Game of Thrones - Review @ PC Gamer

PC Gamer looks at Game of Thrones, resulting in a score of 58%. For fans, however, they suggest looking beyond the score if you have the patience:

Even when you ‘get’ it, combat feels weak and ill-thought out – bland, uninteresting, and based almost entirely around status effects. Use skill to make enemy bleed (or whatever). Use skill that does extra damage against bleeding enemies. Repeat until all the enemy’s blood has gone. Other elements are simply out of step with the source material, such as glugging down health potions mid-fight and Alester’s more advanced fire powers. Honestly, it’s best to just switch the difficulty to Casual and focus on the story. Most regular fights become trivial, though there are still a few tough ones to handle.
Ultimately, Game of Thrones is a frustrating, ugly, low-rent RPG that’s flawed in almost every way and difficult to impossible to recommend – but which fans still might enjoy more than they probably should. At the very least, it’s not a lazy cash-in, just one trying its best on far too small a budget. If you can tolerate that – and yes, it’s a lot to tolerate – don’t necessarily run screaming from its score.

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The first paragraph copied up there give me the impression the review hates RPGs…

Well, he certainly hates Myst (see here: http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/07/30/sa…nd-inquisitor/ ) but I haven't seen any indication that he hates RPGs. I think he just doesn't like this combat system.

Pc gamer on Dragon age 2: "The best RPG combat ever. Not gaming’s best story, but maybe its best storytelling. Darker, sexier, better." 94%.
Just saying.

Originally Posted by Biff The Understudy
Just saying.

Good point.

can't understand why some reviews are so negative.

I think it's one of the best RPG I played on PC for a long time.

Great combat system and the best scenario since Planescape Torment !

I loved the game too. I also used to be a PC Gamer subscriber but I let it end a couple of years ago. Their reviews were very different from what I experienced in the games I had (I tried Spore and it royally sucked, yet it was like their highest scored review ever, while games I loved always got like 60-70 score)

Originally Posted by the_dagon
can't understand why some reviews are so negative.

Cyanide was late with the cheque?

It's a pity so many people still treat reviews from the mainstream sites as legit.

Also this sends a message to other RPG developers - only do reflex based combat in RPGs. Any pause element or stacking commands will knock 20 points from the review from the get-go.

Basically trashes the game then gives it slightly above 50%. What the hell does a game have to do to be less than 50%?

Big fan of the books, but never once thought an RPG based on it would be any good. It's mostly politics and internal dialog.

The more I hear about this game, the more I think I actually would enjoy it.

Does anyone know where I can get the PC version for cheap, preferably not through Steam if possible? The game is almost impossible to find in stores…

I'm sure Amazon has it, Saber-Scorpion.

Ovenall - he says several positive things about the story. To get the really bad scores, you have to do everything wrong. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 got a 34. Games in the teens and 20's pop up from time to time. Single digits are rare but they do happen.

I think I must agree on one thing, it's a game for fans. I'm not a fan, I never red the books and though I could enjoy the HBO series, the horrible habit of killing off any character with the minimum level of interest scared me away before the end of season one. Well, it's not HBO's fault, they are adapting the books, it might work on written form, but IMO it doesn't work as a TV series. The same could be said about the computer game, but for other reasons. The graphics aren't superb, I don't like that kind of tactical combat system (but that wouldn't turn me off anyway, I enjoyed Dragon Age and The Witcher), but I can't follow the events. I don't know the lore and they don't explain it. So, I guess it was made for fans. Not very well made, but good enough.

Originally Posted by MigRib
I think I must agree on one thing, it's a game for fans. I'm not a fan, I never red the books and though I could enjoy the HBO series, the horrible habit of killing off any character with the minimum level of interest scared me away before the end of season one. Well, it's not HBO's fault, they are adapting the books, it might work on written form, but IMO it doesn't work as a TV series. The same could be said about the computer game, but for other reasons. The graphics aren't superb, I don't like that kind of tactical combat system (but that wouldn't turn me off anyway, I enjoyed Dragon Age and The Witcher), but I can't follow the events. I don't know the lore and they don't explain it. So, I guess it was made for fans. Not very well made, but good enough.

It doesn't work as a TV series? Man, Game of Thrones is the best TV series like ever!
Actually what you mentioned (that characters die) is actually something I really like, I despise the predictability of other TV series where you know almost for a fact that no important characters will die unless it's the final episode of the season.

"I think I must agree on one thing, it's a game for fans. "

Maybe, but I'm not a fan and enjoyed the game very much…

"It's a pity so many people still treat reviews from the mainstream sites as legit.

Also this sends a message to other RPG developers - only do reflex based combat in RPGs. Any pause element or stacking commands will knock 20 points from the review from the get-go".

Exactly, and that makes me mad.

The combat system is really close to Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic (I think even better).
9 years ago : reviews said best combat system ever. Now : reviews say its too slow, not enough "visceral".
It's not an action game = it's not good.
I think I have to puke…

Are we still taking "professional" review seriously? I think we should have a specific section with reviews of reviewers. That way, Googling their names would lead to that page showing their level of incompetence .


A few days ago, I finished Game of Thrones and I enjoyed the game very much. I must add that I did not read any of the books and didn't see any episode of the series. It is a story driven RPG with little to no exploration so it won't please those who prefer open world RPGs. Those who mockingly dismiss story driven RPGs as mere interactive movies should stay away as well.

The story approach is quite unique where you play alternatively two different characters in different parts of the world. At first, their individual stories are not related but as the story unfolds, both characters move towards each other forming a cohesive whole and IMO it is done particularly well and I was left very satisfied with the story and how it gradually progresses.

There are four different endings, which can be accessed by replaying the last chapter, and according to Steam it took me 45 hours to complete the game including all endings. However, I tend to be patient and thorough so in principle it should take less time on average.


The combat is RTwP and tactical where you can choose from a set of abilities and it reminds me of a mix between DA:O and KotOR. To get the most out of it, it is mandatory to play the game on hard difficulty, so that you are forced to choose your tactics wisely. You are literally dead in a matter of seconds of you just stand there screwing around. Playing the game on lower difficulty settings making the combat easier would turn the combat into a completely pointless and boring exercise IMO.

What I liked about the combat is that "spamming" is eliminated by design. Your energy reserve, which is used for special abilties, is limited and its management is crucual for your success in the harder battles (at least on hard difficulty). Also, you have a limited carrying capacity of potions so potion spamming is not possible. In fact, you have to think twice before using one because you might need them in an upcoming fight. (You will thus not encounter boss enemies where the battle consists of their number of hitpoints vs your number of potions ).

But most importantly, there is no combat filler, no grinding, no respawn, no large amounts of trash mobs, etc.

There are some side quests but they are few and some of them have some interesting twists. Best of all, there are NO fed-ex or "kill X number of Y" quests. Considering the heavy reliance on the story, too many side quests would be too distracting so I guess it is a design decision to limit the number of side quests as to not to disrupt the flow of the main story.


But in all fairness, take away the story and combat, and there is little game left. Graphics are outdated so you won't be spending much time sight seeing. This game suffers from not having an AAA budget otherwise it would be a direct competitor to The Witcher 2. At release, the game is sold on Steam for 40€ instead of the usual 50€ so it is not a full priced game, at least here in Europe, which I think reflects the game justly. (Btw, I paid 30€ during the Steam sale).

I can certainly recommend this game to those who enjoy story driven RPGs with interesting characters. Whether you'll like the combat is probably a matter of preference.

Originally Posted by wolfing
It doesn't work as a TV series? Man, Game of Thrones is the best TV series like ever!
Actually what you mentioned (that characters die) is actually something I really like, I despise the predictability of other TV series where you know almost for a fact that no important characters will die unless it's the final episode of the season.

I will rephrase it: The TV series isn't working… for me. And I do like the look of the series, I would agree with you that's one of the best series I've seen lately, I like almost everything about it, except that one little detail: interesting characters always die (again, not HBO's fault, they are doing it what they know, and that's good TV). And another detail, I have nothing against characters dying, I am all for it, you are right, it turns around the usual predictability of TV series (and even movies). My problem is that there's no character left that has any interest to me. The one's which survived the first season (which, I suppose, is also the first book) are the one's about which I couldn't care less about. Again, it's a matter of personal taste. Technically the series is almost perfect. The story, not so much. And I hate it, because otherwise I would be a rabid fan of the gawd damned thing!

Lots of good info, Asdraguuhl. Thanks. Real time with pause combat, pretty solid storytelling, appeals mostly to fans of the show/books? Now I'm determined to buy this.

I'm a huge Game of Thrones fan (show and books), and a lot of my favorite RPGs aren't AAA titles by a long shot. I'm usually willing to overlook shoddy graphics and numerous bugs if the story is well told. Heck, I loved Alpha Protocol.

Originally Posted by Zloth
I'm sure Amazon has it, Saber-Scorpion.

Actually, it's rather hard to find even there. There's multiple versions of the game from various sellers and I'm not sure what's the best legit purchase. But I'll keep looking - thanks anyway.

I checked and the only thing on amazon is the download version from focus interactive and no box version. Everything else on there related to games is either the strategy game Genesis, the board games, or the PnP game.

Thanks for your mini-review Asdraguuhl, much appreciated.

Even if I'm a fan of the books (not a rabid fan, but a fan none the less) and the TV series, I've been on the fence with this for awhile due to the poor quality of most book/movie tie-in games and all the bad press made me hesitate even more. Your post clarified what the game is like much better than any of those numerous "professional" reviews. I still think I might wait for a sale, but now the game is definitely on my To Get list.

Originally Posted by Asdraguuhl
But most importantly, there is no combat filler, no grinding, no respawn, no large amounts of trash mobs, etc.

This is very good news. Very good, indeed.

Wow, I was going to pass on this game, but after what you guys said it is looking like a must buy!