Preemptive Strike: Game of Thrones Genesis

[Drinking with Skeletons]

So this game comes out tomorrow. Aside from some (unimpressive) screenshots and a trailer, there's little definitive information available about the title. This (http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/05/22/a-game-of-thrones-genesis-preview/) is the closest I've come to a substantive preview, but it's still not terribly informative. None of this bodes well, but after reading thousands upon thousands of pages of A Song of Ice and Fire I'm hoping against hope it will be worth a look.

If anyone gets their hands on it early, or has more credible info to provide, here's the thread to talk about it.

[TillEulenspiegel]

My money's on "reasonably ambitious, but hugely flawed and a bit crap."

I just cannot see how the sort of game described is going to work with the pace of an RTS. Unless it's like Kohan. Which would be awesome.

[Giaddon]

It's out now in the US. Steam has the (19-page!) manual up here:
http://cdn.steampowered.com/Manuals/58550/AGOT_MANUAL_EN.pdf?t=1317231024

There's a mission-based campaign, and a "house-v-house" skirmish style game. You winning by getting enough victory points (prestige) or killing everyone. Seems kind of board-gamey. You can have bastard children (if a lord waits too long to marry), and lose prestige if an opponent discovers them. Interesting.

I'll be interested to hear some reviews/reports.

[pakoito]

I'm demoing the shit out of this one. Aside from a theme I like, it looks like a Masters of Magic derivative so worth a try.

[Xercies]

Hmm well to be honest I really love the board game and if there is a digital version even close to that I am definitely interested!

[Kaira-]

I guess one should wait for at least half a year before getting this unless you are really enthusiastic about this (this is a Cyanide game, am I right?). At least, that's what I'm going to do.

[endintears]

I'm quite surprised at the lack of information about this game. As has already been noted, this doesn't exactly bode well. But I'm a huge fan of the source material so I'm holding out hope.

[TillEulenspiegel]

After reading the manual, it does sound quite promising and a little board game-y.

Since no professional reviews are showing up, watch this space for upcoming fan impressions:

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/50313-cyanides-upcoming-asoiaf-computer-game/page__st__100

[Unaco]

I hope it's a good game. Massive fan of the books, and I'd love to see a decent video game adaptation... but I'd think it would serve better as a Paradox style Grand Strategy (or my own idea, a mix of Mount & Blade, Total War, Crusader Kings, with a fechtbuch as a design document). It does sound like it could be promising. It's covering a large time period in the history of Westeros from 750 years before Aegon's landing, with the arrival of the Roynish, upto 299, a year before the first book, and it covers a lot of the historical events (Aegon's landing, the war of the usurper). It seems, from what I've seen, to have mapped Westeros pretty well (although at a strange scale), and it does tout collaboration with GRRM in regards to the story and the details of the world. And they do have the 4 ways-to-play - diplomacy, military, economic, and underhand - and the peace/war dynamic, so I hope it has enough complexity to it. I worry it might be somewhat shallow though, and I worry that, with the historical events, and the way they're trying to play up the major houses (with each one being of a different 'flavour') that it might be a little too rigid... you might not have much control over how history unfolds, or the direction of your house.

Like I say, I hope it's a good game. I'd be happy if it was just a mediocre game. But I'll be upset if it's a terrible game, just because it would sully the good name of ASoIaF/GoT, and wouldn't be very promising for future games using the material.

[TillEulenspiegel]

But I'll be upset if it's a terrible game, just because it would sully the good name of ASoIaF/GoT, and wouldn't be very promising for future games using the material.
Oh, I don't know about that. LOTR has endured a whole lot of garbage (http://www.mobygames.com/game/shadowfax) over the years. Crappy games shouldn't diminish the demand for good ones.

It wouldn't bode well for the RPG by Cyanide, of course. But the license should remain a hot commodity for a good long while; I've no doubt we'll see an MMO at some point, though it'll likely be another WoW clone.

[kataras]

Hmmm seems to be very divisive so far...
http://www.agot-genesis.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=519&start=70

[Labbes]

There is a Let's Play by a user from the Steam forums, for those who are interested:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Dukely1#p/u/1/gg8NsgL2lVA

[pakoito]

@Unaco there's a Crusader Kings mod already, linked here in another thread IIRC.

[Nullkigan]

There is a Let's Play by a user from the Steam forums, for those who are interested:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Dukely1#p/u/1/gg8NsgL2lVA

My fears about Cyanide's involvement have come home to roost. Tiny maps? Graphics would have been dated in 2005? Large numbers of obvious spelling and grammar mistakes in the tutorial? Terribad soundscape (sheep)? Yeah, not for £30.

At least the rogue and his ability to bribe everything could make for interesting multiplayer commentaries. The unit Voice Acting was decent enough, too.

[Firkragg]

I'm 6 minutes into watching that Let's Play video. Surely small map seize is due to this only being a tutorial map? Or does it show a bit more of the game later on in the video? *Goes back to looking like someone listening attentively to the lecture*

[Nullkigan]

The third video gets into the campaign. It does get a bit bigger (a dozen capture points instead of three), but it just doesn't feel right.

[Drinking with Skeletons]

It sounds like it's shooting for a sort of real-time version of Solium Infernum. Having said that, I really feel like I need to wait for some professional reviews to crop up. I love SI, but it's certainly a game which isn't for everyone, and had it possessed a similar install base to A Game of Thrones I don't doubt that the reception would have been similar.

Oh, and before someone criticizes me for putting too much faith in critics, I just mean that a selection of well-articulated viewpoints from individuals who have a broad (and hopefully deep) knowledge of strategy titles should prove more informative than the viewpoints of the customers so far, who are probably made up in large portion of GOT fans and may or may not be objective enough or knowledgeable enough to effectively evaluate and/or communicate information about the title. Whew.

[Xercies]

Looking at those videos it seems a bit dull, bu I have no idea if that kind of RTS would look exciting when someone else plays it. Also looks immensly easy but have heard that the AI is extremly hard. All in all this post just kind of says I have no clue, which really isn't a good thing if cyanide expect me to buy it!

[TailSwallower]

Oh, and before someone criticizes me for putting too much faith in critics, I just mean that a selection of well-articulated viewpoints from individuals who have a broad (and hopefully deep) knowledge of strategy titles should prove more informative than the viewpoints of the customers so far, who are probably made up in large portion of GOT fans and may or may not be objective enough or knowledgeable enough to effectively evaluate and/or communicate information about the title. Whew.

As far as reviewers who understand strategy though I don't know where else you'd go apart from RTS. I think Ars Technica is doing some decent games writing these days, and their comments on Achron seemed spot on, so they could be worth a look too (if they cover it). Another problem is that it might fly under the radar of a lot of reviewers, especially if Cyanide aren't sending out review copies - and due to the general lack of information they're been putting out, I doubt that would happen.

[pakoito]

As far as reviewers who understand strategy though I don't know where else you'd go apart from RTS. I think Ars Technica is doing some decent games writing these days, and their comments on Achron seemed spot on, so they could be worth a look too (if they cover it). Another problem is that it might fly under the radar of a lot of reviewers, especially if Cyanide aren't sending out review copies - and due to the general lack of information they're been putting out, I doubt that would happen.Flash of Steel?

[Lykurgos]

Flash of Steel?

Also:

# Wargamer
# Armchair General
# Out of 8