Game of Thrones episode 1: Iron to Ice

Telltale Games, the company that brought us both of the great adventures of The Walking Dead, as well as last year`s Fables, is at it again.

This year, at least THREE new `episodic gaming` series will be coming out, namely Game of Thrones, Borderlands and Minecraft based.

So I started of course with Game of Thrones, and the first episode, Iron to Ice, immediatly turned out to be `different` from the previous two franchises.

Where you lived the adventure of a single character, now you are playing the game from the viewpoint of multiple ones, like the books and the series.

Your story starts as you are Gared Tuttle, squire to Lord Forrester of Ironrath, bannermen of the Starks and only briefly mentioned in the book.

You`re present at the Red Wedding, and you barely manage to get out alive, but before you escape you find your dying lord.  He asks you of a favor and of tell his household, or at least those you think trustworthy, of the `Northern Grove`.  Now, House Forrester are craftsmen of the finest and hardest wood in Westeros, the Ironwood, and they have a grudge with their neighbours the Whitehill`s, bannermen of House Bolton, about the rights to the trees.

As you return home, you find your family murdered and take revenge, but this results in your uncle Duncan, castellan at Ironrath, to advise you to join the Night`s Watch.

The second character you play is Ethan Forrester, third born son of the late lord and barely in his teens.  He now finds himself in command and after rebuking the Lord Whitehill, this pompuous ass returns bringing the Bastard of Bolton, Ramsay Snow, in tow.  You bluff... and you loose, as ramsay plunges a dagger through yout throat and leaves you to die...

Ramsay is just as irritating as his television counterpart, and the `existing` characters are voiced by their respective actors, adding depth to the whole game.

Which especially becomes apparant with the third character you get to play, Mira Forrester.  She is a handmaiden with Margaery Tyrell and tries to gain support of the crown to help out her family.  This leaves you in an audience with Tyrion and Cersei, and especially the latter one is just as overpowering as in the series and as mean as in the book.  I failed to gain support though, oops...

This is what makes the first episode already a winner for my tastes, as you have `lived` three of the main aspects of what is Game of Thrones: a warrior for justice with Gared, the issues of a lord ruling his household with Ethan, and the game of trying to manipulate those around you with Mira.

I hope the remaining 5 episodes don`t take to long to appear!