A surprisingly good RPG, however it could have been much better. *Update* The plot is really amazing! Best GoT game yet.

User Rating: 9 | Game of Thrones PC
Update: I chose to raise my original rating (from 8 to 9) because the story of this game is simply amazing. My original review is lower down, and was written during the first half of the game. But since then the plot got better and better, the twists and turns, the psychological profile of each character leaves me speechless it is as if Martin wrote this himself (actually it is almost better than some of his main characters) both Mors and Alestar are great, their past and determination to reach their goal, their tragic past and the pain they have to live through. It has been so long since a story captured me so much. You feel the game... and the secondary quests are not just some means of earning extra experience points, they are not dead ends, they prove to be vital to the future of the main mission, and they are very original themselves. Although the adventure you play does not come in contact with the main story of the book and film it gives you a lot of insight in this world. And I am shocked of how the plot managed to surprise me thus far. I could never predict what will happen and what is about to happen. Everything is a mist and every step a mystery.
The graphics are a bit outdated and the game mechanics are shallow ... but the story of this game compensates for everything. If you are a fan of Martin's books you really must play this. (And take a careful look at the meister from Castlewood you will have a surprise.)

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I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by this, usually I do not expect much from games that try to feed from the success of great films. (Although the first two Harry Potters were amazing and so was Battle for Middle Earth)

The game reminds me a bit of KotOR... obviously not as good and epic, but it is the kind of 3rd person RPG in which you can directly control the character and you can also pause/slow down to select what actions to perform next. Sometimes other characters join you, but I was not able to make changes their inventory or level them up, which is pretty annoying, however I was able to control them in battle. Battles are fun, but very short and fairly easy (some are really challenging - pack some healing potions for any eventuality). There is hardly any tactic needed during the first levels and the little number of skills does not require any more thinking as you advance (except using stun to cancel certain attacks or gain some advantage in a fight with multiple targets). Further on some skills manage to combine to work better (for example you can use a weakening attack with one character while the other performs a powerful blow thus inflicting more damage), however I rarely used this feature since companions change and so do their skills. Items seem very original, you have 3 types of armour (armour consists of (boots, body armour, gloves, helmet, cape)), and several types of weapons each with a certain attack suited for different armours (for example if you face a light or medium armoured opponent you should opt for a quick sword, but against heavy armour blunt weapons work best), you can equip a one-handed weapons (with or without shield and different one-handed weapons in each hand), two-handed weapons, bows and crossbows (there is very little magic in the game).

Visually the game is pretty decent. Not outstanding by 2011-2012 standards but the details are pleasant and they manage to paint the picture well (I like how armour looks). There are some bugs and glitches but nothing too serious. It is fun to explore Castle Black or the Red Keep from the ground as well as other locations you might have seen in the movies or read about in the books.

The game manages to be surprisingly original and deep. Something I did not expect either. The action takes place during the time of the first book (Around the death of John Aeryn). The best part about it is that you do not embody any of the main characters. This would have made the story much too linear. On the other hand the two characters (One is a Brother of the Night's Watch and the other a priest of R'hllor and the heir to a lord in the service of Tywin Lanister) have a very strong personality and you feel a certain bond to them. Your actions have effect on yourself (may unlock new traits) or on the story development (how certain characters behave). Voices are good, and dialogues are very interesting.

The huge minus for this game its the fact that it does not have a targeted public. Most people today go for the simple minded action/rpg (?) genre that became omnipresent in the last 2-3 years (Witcher 2, Dragon Age 2, etc). Other gamers like to take decisions, use tactics, craft items, spend time exploring, meeting as many characters as possible and sinking in the lore of the game-world... This game seems to combine both. As I said before, fighting doesn't seem to be complex at all, your health regenerates after each fight, the game consists of several locations without many side quests or characters with whom to interact, there is no item crafting and the number of skills is very limited. However the game still looks pretty much like a classical RPG. So I am not sure whom the developers wish to address.

This could have been a KotOR clone and many players would have loved it. The universe of A Saga of Ice and Fire is amazing in itself and vast enough to support huge open world games and I think that we will see more of it in the future (KotOR was released decades after the first film - hopefully we won't have to wait that much for an epic GoT game). The game is fun and better than many others pretentious RPGs that came out lately (much better than Dragon Age 2 by my standards). The story is dramatic, but not pathetic, it is almost impossible to anticipate future events and it makes you want to know everything about your characters and the world. However the lack of complexity and the rather rapid and short character development make this experience very pleasant but hardly memorable and epic, as it could, and should, have been.