Game of Thrones
Telltale Games
PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Mac
Telltale Games has managed to make a pretty big name for itself over the last few years. By focusing heavily on plot and character development in an industry that too often leaves these factors at the wayside, Telltale has brought storytelling back to the forefront of the medium. Now, with two Walking Dead titles, and the Fables-inspired series, The Wolf Among Us, under its belt, Telltale has turned it’s focus to the Game of Thrones universe.
With that said, however, and with a Q4 release planned for 2014, there’s shockingly little that we actually know about this title. That it will follow the basic format of the three games that preceded it seems to be a given, and some amusing memes have popped up to the tune of “Push A to shove Bran out of the window”, but in all seriousness, this format should fit like a glove to the morally grey realm of Westeros.
Aside from a seemingly tentative release date (it’s not hard to imagine the game being pushed back with only two months remaining in 2014), and the obvious gameplay style, we’ve only been given a few cryptic snippets of information from Telltale. It’s been revealed that the game will take place in the North, and will concern families allied to the obscure House Glover. With this information, it’s not difficult to surmise that we will likely be inhabiting the well-worn boots of a new protagonist, and that we will be dealing primarily with new characters.
This ultimately seems like it will be for the good of the realm, as Game of Thrones major players have been heavily detailed at this point. The universe though, as established in both the HBO series and George R.R. Martin’s novels, remains a wide open world with plenty left to explore. It also follows that setting the tale in such an unknown region will allow the game to tell an outsider story, wherein we will likely see characters suffering or capitalizing based on the events explored on a larger scale in the other formats.
With as rich and as vast a universe as Game of Thrones, Telltale has chosen a worthy successor for it’s newest series, and if they can maintain the level of quality seen in their previous titles, this adaptation may prove to be their finest outing yet.