Game Of Thrones, Episode 1: Iron From Ice review

We’ll say straight away – if you’re part way through the Game Of Thrones series (novels or TV) there will be spoilers in this review. You have been warned.

Now that’s taken care of, the next pressing matter is how to address ‘the Telltale problem’. The developer is already synonymous with watertight, emotive storytelling, and moving its fiction to Westeros does little to dampen that narrative mastery. In fact, operating in George R. R. Martin’s world just gives the studio room to be as deliciously brutal as it likes. The thing is, all that artisan writing is undermined by a glitchy engine and a watercolour art direction that – for all its artistic aspirations – just ends up looking smudgy and clumsy.

For a game that’s entirely on-rails, featuring mostly static scenes, it surprises us that Telltale couldn’t invest in graphics that pump a bit more life into the stoic character models (though this is probably because Telltale is so keen on releasing on every platform possible). But the actors make up for what life is lost in the dull, doll eyes of Telltale’s pastel interpretations.

Iron From Ice takes place in Ironrath, focusing on the House Forrester, completely new characters within the fiction that slide into the established character’s arcs with ease. Returning characters (Cersei, Margaery, Ramsay Snow and Tyrion) are all voiced by their respective television actors, and as such the scenes are as loaded with as much tension. Their likenesses are instantly recognisable, too – cartoonified for the sake of Telltale’s aesthetic, but losing nothing in their trademark looks en route.

This new House is established fantastically – you play as a squire loyal to the land, the Forrester’s newest Lord, and a handmaiden sent to King’s Landing. From these three perspectives, you’re given a well-rounded view of the Forrester’s place in the world – their main resource are the Ironwood trees that populate their lands, and the first episode largely focuses on how the House wants to use this wooden currency to curry favour with the Boltons, who have just come to be Wards of the North (the game is set just after the Red Wedding).

As with all of Telltale’s recent output, Iron From Ice is a gripping first episode, and a solid introduction to a new series. For a one-off payment of £4, it’s fantastic value for money – any Game Of Thrones fan will get a kick from seeing how Telltale’s new characters interact with the established names in Martin’s universe. It’s a fantastically loyal homage to the parent texts, and once again proves that no-one can do licensed narrative experiences like Telltale. Twists and turns pepper the story, and a typically Game Of Thrones ending flesh out a gripping, if glitchy and graphically underwhelming, adventure.