Warner Bros. today announced a Smash Bros-style platformer fighter of their own, throwing characters from across their many series and franchises into one big rumble. In MultiVersus, you can expect to see Shaggy from Scooby Doo teaming up with Steven Universe to battle actual killers like Harley Quinn and Arya Stark, and more. It's due to launch in 2022, and will be free-to-play. Check out the trailer below.
]]>"Game Of Thrones + Tinder = You Died," our Alec said in his Reigns review after swiping through cards to make binary decisions in the medieval monarch RPG. Well, that equation is about to get even simpler: "Reigns: Game Of Thrones = You Died."
An official Game Of Thrones version of Reigns is coming soon, developers Nerial and publishers Devolver Digital announced today. Swipers will be able to play as a number of different Game players, then discover that all their "Right, so they could come out on top if..." theories will likely end in terrible death.
]]>It's always a happy day when an update for a much-loved mod appears. The Game of Thrones total conversion for Crusader Kings II [official site] is such a blindingly obvious combination of worlds and mechanics that it simply had to exist. That the team working on it continue to do such a good job is fantastic. The latest update brings in support for the latest expansion to the base game, The Reaper's Due, which adds all sorts of epidemic modelling and hideous disease-related deaths. So, yes, you can watch your least favourite characters suffer and squirm as they try to sweat or bleed out the bubonic plague.
]]>The third season of guts 'n' conversation adventure game, The Walking Dead [official site], will be coming out this November, Telltale has telltold the people of PAX. As we heard at E3, Clementine is making a return – older, wiser and probably much more killy. She'll have another playable character alongside, the lesser-known Javier, who has "been through hell" and looks a bit like a knackered Zac Efron.
]]>I know what you all might be asking. "Game of Thrones in my Gears of War?" Well, it's more likely than you think. Game of Thrones composer Ramin Djawadi has joined up with The Coalition to create the score for Gears of War 4 [official site]. "I certainly wanted to stay in the direction fans know, but at the same time, I wanted to bring my own style to it," Djawadi has said.
]]>Have You Played? is an endless stream of game retrospectives. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time.
No, not that Game Of Thrones game. The other one. The one no-one talked about. The RPG one. The one that was, confusing, based mostly on the books but had some TV people making plastic-faced cameos in it. The one a whole mess of people said was rubbish, but, aha! It was not, I tell you, it was not.
]]>Coo, how about that Game of Thrones [official site] finale? And that thing with... The Ice Dragon? Was there actually an ice dragon or was episode 6's title metaphorical? Look, I haven't played it. Any spoilers in this post are the result of stupid stumbling luck. Besides, that finale's still only part-way through Telltale's grimdark fantasy choice 'em up. The developers had mentioned before that their deal was for several games, but it's nice to have confirmation: yes, they are still planning to make another season.
]]>Telltale are releasing the sixth and final chapter of their Game of Thrones [official site] episodic adventure later today. They're presumably also planning to hunt you down, kick in your door, flay your PC, and impale its severed screen on a lamp post outside your home then make a necklace out your shattered mouse. Ahead of the release of 'The Ice Dragon' in a few hours, Telltale have released a trailer recapping a few of the choices players have faced, and teasing what's to come. Spoilers follow, obviously?
]]>All men must die, so I'm told, and I can't imagine the finale of Telltale's episodic Game of Thrones [official site] will be without a few tears, not to mention murders and mutilations. Unusually, Telltale announced its release date - November 17th - a month in advance, a break from their usual habit of muttering episode dates a few days before they're out. They didn't have much of anything to say about the ep, mind, so today they've followed up with a few words and pictures from 'The Ice Dragon'.
]]>Crusader Kings 2 [official site] is a grand strategy game about human beings instead of armies, and it spins gripping Shakespearean yarns about medieval social climbing, full of murder, betrayal and bastards. It's brilliant, but you might be a little intimidated by its setting. That's just one of the reasons why the Game of Thrones mod is so good - and it's just hit version 1.0.
]]>Speaking of conclusions to episodic adventure games made by Telltale, the devs have announced that their television murderfest spin-off Game of Thrones [official site] will wrap up on November 17th with its sixth episode, titled 'The Ice Dragon'. That makes this post a bit like going back to past and changing that other post so in the future we have a post about Game of Thrones rather than Tales from the Borderlands but oh no what is this I'm dissolving gosh meddling with time is a rum do and no mistake!
]]>Knowing nowt about Game of Thrones, I have little idea what counts as a spoiler - though I know GoT fans can be outraged by the slightest hint. If I tell you that Episode 5 of Telltale's Game of thrones [official site] is titled 'A Nest of Vipers', does that give anything away? Does GoT have a gang of hoodlums named The Vipers? Is it simply hinting at treachery? Is there a literal nest of venomous snakes? Who knows! Not me. However, I feel confidently unspoilery telling you that the episode is due out next Tuesday, July 21st.
Unsurprisingly, the rest of this post does include spoilers, including a trailer showing a bit of what's about to go down (I don't see a single snake, myself).
]]>As wonderful as RPGs are, some tropes and cliches and just general bloody annoyances really do spoil the fun. Some of them might only crop up occasionally, others just won't go away. Some, you might think, are just petty irritations. But no! All these incontrovertible sins must be destroyed at once! Here's a few of my least favourite offenders. What others would you add to the cursed list?
]]>Oh sure, Charles Dance is a Highly Respected Act-Or again thanks to his icily charismatic role as Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones, but I remember when he was making ends meet with roles in bottom-of-the-barrel drek such as 1996's Space Truckers. He played a man with a cybernetic schlong, whose utterances included the deathless line "If I had an anus I'd probably soil myself." It's a far cry from "A lion doesn’t concern himself with the opinions of a sheep."
Let's see if his role as Emperor Emhyr var Emreis in The Witcher 3 [official site] continues his latter-day Tywinning streak, or if he's being dragged back to the mecha-willy Z-list all over again.
]]>Some times you want an expert. You want someone who knows a game inside and out, back to front, uphill both ways in the snow. This person is also a menace. They'll let story spoilers slip or, worse, show off with hints that aren't as cryptic as they think. No, some times you want a fool, a know-nothing dolt who can't ruin everything. That's me with Game of Thrones.
So here's me, certified clueless about the... Europa Universalis fanfic?, with word that The Sword in the Darkness, Episode 3 of Telltale's Game of Thrones series [official site], will launch on PC today. I don't know what's happening in this trailer, but that won't stop me from talking about it.
]]>A well-timed stopgap before HBO's latest series of deadly politics comes to our screens, the second episode of Telltale's say-the-right-thing-or-die spin-off more or less continues the high standard set by the first instalment. If you haven't played that or ever intend to, please be warned that we're going into spoilers for episode 1 right from the off. So don't lose your head if you read on.
]]>Hoo boy. This is going to be tricky.
What we've got for you here is a first look trailer for episode two of Telltale's Game of Thrones series. That's fine in and of itself. You could give it a watch: it's quite entertaining.
]]>Warning: this article presumes familiarity with the entire televisual run of Game of Thrones, as indeed does the game itself. In other words: SPOILERS. Don't read on if you're not up to date with the show.
Game Of Thrones, Telltale's latest episodic conversational dilemma game interweaves with the third and fourth seasons of the HBO show. It stars a 'new' House, the historically Stark-aligned Forresters, but features appearances from a number of Game of Thrones' stars. It's on you to keep the Forresters alive by, basically, not saying the wrong thing to the wrong person.
The first episode, Iron From Ice, is out today, and Varys' little birds delivered a copy to me a short while ago.
]]>Telltale have released the first trailer for their upcoming Game of Thrones game series. The narration is confirmation that the game will have actors from the TV adaptation as it's narrated by Cersei Lannister Lena Headey. It's accompanied by a blog entry specifically explaining that Heady will be joined by at least three other cast members – Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Natalie Dormer (Margaery) and Iwan Rheon (Ramsay Snow) – with more to be revealed as the story progresses.
House... Forrester?!!!!?? Now come on, come on. I mean, no-one expected to be a Stark, but COME ON.
You will be a member of House Forrester in Telltale's upcoming adventure/chat-o-dilemma adaptation of Game of Thrones - specifically the TV version, specifically set just before season 5. HOUSE BLOOMIN' FORRESTER.
]]>Yes, "the" Borderlands. The relentlessly silly blast-fest from Gearbox, as opposed to, um, that other Borderlands. Telltale might not seem like the most natural fit for a spinoff of the action-heavy RPG (which is less conversational and more often gunversational), but it's happening, per Spike's abysmally awkward VGX "award" show over the weekend. Also fired from the dudebro-centric network's Big Fucking Announcement Gun: a Telltale Game of Thrones series, which was first rumored last month. Scant details on both below.
]]>Well, this all seems sort of inevitable in hindsight, doesn't it? Telltale has more or less perfected its episodic storytelling formula, and bounteous riches are beginning to flow. And from among those glittering prizes and sparkling gem clusters, the Walking Dead and Wolf Among Us dev has - if a report from IGN is to be believed - plucked a veritable holy grail. It now allegedly has some sort of Game of Thrones game in the oven, though exact details are still hazy. This does, however, link up pretty well with my Dan Connors interview from earlier this year, so I am cautiously optimistic about the (for now) rumor's veracity.
]]>Jim is basically the J. Jonah Jameson of RPS: I was handsomely making sweet news for you guys when he stormed into the forbidden RPS chatroom of mystery, slammed his fists on the desk with the rage that only an editor can muster, and demanded I find some mods. "It's the weekend!", he angrily typed. "If you don't find at least three mods by the end of the day that the readers can play, you can go and beg VG247 forra job." And then he stormed out, muttering about page impressions, tea, and robots. Luckily I've been on a bit of a modding binge of late, so I have a few interesting things for you. Do you have Arma 3 installed? That's nice.
]]>When the game of the TV series of the book A Game of Thrones was released this summer, Alec vanished for a few days. When we next saw him, he had the look of a man who has seen terrible things, all haunted and hollow. Turns out it's a very long game and full of nastiness, although mostly of the intentional scripted sort. He said this: "it’s a troubled roleplaying game but also a really interesting and strong one. Every misfire is met by a triumph of some sort, and the one thing it is not is a lazy, perfunctory cash-in." Is the new DLC a cash-in though? I don't know! Screens and details below.
]]>You'll likely remember that in May we alerted you to the Game Of Thrones mod for Crusader Kings II. It's first release was already incredibly impressive, packed with features and civil war. And now they've released a version 0.2. Goodness knows how good this will be if they ever reach 1.0.
]]>Game of Thrones games will continue until every last remaining dark corner of Westeros has been illuminated by the lord of cutscenes. It has been prophesied! Next to leap aboard George R. R. Martin and HBO’s blood’n’sex bandwagon is serial MMO-maker Bigpoint, who follow up their Battlestar Galactica free to play massively multiplayer with Game of Thrones: Seven Kingdoms.
]]>Yesterday, I mind-melded with CD Projekt CEO and owner of the most victorious last name ever, Marcin Iwinski, on all things Cyberpunk. Also, DRM. However, with those topics covered and safely underneath fluffy wordblankets of information, the conversation weaved its way toward the next natural stop. I'm speaking, of course, of Westeros. Read on for Iwinski's thoughts concerning parallels between The Witcher and Game of Thrones, the male-driven nature of geek culture, and where E3's utterly archaic reliance on booth babes and titillation fits into that.
]]>Edit - I've been asked to note this this piece is based on the US version of the game, as published by Atlus and available for a couple of weeks now. Despite there being no oceans in the middle of the internet, the UK version, published by Focus, is mysteriously not available until June 9.
Cyanide's RPG based on the Game of Thrones TV show has consumed the last week of my life. But should I have allowed this song of stats and fire so much time on my screen and in my mind? We shall Cersei...
It goes on far too long, seems to reach a climactic conflict repeatedly but then pull back from it in favour of more stringing along and treats its characters as utterly disposable. In other words, it's faithful to the source material in an intrinsic way, not merely a stylistic one. Cyanide's Game of Thrones: The Roleplaying Game is a slow-burner with a deeply awkward opening and besieged by footballer in a pizza advert levels of voice-acting, but it builds carefully, cleverly and dramatically.
]]>I'm not particularly knowledgeable when it comes to all things Game of Thrones. I've only read the first book, I've only seen the first two episodes of the TV show and I've never even so much as flirted with any of my blood relatives. Even so, I declared Crusader Kings II "the best Game of Thrones game you will probably ever play" and in an effort to ensure that I'm correct, a sturdy team of modders have released a Game of Thrones mod. Someone was always going to make this, the fit is too perfect for it not to happen, but to release something so soon and with so many features is astonishing. Get it here.
]]>If it's popular, it gets a tie-in social network game that's launched on Facebook with a big old song'n'dance and then slumps into obscurity a few months later. EA have just this weekend taken the insidious Dragon Age Legends out the back of the sheds and put it out of its misery, but if you are still craving glacially slow, micro-transacted up the wazoo fantasy empire-building then perhaps the Facebook Game Of Thrones: Ascent will fill that bizarre void in your life. Of course, if it was truly faithful to the books/TV show, victory would stem from asking any relatives you have on Facebook to agree to the most unsavoury liasions with you. I would applaud such a design decision, and then start retching violently.
]]>Next to be plucked from my bottomless bucket of game preview words is a quick interview with Sylvain Sechi and Thomas Veauclin of Cyanide, lead designer and lead artist respectively on the upcoming Game of Thrones RPG, as peered at last week. Discussed: linearity vs sandbox, the involvement of George R.R. Martin, whether Martin really has a concrete idea of how his books are going to end, why they're not worried that their story won't impact the books' overall narrative, horses, why they went for pause-time combat and how coming up with the script was "like creating a child on top of dead bodies." Ick.
]]>An important point, I hope: Game Of Thrones the game existed and was in active development before Game Of Thrones the show did the whole sexy Tolkien thing on our TV screens. While this is of course no guarantee that it is more Stark than Frey, it does mean we don’t need to worry that it’s been rushed to market to capitalise on Dinklagemania. The TV show came about early enough that developers Cyanide were able to redesign their takes on characters including Cersei (she bones her brother!), Lord Mormont (he hates his son but he’s a good sort otherwise!) and Varys (he's got no goolies!) to use their respective actors’ likeness and voices, but we’re told that, for the most part, the game was designed closely around the books.
“When we showed George Martin The Wall,” says lead designer Sylvain Sechi of introducing the books’ author to the giant, miles-long icy structure/metaphor that protects the land of Westeros from the wildlings (and worse) that lurk up north, “he says ‘that's a very, very big wall.” Upon their explaining to him that they’d made it to scale according to his description, he replied that “I wrote it too big!”
]]>Having just watched the latest episode of Game Of Thrones, I'm fairly convinced that any role-playing game based on the books will just be a simulator for having sex with your brother/sister. But the latest trailer for Game Of Thrones: The Game (is that really what they're sticking with?) appears to show that there's also some chopping people up, too. It's released to accompany the news that the game has a release date. Well, woolly release month portion, of "early June".
]]>Gosh, things are getting fraught in A Game Of Thrones RPG trailer-land. Dudes are getting stabbed and bashed with big metal clubs. Men and women alike are making accusations and sounding cross. There's even something about cockroaches, so it sounds like they need to get the fumigators in to that castle. Yeah, I have no idea what's going on, frankly, but it sounds exciting. Join in with vociferations below!
]]>I'm starting to feel like an embedded reporter in Westeros. There are too many games of Games of Thrones. Cyanide's take is an RRPG (sic) in the same vein as Dragon Age II. The combat system's tweak to that format means that instead of pausing battles to pick the best strategic outcome, things instead just run very slowly. I believe it's their criticism of how long it took George to write that last book. It's also supposed to reflect the tension of the world's fights, as well as letting you direct friendly combatants and selecting stances. I've played loads of games, and I'm not sure that's possible. I had to put one book down after a chapter, then when I returned the next chapter made me do the same. It was too awful. Hold me.
]]>Atlus and Cyanide have released a bit of footage of the A Game Of Thrones RPG. It talks about someone wanting to marry her brother, so that's nice. This is apparently a preview of one of the playable areas in the game, Castlewood. Atlus explain: "Situated on the banks of the Blackwater in the Riverlands, Castlewood is the prosperous seat of the House of Harlton, bannermen to the Tullys." You can also see this previous video for another location in the game. It's all looking a bit medieval to me.
To be honest I know nothing about A Game Of Thrones, so the excitement-factor of this particular glimpse of the game is lost on me. Anyone able to bah/hurrah about this?
]]>That joke doesn't make much sense. Cyanide's Game of Thrones RPG is definitely not online, so I'll apologise to those of you who'd started considering guild names after reading it. It is a Dragon Age-ish actiony slicey thing set in George RR Martin's grim medieval world. I have thoughts on the video below.
]]>Aha! The first proper footage of the RPG based on the fantasy tomes by George 'lecherous old tease' R. 'making it up as he goes along' R. 'all that money and he still won't buy a beard-trimmer' Martin. After the well-intentioned but ultimately miserable strategy game Genesis, this RPG looks to be rather more lavish - and, perhaps vitally in a commercial sense, related to the TV show. The music! The Iron Throne! The armour! The glowering!
]]>This is the RPG Of Thrones, not the duff strategy one. News comes via Sean Bean, who just lobbed a brick through my window with this note attached.
"'Ow do. Who would have thunk that an ordinary lad from Yorkshire would become the King of the Rings and the Warrior Lord of Westeros? Not me mam. She said I were too mardy for t'be loved by millions. This 'ere game then. There's two fellas to make pretend as - Mors, from yon Night's Watch, and Alester, a Red Priest come back from flippin' exile. Aye. Ye'll tek a gander at that Wall oop north, which I'm nithered just to put mind to, an' all folks in it'll look jus' like actors on telly."
Intriguing, I'm sure you'll agree. Elaboration and new images below.
]]>How's your Game Of Thrones game coming along? Everyone's making one at the moment. Mine's doing nicely - it's a sort of driving game/match-3 hybrid, set north of the Wall. It should be ready some time in 2013. Game Of Thrones: Genesis is already out (and a bit poop), and then there's the somewhat trademark infringing Khan Wars: Game Of Thrones, which just happens to show up on Google searches for the licensed versions. Anyhowever, the news is that Cynanide's other GoT game, the RPG, has a North American publisher in the form of Atlus, and with that have come some more details and a couple of screens.
(Oh good grief, as I'm writing this, we find there's to be a Game Of Thrones MMO from Bigpoint, and a Game Of Thrones social networking game too, hideously described as "FarmVille comes to Westeros.")
]]>Developer Cyanide and fantasy author George RR Martin seem concerned that people are confusing the Game Of Thrones RTS that their Montreal studio is making (and which is out soon) with the RPG being made by their French studio, which is out sometime in the far future. In fact, as Blues spotted, Martin has blogged about the difference, saying of his experiences seeing the first game: "Just to be clear. This is the RTS game, designed and developed by Cyanide's studio in Montreal. A second videogame, an RPG, is also under development at Cyanide's studio in France, but that one won't be along for a while yet. The two games are very different, so please don't get them confused." Meanwhile, Cyanide have released the first fragments of information about the RPG game, which basically amounts to no information and a request that we read other blogs, as look at two screenshots. Hm. What we do know about the RPG is that Cyanide are saying it has a strong narrative focus, citing Planescape - Torment as an influence. Hm!
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