Game Of Thrones: A telltale series. Episode 1 Xbox 360 Review

CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS

Telltales Game of Thrones game introduces us to a new house, House Forrester, who currently occupy the city of Ironrath and were loyal banner men to the Starks of Winterfell. However, now the north has been ripped apart by war and rival houses are attempting to take the Forresters Ironwood for themselves.
We get to take control of three distinct characters, all connected to the Forresters. These are, Ethan Forrester, who must step up to become the head of the house, Mira Forrester, Ethans older sister and handmaiden to Margery Tyrell in Kings Landing, and Gared Tuttle, squire to Lord Forrester. It is with Gared that the story begins. It is clear this game was made with the presumption that everyone playing it was well up to date with the TV show or the books, as we begin the game during the Red Wedding where the Forrester men are attacked, and Gared escapes back to Ironrath. From here a number of events unfold that see the Forresters in conflict with a rival house, House Whitehill.

Gameplay here boils down to making dialogue decisions and making choices that will affect the game world around you. These decisions all have to be made against a timer so you will have to make judgements quickly and decisively. Gameplay also involves performing quick time events during combat and action scenes. Despite the stigma attached to quick time events in modern gaming, it works well here. The dialogue is well written enough to maintain the players interest, and the quick time events are a good way to break up the conversation sections.

Just like the TV show and books, the game jumps to and from each playable characters perspective. Gared does not play a major role in this chapter, but his storyline is set up nicely for future episodes, by being sent to The Wall and told to find the 'North Grove' which is essential if House Forrester is to survive. After the events of the Red Wedding, Ethan is left in charge of his house despite only being in his early teenage years. His older sister Talia and younger brother Ryon, are both concerned that Ethan will change when he becomes lord, and that may well be the case as you must tackle a number of important issues. As Ethan you must choose between which member of your council will be your sentinel, as well as handling a tense confrontation with Lord Whitehill. However, the highlight of this episode has to be Ethan's showdown with Ramsey Snow, thanks to outstanding voice acting from Iwan Rheon. I personally thought events from Ethan's perspective were the best part of this episode.

Ethan's older sister Mira is in Kings Landing, where we are introduced to fan favourites from the TV show, such as Margaery Tyrell and Tyrion and Cersei Lannister. All of these characters are voiced by their actual real life counterparts, which is an excellent feature. Mira is faced with the task of asking Lady Margaery to aid her family which gets her in some awkward situations involving Margaery's other hand maiden, Sera. However, Mira's encounter with Cersei in the throne room is a stand out, and being involved in the power struggle between the Queen Regent and Queen to be is very interesting and great fun to play through.

Despite excellent gameplay features and story, there are a few negatives. The voice acting here is of a good standard from every character, despite the lip syncing being a bit ropey at times. There was also frequent slow down whenever the game auto saved. However, these are minor gripes in an otherwise great gaming experience.
This First instalment of Telltales Game of Thrones game represents the Game of Thrones universe superbly. The game is full of interesting characters and intriguing story lines with tonnes of potential. It even comes with a shocking ending in typical Game of Thrones style, and I am really looking forward to seeing how each characters storyline unfolds, as well as how my important decisions effect future episodes.