went before it, making the game worthwhile and enjoyable.

Disclosure: I am the creator of the GAME OF THRONES TV Wiki and a moderator on the Westeros.org website.

If you are a fan of the Song of Ice and Fire Novel series or the Game of Thrones HBO series and are also a fan of CRPG's then I recommend you give this game a try.

The game may not be to the high standards of The Witcher 2 or Dragon Age but it is still a fun game. The graphics are decent enough but the it's the story that really steals the show and just like the Novels and TV Series has you guessing and wanting to know what happens next.

The game is rough around the edges admittedly but it is not anywhere near as bad as many review on the web are suggesting. If you are willing to forgive it for it's faults, such as erratic voice acting and rough graphics there is fun and deep RPG to be enjoyed here set within the rich and brilliant fantasy world or George RR Martin.