Game of Thrones: Episode One - Iron From Ice

 PC
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 44 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 44
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 44
  3. Negative: 3 out of 44
  1. Multiplayer.it
    Jan 15, 2015
    74
    Iron From Ice faithfully reproduce the narrative style of the original material. And at every crossroad it feels like the fate of our family depends on our choices. It's an illusion, but a well conceived one. Unfortunately, the mediocre presentation and the hasty realization make the episode less glorious than it should have been.
  2. Merlin'in Kazanı (Turkey)
    Dec 15, 2014
    73
    Promises a good narrative but, that's it. Awful graphics and horrible animations mess up the game experience.
  3. DarkZero
    Feb 23, 2015
    70
    In the end, it’s the writing which defines these Telltale adaptations, and Game of Thrones is no exception. In fact, it’s thanks to the original source material’s penchant for sudden and shocking character deaths and betrayals that this game has potential to keep players glued for each subsequent episode.
  5. Game Revolution
    Jan 6, 2015
    70
    This video game adaptation of Game of Thrones is solid enough to be mandatory for fans of the series, but should be considered carefully by fans of the adventure genre.
  6. Eurogamer Spain
    Dec 16, 2014
    70
    This first chapter is merely an introduction, so you might want to wait to see how the story evolves if you're not a huge fan of the TV series.
  7. Softpedia
    Dec 3, 2014
    70
    Game of Thrones Episode 1 acts more or less as a prologue by setting the stage for the many events that will happen in the next five chapters. It delivers a decent experience in terms of dialog but falls short when it comes to action sequences or impactful choices. The visuals in particular weigh it down, so let's hope some improvement can be made with the next few episodes.
  8. Destructoid
    Dec 2, 2014
    70
    The bad situation that House Forrester is in is only going to get worse. It feels like a punch to the gut, and it sets the stage for an intensely emotionally draining experience. In spite of its blemishes, so far it looks like Game of Thrones: A Telltale Game Series deserves its place in the A Song of Ice and Fire lore.
  9. Everyeye.it
    Dec 11, 2014
    68
    The adventures of the new family introduced by Telltale can't hold the player on the edge as the books (or the TV show) have done in the recent past. There's the familiar gusto for violence and cruel deaths but it's not supported by the same care for details or rich dialogues.
  10. PC Games
    Dec 5, 2014
    68
    While Telltale's first foray into Westeros certainly nails the grimdark atmosphere of this fascinating world, poor story, wordy dialogue and unlikeable characters hamper the game. It really is bewildering why Telltale chose to rehash the all too familiar story of House Stark instead of actually building something new and exciting.
  11. Games.cz
    Dec 8, 2014
    60
    The first episode of the Game of Thrones adventure is a great advertisement for the TV show. It describes well Martin's world of intrigue, bad characters and thrilling twists. But the game itself is weak. The story feels as a recycled House of Stark destiny, the plot doesn't have a great pace and dialogues are weaker than those in TV series. The second episode will have a lot to improve.
  12. Gameplanet
    Dec 5, 2014
    60
    Iron From Ice's weak characters and water-treading story don't get the series off to a great start, but there is hope things will improve.
  13. Metro GameCentral
    Dec 4, 2014
    50
    An uninspiring start to the season, that even fans of the show will find stilted and tedious. Although they can still foster high hopes for later episodes.
  14. PCGamesN
    Dec 2, 2014
    50
    Absent gripping protagonists or a different take on this already well-trodden world, it doesn’t offer very much at all. It’s a basically re-run of HBO’s show, and you can already watch that on the telly.

Awards & Rankings

81
#81 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 305 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 195 out of 305
  2. Mixed: 62 out of 305
  3. Negative: 48 out of 305
  1. Davisx3m
    Dec 2, 2014
    9
    Telltale seems to have adopted the same success in telling a story in the world of Westeros as HBO did with it's hit series. In the firstTelltale seems to have adopted the same success in telling a story in the world of Westeros as HBO did with it's hit series. In the first episode you'll get to play as three different characters and explore different parts of Westeros. Each one of them are somehow related to the House Forrester, a house loyal to the Stark Family.

    You'll get to fight (QTE) and use diplomacy in a very satisfactory way, everything you do seems to affect the whole story, even if most or some of it might just be an "illusion". But I can work with that, especially in Telltale Games, they always handle that in a good way. But there are some options that seem so... big, that there must be quite a big difference between those. And hopefully they will change parts of the story quite a lot.

    This game offers much more walking and inspecting objects and such comparing to let's say Tales from the Borderlands, which is quite nice since it makes the game feel more like a game than a interactive story. However I'm not sure how the objects will affect the game play, it will probably be shown in the coming episodes.

    One other thing is that to fully enjoy the game you need to have watched the series, because there are things that is connected directly to the show, like characters, voices, places, etc. I myself was really deep into the story, and I don't think people who haven't watched the show will feel the same way.

    The story starts at a slow pace for about 5 minutes and after that it has it's up and downs, which both fits perfectly to the story and the characters, and it's quite refreshing to switch between these characters, to move the story forward on all fronts.

    And let's end this review with the end of the first episode, I won't spoil anything, but it's worth the Game of Thrones name, I'll leave it at that!    … Full Review »
  2. Riskyreview
    Dec 2, 2014
    6
    Let me start by saying this game is not bad but it's not good either, this review is going to focus more on Telltale as a whole rather thenLet me start by saying this game is not bad but it's not good either, this review is going to focus more on Telltale as a whole rather then just this one game.
    Telltale can be compared to a roller-coaster ride, they used to make games that where terrible until they made TWD S1 that game was the start of a whole new genre and it was amazing, all the characters where interesting and so was the story, but after they made TWD S1 they hit a downhill again.
    TWAU was the start of the downhill it was pretty good but not as good as TWD S1, then came TWD S2.
    Jesus H. Christ what a disappointment that was, none of the characters where interesting or likable except for the ones brought over from TWD S1!
    And now they're getting closer to the bottom with Iron from ice.
    First of it doesn't capture the feel of the show at all, second yet again none of the characters are interesting or likable in any way and yet again except for the ones brought over from the show.
    The story is extremely dull apart from some gory scenes.
    I think it's time for Telltale to hire some new writers or at least try and beg the ones that wrote for TWD S1 to come back.    … Full Review »
  3. linkenski
    Dec 2, 2014
    9
    So far Telltale's take on Game of Thrones is quite impressive, both being authentic to the tone and feel of the main show (minus sex so far)So far Telltale's take on Game of Thrones is quite impressive, both being authentic to the tone and feel of the main show (minus sex so far) by having the complexity and greyness in character-writing, the premise is well-shaped and captivates you within the first half hour of the game. All in all it sets the bar quite high from the get-go.

    To see cameos from the TV show performed by the real actors is a treat, one I would never have even hoped we could get, but the performances are as good as in the TV-show, and Peter Dinklage definitely got his redemption here after his lacklustre performance as Ghost in Bungie's Destiny earlier this year. The new and original characters who are the central element of the story are also well-acted but it is a little jarring to see the design-difference as they are not stylized sculptures of real actors, but instead Telltale's design-teams own artistically crafted designs, and to be honest this shows, but you will get used to it.

    There are choices to make that all seem to have proper weight to them, and no matter what there are shocking developments you will not see coming just in this first episode, in true GoT fashion. The best thing is, all of it feels properly developed and is not just shocking for the sake of nonsensical shock-value as we've seen in earlier franchise adaptations from Telltale. I'm pretty pleased to tell that Game of Thrones under Telltale's vision is as mature and sophisticated as the real thing. The coming episodes will determine if this quality lasts though, but so far all is good, heck, even better than I hoped it would be!    … Full Review »
See all user reviews »