Game of Thrones (2012 video game)
| Game of Thrones | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Cyanide |
| Publisher(s) | NA Atlus EU Focus Home Interactive AUS Focus Home Interactive |
| Engine | Unreal Engine 3 |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
| Release date(s) | NA May 15, 2012 (Retail) NA May 16, 2012 (Steam) EU June 8, 2012 AUS June 14, 2012 AUS June 21, 2012 (PC) |
| Genre(s) | Action role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Distribution | Optical disc, download |
Game of Thrones is an action role-playing video game based on A Game of Thrones, the first of the A Song of Ice and Fire novels by George R. R. Martin, and in part also on the novels' TV adaptation by HBO, Game of Thrones.
The game was developed by Cyanide and published by Atlus in North America and Focus Home Interactive in Europe and Australia. James Cosmo and Conleth Hill reprise their roles from the HBO series as Lord Commander Jeor Mormont and Lord Varys, respectively. George R. R. Martin has a cameo appearance as Maester Martin in Castlewood. The game also uses other assets from the HBO series, such as the music.
Plot summary
The game is set in parallel to A Game of Thrones. The plot unfolds in chapters, alternating between playing as the Red Priest Alester Sarwyck, and the skinchanger Mors Westford, who can shift his consciousness into his Bull Terrier. This summary details the events of the plot in chronological order, rather than as they occur in-game.
Alester has returned to his home of Riverspring from Braavos to attend his father's funeral. At the funeral, Alester learns that his younger brother Gawen has been disinherited and is currently wanted for their father's murder, and that his sister Elyana has been betrothed to their bastard half-brother, Valarr Hill. As the nobles leave the funeral, their display of finery incites a riot among the peasants of Riverspring, which the player must then suppress by force or negotiation. Alester resolves to find Gawen and put a stop to Elyana's marriage to Valarr.
Alester makes his way to King's Landing, where he sees Valarr interrogating and murdering servants at the Sarwyck Manse. Searching the estate, he discovers a letter to Gawen from Falena, a prostitute at Chataya's brothel, but is forced to kill three members of the City Watch in his escape. Alester learns from Falena that Gawen recently came to the city, but she has not seen him since. While leaving the brothel, Alester is apprehended and incarcerated in the Red Keep. Lord Varys helps him escape, and his resourcefulness impresses Queen Cersei. She grants Alester the chance to compete with Valarr for Riverspring, beginning with hunting down a bastard potter's apprentice named Harry Waters, who is being guarded by a man called the Mother Hen. Valarr and Alester track down and kill Waters and the Mother Hen, a knight in the service of House Arryn named Godric Donnerly. Valarr finds a note in the Mother Hen's inn that tells him that another woman he seeks is hiding at the Wall. Cersei is impressed with Alester, but says that she needs this woman from the Wall. Valarr sends his lieutenant Yohn to apprehend her.
While leaving the Red Keep, Alester is waylaid by Lord Arwood Harlton, a friend of his father's, who says that he can help Alester find Gawen. Alester helps Harlton find a genealogical book, which leads them to the conclusion that Cersei's children are illegitimate. While locating the book, Alester discovers that Gawen is dead, and that Valarr arranged the murder. Harlton then reveals that he is part of a covert organization that wishes to reinstate the Targaryen dynasty, as was Alester's father. Alester retrieves secret documents from his father's study at Riverspring and joins Harlton at his estate, Castlewood.
The player begins as Mors Westford, a Ranger of the Night's Watch and a skinchanger, apprehending and executing a deserter named Gorold. The player then leads a party including Terrence Celtigar, Ronnel Hill, and Poddy to Castle Icemark to track down Cregan, another Ranger, who has raped and murdered a recruit. However, Icemark has been overrun by Wildlings, led by a man named Gorn. The Wildlings kill Terrence and Ronnel, and Mors takes on the group, killing Gorn and his entire group, but is taken down by archers and besieged by several opponents. About to be executed, he is saved by Qhorin Halfhand and a party of Night's Watch archers. An injured Mors tracks Poddy, who deserted in fear. Using his dog, he skinchanges and kills the recruit as he attempts to steal a woman's belongings, saving the woman right before Poddy attempted to kill her.
At Castle Black, a recovering Mors receives a letter from Jon Arryn asking him to protect a girl. He also meets Yohn, impersonating Godric Donnerly, and leads him to the girl, Jeyne Greystone, who Mors recognizes as the woman he saved from Poddy. However, Jeyne knows Ser Donnerly and recognizes Yohn as an impostor. Mors and several Sworn Brothers of the Night's Watch track down and kill Yohn's party outside Mole's Town, including Sworn Brothers who have been bribed. Yohn reveals that he is a member of the Bloodseekers, Valarr's army.
Mors is made a recruiter by Lord Commander Mormont, allowing him to leave the Wall to track down Valaar and ensure the girl's safety. Mors and Jeyne travel to the Westford family's cottage, where Mors had hidden his family 15 years earlier when he joined the Night's Watch. There, he discovers the graves of his wife and daughter. Jeyne reveals to Mors that she is pregnant with the child of Robert Baratheon, and that she is herself the bastard daughter of the Mad King, Aerys Targaryen.
The cottage is attacked by Bloodseekers, but Mors is aided by Endrew, a spy who Harlton had planted in the Bloodseekers, and other member's of Harlton's guard, who take them to Castlewood. At Castlewood, Harlton reveals that he orchestrated Jeyne's liaison with King Robert in order to produce a half-Targaryen, half-Baratheon heir that he could install on the throne. Jeyne is hidden away in Castlewood, and Mors is taken to the dungeons and tortured for information. While imprisoned, Mors skinchanges into his dog and kills a guard, allowing the prisoner in the cell next to him to escape. However, the prisoner is unable to help, as Mors' torturers return at that very moment.
The prisoner is Gawen Sarwyck, who manages to sneak through the castle, find Alester, and learn his identity. Gawen reveals that Harlton staged his murder to hide the fact that he was holding Gawen prisoner, and that Harlton poisoned their father Lord Sarwyck. Together, Gawen and Alester break Mors out of his cell, just as the torturers are burning out Mors' left eye. It is revealed that Mors and Alester were comrades during Robert's Rebellion 15 years earlier. Mors and Alester sneak through the castle to find Jeyne, but Gawen is killed by Endrew. Mors and Alester are trapped in Jeyne's room by Harlton and his guards, and are forced to abandon her by jumping out the window.
They decide to regroup in Riverspring, and en route it is revealed that Mors was forced to join the Night's Watch to escape punishment for defying Tywin Lannister's order to murder the children of Rhaegar Targaryen. Alester was tasked with protecting Mors' family, but while he was away one day they were murdered. In shame, he fled to the Free Cities of the East, becoming a Red Priest.
Upon their return to Riverspring, the Bloodseekers taken over the town and Mors and Alester are forced to fight their way to the castle. Valarr accuses Mors and Alester of treason, and Mors challenges him to a trial by combat. Just as Mors is about to defeat Valarr, he uses blood magic to summon a shadow assassin (like those called by Melisandre in A Clash of Kings), which kills Mors. As Mors dies, Valarr reveals that he killed the Westford family. Valarr then massacres the witnesses, and holds Elyana hostage to get Alester to reveal Jeyne's location. He then beheads Elyana and imprisons Alester in Lord Sarwyck's tomb.
However, the Captain of the Riverspring Guard, Alester's cousin Ryman Sarwyck, frees Alester and helps to organize resistance against Valarr's Bloodseekers. Alester disguises himself as a Bloodseeker and infiltrates the castle, opening the gates and letting Ryman's army in. In the aftermath of the battle, Alester pays his last respects to Mors, and through his powers as a Red Priest, unwittingly brings him back to life.
Mors and Alester sneak down the river on a small boat and infiltrate Castlewood, which is besieged by Valarr, and free Jeyne, who is in labour. During their escape, Jeyne gives birth, and Valarr manages to enter the castle, sending shadows to kill Lord Harlton. Jeyne sacrifices herself to save her child's life, knowing that he does not know she has given birth, and her death will stop the hunt for her child. Alester and Mors manage to escape with the baby.
Mors and Alester head to Riverspring, where they learn that King's Landing is in an uproar in the aftermath of the King's death. They decide to use the attention of Eddard Stark's execution to take their vengeance on Valarr, with most guards and commoners away to attend the execution. They catch Valarr alone in the throne room and kill him. With his dying breath, he reveals that when he killed Mors' daughter, Alester was outside, killing Mors' wife on the orders of Tywin Lannister. Mors and Alester then fight to the death. After the battle, the surviving man is confronted by Varys, who offers to send Jeyne's child to the Free Cities. There are then four endings, depending on the player's choices:
- Alester survives and sends the baby to the Free cities. Suicidal over killing Mors, he stays to confront the Queen, acting in defiance to her. Cersei orders her guards to take Alester away for a quick execution. She tells Alester that "When you play the Game of Thrones you win or you die. There is no middle ground." As she walks away Alester cries out in defiance "Better to die than to tainted!"
- Alester survives and gives Cersei the baby. He inherits Riverspring, but is bitter and depressed, realizing that he may have upheld the honor of his name, but, that it doesn't matter; it's only a name and he had to betray and murder people to get it. He is last seen staring into his fireplace in his room contemplating suicide with a noose.
- Mors survives and sends the baby to the Free cities. He then returns to the Wall, noticeably more cynical and angry, and is forced to execute his friend Patrek for desertion, giving the attending recruits a solemn warning on the futility of trying to escape the Watch. He tells them it doesn't matter if they are killed by the cold or the wildlings or the White Walkers, he says "We are already dead. All of us. Accept it."
- Mors survives and takes the baby, with the intent to leave for the Free Cities. Briefly stopping at his family's house, he contemplates if he will make a good father - being a warrior, a hunter and a killer, he does however believe that his skills will give the child a good start in life. He is tracked down for desertion by a Night's Watch patrol, who warns him to come and out surrender. Mors was expecting this, he tells the child to wait and that he won't be long. Mors picks up a sword, and goes outside to fight the patrol.
Development
Downloadable content
In November 2012 Cyanide published the downloadable content (DLC) "Behind the Wall". It is set 10 years before the plot of Game of Thrones.[1] It was released for PC platforms, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in Europe. A North American release was planned, but dropped due to the poor critical reception the game had gotten. Gorold, Mors, and a Sworn Brother named Weasel are forced to go beyond the Wall, after a Night's Watch builder, Maekar, is abducted by wildlings. Weasel betrays Gorold and Mors to a wildling chief named Bael. Bael forces Mors and Gorold to take part in his pit fights. Mors meets his dog here, who is also forced to fight.
After Mors and Gorold make an unpopular decision in the pits, a wildling, presumably angry at losing his wager, breaks into Mors' cage to assassinate him, but Mors' dog kills him. This enables Mors to find Gorold and escape the camp. However, Mors insists that they find Maekar first. Maekar is found to have had his arms and legs removed, and reveals that they were taken to provide meat to feed the pit fighters. He also tells Mors that he revealed the Wall's secrets and weaknesses to the Wildlings. Mors sends Gorold back to get reinforcements, and proceeds to massacre the entire Wildling encampment. When the Sworn Brothers return, one comments that it is "like a slaughterhouse," and Gorold, finding Mors, replies, "Aye... And there's the butcher," giving Mors his nickname.
Reception
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Game of Thrones received mixed reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PC version 57.30% and 58/100,[2][5] the Xbox 360 version 53.59% and 52/100[3][7] and the PlayStation 3 version 52.86% and 53/100 respectively.[4][6] IGN praised the well-crafted plot, but criticized its poor execution through low-quality graphics, sound design, animations and voice acting, as well as a repetitive combat experience.[8]
References
- ↑ Template:Game of Thrones DLC
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Game of Thrones (PC)". GameRankings. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Game of Thrones (X360)". GameRankings. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Game of Thrones (PS3)". GameRankings. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Game of Thrones for PC Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Game of Thrones for PlayStation 3 Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Game of Thrones for Xbox 360 Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Legarie, Destin (15 May 2012). "Game of Thrones Review". IGN. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
External links
- Official website (English)
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