Being a big fan of the TV series, I jumped to review this game. Based on the best-selling Song of Fire and Ice novels by George R. R. Martin and the immensely popular TV series , Game of Thrones the game has a lot to live up to.

With the awesome theme song from the TV series playing on the menu screen, things are off to great start.

Game of Thrones: The Game tells the dual stories of ranger Mors Westford of the Night's Watch and the prodigal prince, who is now a priest of R'hllor the fire god, Alester Sarwick.

Each alternate chapter allows you to play as the two characters, with both having unique abilities. For instance, Mors can control his pet dog and Alester, being a priest of R'hllor, has command over fire.

Both characters' stories are quite interesting, and in particular Alester's story, with him having to return to his kingdom after his father passing, only to be burdened with in-fighting and politics involving his siblings.

The stories intertwine with the established characters of the franchise and each other to tell an exciting tale full of twists and turns. In fact, the mythology is so well fleshed out that it really made me understand a few things I missed from the TV series. Unfortunately, that's the only positive to this game though.

Being a western-style action-RPG, Game of Thrones allows full customisation of your character, with endless options for weapons, armour, etc., but does a really terrible job of teaching you the basics.

The so-called tutorial is so bad, that when I started, the game neglected to show the correct way to customise Mors' weapons. As a result, I wasn't able to use his ranger abilities due to the incorrect weapon loadout I had. Because of this I was limited to basic attacks only - a painful tutorial it was.

Speaking of abilities, Game of Thrones lets you to control your character in real-time, but only allows you to use a sequence of three attacks and abilities (stamina bar permitting) before you can string in the next sequence.

At first it seems as if it was meant to inject some strategy into the gameplay, but then you realise that you'll only use a handful of abilities over and over, soon becoming a chore.

The gameplay does become less repetitive when you play as Mors, since he has the ability to control his dog. Aside from its use in combat, the dog can also follow the scent of other characters and find hidden loot. 

As for the rest of the game, well… dialogue choices are also available to you when you converse with others. You also have your usual loot drops from enemies and the various merchants scattered throughout the world. The world map itself is divided into different regions, which allows for fast travel between them.

If all this sounds very familiar, that's because it is. This game doesn't bring anything new to the genre as far as gameplay is concerned, and in fact,  it feels like a last-generation title.

Game of Thrones' next crime is how it looks and sounds.

This game is UGLY. Low resolution textures mixed with browns and greens are the order of the day. Weapons clipping through armour and doors are also a frequent occurrence.

The voice acting seems to be treated with the same laziness, featuring amateur-style acting and laughable dialogue. The TV series is known for its crude sexual banter, which comes off as edgy. In the game however, it's emulated, but very poorly and comes off as unintentionally funny and embarrassing.

The developer clearly put a bit of effort and thought into this game. It just feels that they were trying to do so much more than what their budget would allow. This game is bad, make no mistake. The story and the mythology is the only saving grace for this game and, for me at least, is the only reason the game is worth playing.

If you're looking for the next Witcher 2 or Dragon's Dogma, look elsewhere. If, however, you're a massive fan of the Game of Thrones franchise and fairly undemanding, give this game a try. You could do worse.

Score: 6 out of 10