Review for Game of Thrones. Game for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the video game was released on 15/05/2012
A Song of Ice and Fire, the (still ongoing) literary saga of George RR Martin, has now reached a global notoriety especially thanks to the television series The Throne of Swords (whose original title is Game of Thrones). When a few months ago the upcoming release of an RPG set in this literary universe was announced, many of us wondered if it would be yet another by-product of a successful series with nothing to offer or if it could be a great opportunity. to take advantage of one of the most atypical and interesting fantasy contexts ever created. Finally the time has come to find out and we will see how much more complex things actually are.
AThe King's Prodo, the Barrier, the Seven Kingdoms await us
Despite the success, until now the videogame world has not offered many opportunities to be able to immerse oneself in the world designed by Martin. A complex world, which to define fantasy at times even seems forced because, despite some elements in common with this genre, the saga offers a plausible setting that offers a sometimes cruel reality where there is no protagonist who despite everything pursues his way, but indeed there are different points of view in which no character is perfect or safe from a premature end. To put it briefly, the world of a Song of Ice and Fire is a universe where misery and injustice are present, where power struggles tear and reassemble feudal balances, and where it is difficult to trust even the closest people. A multi-faceted saga familiar to many through the bestselling print version or more likely through its television counterpart.
As we said, Game of Thrones it was a title that generated a fair amount of curiosity in the previous months, thanks to previews and trailers: in fact, although for many it was taken for granted to expect a total disaster, as usually happens in the case of games linked to a successful brand, there were those who harbored some hope for the title announced by Cyanide Studios. Once you have started the game, you immediately notice the influence of the television transposition (also because the game is sponsored by HBO), in fact, in the opening credits the welcome presence of the same soundtrack present in the opening theme of the homonymous series must be recorded; despite this it may raise the concern that the title is only a huge publicity for the latter, as we progress in the game we will notice how the soundtracks of the television series are repeated in the game specifically and in a way that is anything but out of place. As if this were not enough, this is not the only element in common that we will meet, in fact during the game we will meet numerous characters with familiar faces for those who have followed the TV series, such as Joer Mormont or Cersei Lannister, as the latter they will have appearance specially resembling those who have interpreted them, and also the known settings that we will gradually encounter (such as the Barrier or King's Landing) will have elements that will purely recall the television transposition.
Night falls and my guard begins
With this necessary preamble done, it's time to analyze what this saga-based RPG has to offer to the RPG genre and the gaming landscape in general. Once you start the game, the first thing you notice is not the most pleasant and indeed it seems to confirm all the worst fears of those who hypothesized a fiasco, in fact the most striking and visible thing is an extremely sparse and dated graphics. In fact, a similar element after the game has started is not at all positive and would make many turn up their noses, plunging them into disappointment and despair, it is an important defect that we will return to talk about later. Going beyond the hasty conclusions, however, we begin to gradually notice something, which gradually becomes a clear glimmer of hope that heartens us. This glimpse consists in gradually realizing how the context in which we will be lowered is exactly that of Martin's literary universe, thus starting to feel familiar sensations in reading the dialogues and in delving into situations and places typical of Game of Thrones. Everything is well rendered especially by the presence of two very different protagonists, whose story along the way will intertwine in a coherent and well-narrated way within the events of the seven kingdoms: the first we will meet will be Mors Westford, a veteran of the Night Guardians, while the second will be Alester Sarwyck, eldest son of a house loyal to the Lannisters who decided to exile himself by landing in the free cities becoming a red priest, a priest of the cult of R'hllor, the Lord of Light. Both of the heroes we will play will have in common having experienced serious events at the time of the rebellion of Robert Baratheon, a rebellion known as the war of the usurper.
An old formula that we lacked
This title looks like an old-fashioned game in many ways, and this is already one of those complex things we mentioned in the introduction, in fact this series of elements brings with it double-sided aspects that if from a point of view can be judged positive, on the other hand they can appear negative. First of all, although our characters are well characterized, at the beginning we will have the possibility to make a further customization, being able to decide between different fighting styles and consequently also different skills and ways of playing. To this are added other elements of complexity that have recently disappeared somewhat from the panorama of RPG video games and that could also frighten some categories of players making them fear excessive difficulty, for example we will be asked to distribute points in various statistics, to distribute them others in the mastery of certain weapons, moreover if we want we can determine a particular balance between positive and negative traits. Although these elements may appear complex, over time we discover how complex they are only in appearance and that they are not a real obstacle for the players and, indeed, perhaps add that little bit more that might be appreciated by the most nostalgic. Beyond that there are other aspects that deserve to be discussed, the first of these is undoubtedly positive and concerns the presence of numerous well-written and complex dialogues that will place us in different situations with which it will be interesting to deal with the excellent narrative sector, and these are welcome elements reminiscent for example of something in line with games Bioware of the past, which in their most recent titles find themselves more weakened. Remaining on the Bioware theme, the third element is the combat system, reminiscent of Dragon Age: Origins to cite a recent example, although there is no lack of elements in common with other RPGs of the past, certainly it is worth noting the presence of numerous complexities such as types of armor, weapons, the use of ampoules as environmental weapons, etc ...
The night is dark and full of terror
Positive elements certainly cannot make us ignore too many things that are wrong. First of all it is necessary to return to the gravest sin, already amply mentioned in the previous paragraphs. The game's graphics are really backward and sparse, too much for a title released in 2012 to the point of becoming a bad business card for players, some of whom seeing it may not resist the intent to close the prey game as soon as possible to total disappointment. The graphics options unfortunately help very little as the game does not offer a particular range of options, making everything very little scalable and forcing us to have to choose only between two options: lean and ultra-lean. Unfortunately to balance this, the fact that the armor is more than watchable is not enough at all as this always ends up out of tune with the textures of the settings and characters that are really not up to par. Another negative element that will make players turn up their noses in the first minutes of the game is the camera, poorly manageable in the exploration phases and too close to the character, thus preventing a full view. Combined with a better camera we would also have preferred a better management of the settings to be made more evocative in their structure. From the point of view of the gameplay we add the frustration in making wrong choices in the customization of the fighting style and in the leveling of your character that could alienate the player, as some choices could be particularly effective at the expense of others to what is linked with a last element: the interface, which as we said reflects the titles of the past, perhaps too much, resulting uncomfortable and apparently complex for the players, especially if already disoriented by the initial impact had with the graphics.
Conclusion
If the fear was that this game, once released, was soulless as a mere advertising production of a successful television series, this concern has fortunately been dissolved, the title indeed is strengthened by elements worthy of the RPG genre that does not they had seen each other for some time, offering an excellent narrative sector flanked by good dialogues. However, these undoubtedly positive aspects are undermined by heavy deficiencies in terms of graphics and the interface towards the user. For long-time fans of the videogame genre or the literary saga, the title could appear excellent, while for others the judgment could drop drastically. Accomplice of the negative judgment could also be the release price too high in the face of the defects present.
► Game Of Thrones is an RPG-Adventure game published by ATLUS Focus Home Interactive for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the video game was released on 15/05/2012
