Can Episode 3 maintain the benchmark that Episodes 1 and 2 set?
Telltale’s Game of Thrones series is a lot more like HBO’s television series than you might give it credit for. Even with only a couple of weeks to go I can barely contain my excitement Season 5 to air on Sky Atlantic (I even joined Sky again just so I can watch it). Thankfully they are showing all of the first four series’ in the run up to April 13th (due to time-zones) so I can refresh my mind with what’s occurring. It’s been a while.
And this is one of the problems with having to wait for each of Telltale’s episodes. The anticipation is great, but is slightly spoiled by the fact that when I started playing this iteration I couldn’t remember what had happened before. And I didn’t want to have to play through the first two episodes again to remember. I guess the format will work a bit better once all six episodes are available and they can be played back to back.
Although this might seem like a bit of a gripe it is also, in a roundabout way, a credit to the writing team behind the game. First off, and let’s make no mistake here, I am well and truly hooked on the story. Somehow they have managed to perfectly capture the feel of George R.R. Martin’s universe and characters in a story arc which manages to exist quite separately from Martin’s canon but also mixes with it quite expertly too.
Your characters, of or connected to House Forrester, will all bring something a bit different to the game; from the injured Lord Rodrik Forrester trying to protect his house from Ramsay Snow’s men, to the exiled Asher Forrester, on the run and in trouble in the Free Cities; from Gared Tuttle now living life as a crow on The Wall to Mira Forrester and all the cunning goings on in King’s Landing. It’s a very tangled web indeed.
The graphics and controls are the same as before, although part of me suspects they might have made the Quick Time Events a bit easier (I didn’t die once in this episode, where as I died a few times in the previous two). I won’t retread old ground here, apart from highlighting the fact that playing this game is a bit like having an oil painting that moves… and has loads of blood in it… and swears… a lot.
Episodes 1 and 2 set the scene so well that I must admit to being a little concerned that “The Sword in the Darkness” might end up falling a little flat. I don’t know why I was worried, though, as episode 3 quickly takes you on more twists and turns as its addictive plot unfolds. It’s a fascinating story, and yet again I must now endure that long wait until Episode 4 arrives!!
Game of Thrones: Episode Three - The Sword in the Darkness
Pros
- Imersive story
- Feels like Game of Thrones
Cons
- Graphics still blocky
- I have to wait!!
