WEREWOLF: THE APOCALYPSE game in development

A couple of years back Paradox Entertainment bought White Wolf, the company behind the World of Darkness, a horror setting for a family of roleplaying games, the best-known of which is Vampire: The Masquerade. It's now been announced that a new computer roleplaying game in the setting is in development, based on Vampire's sister game Werewolf: The Apocalypse.

The new game, curiously, is not being released by Paradox. It's instead being developed by Cyanide, the French studio behind Blood Bowl and the so-so 2012 Game of Thrones RPG, and being released by Focus Interactive. This makes me wonder if the development deal pre-dates White Wolf's acquisition, as there doesn't seem much logic to them doing this and not Paradox themselves.

Hopefully the new game will be good, although Cyanide's track record has been spotty. What gamers have been hoping for is a new Vampire game, especially given Paradox's alliance with Obsidian, where some of the developers of the well-received 2004 RPG Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines are now working. Time will tell whether that intriguing possibility comes to light.

Game of Thrones: The RPG

Mors Westford is a former knight in the service of House Lannister. For refusing to take part in the mission to kill Princess Elia Martell and her children during the Sack of King's Landing, Mors was declared a traitor. He escaped punishment by taking the black and now serves on the Wall as one of the Night's Watch's finest trackers and soldiers. When wildlings cross the Wall and hole up in the abandoned castle of Icemark, it falls to Mors to flush them out. After this mission Mors encounters a young woman on the run and discovers a labyrinth conspiracy originating in King's Landing.

Meanwhile, Ser Alester Sarwyck returns home to his castle of Riverspring (near the source of the Blackwater Rush) upon learning of the death of his father. Riverspring is in danger of falling into the hands of Alester's brutal bastard half-brother, Valarr, so Alester travels to King's Landing to win the support of Queen Cersei in his attempts to succeed his father. He also discovers evidence of a conspiracy involving a young woman on the run to the Wall, and begins his own investigations. Ultimately, his and Mors's paths will cross, and they will have to join forces to defeat the conspirators even as Westeros descends into the chaos of the War of the Five Kings all around them.

It would be fair to say that Cyanide's first crack at the Song of Ice and Fire computer game license, Game of Thrones: Genesis, was not a notable success. An exceptionally poor strategy game that failed to capture the flavour of the novels, it was unsurprisingly critically pounded. Expectations for their second game based on the franchise, a roleplaying game, were accordingly lowered.

For its first third or so, Game of Thrones: The Roleplaying Game meets these low expectations. Graphically, the game is serviceable but disappointing. Talk of it looking like a previous-generation game is somewhat hyperbolic, and there's some nice design work in the game, but ultimately it does look about five years old. Cyanide had limited resources to use to work on the game, and graphically some shortcuts had to be taken.

In terms of structure, the game is more successful. Game chapters alternate between Mors and Alester, with each chapter usually ending on a cliffhanger before switching characters. In this manner the game reproduces the structure of the novels. It's a nice conceit which actually works quite well. The game also initially unfolds in two different timelines, with Alester playing catch-up with days and weeks passing during his adventure whilst Mors's story unfolds in real time. This results in a countdown until the two storylines meet and synch up, which also gives the game a feeling of progress.

Control-wise the game is a mixed bag. The game is overwhelmingly focused on combat to the exclusion of almost any other game mechanics. All of your skills relate to combat (none of your skills affect dialogue choices, for example) and the game throws you into battle extremely frequently. Combat is undertaken almost entirely through status-altering attacks and managing your health and energy (special attacks cost energy, and working out when to use a special attack and when to conserve energy is vital). However, once you gain access to certain skills, most notably knockdown attacks, combat becomes almost perfunctorily easy (a couple of late-game boss fights aside). It isn't the worst combat system ever (it's a huge improvement over the likes of say, The Witcher's) but it falls short of its potential.

The game otherwise unfolds in the traditional modern CRPG formula, with you having a main questline to pursue as well as side-quests. Whilst still favouring combat as your main way of progress, some of these quests can be resolved through dialogue instead, which mixes things up nicely. Unfortunately, the writing and dialogue tends towards the banal, making following these side-quests somewhat tedious in places.

After a first half that can charitably be called 'variable' in quality, however, the game unexpectedly takes a turn towards the impressive. The plot twists and turns through a series of brutal, murderous twists that equal anything in the novels and the storyline accelerates into high gear, moving from an action-based storyline of conspiracies and intrigue to more of a gut-wrenching tragedy. The finale is surprisingly affecting, and definitely one of the best endings to a CRPG in recent years.

Game of Thrones: The Roleplaying Game (***½) is a long, slow burn which takes an apparent age to really get going. Indifferent graphics, dodgy writing (for the most part) and only a semi-successful combat system threaten to sink the game altogether before the writers spring a series of impressive surprises on the player that takes the story in an altogether unexpected direction. Ultimately, however, the impressive ending justifies all that went before it, making the game worthwhile and enjoyable. The game is available now in the UK (PC, X-Box 360, PlayStation 3) and the USA (PC, X-Box 360, PlayStation 3), as well as from Steam.

Who else could have made a SONG OF ICE AND FIRE computer game?

With the second Song of Ice and Fire computer game - A Game of Thrones: The Roleplaying Game - now out in the States and getting somewhat mediocre reviews, there seems to be a growing consensus that Cyanide were perhaps not the best company to develop a game based on the series. One of the most common comments has been that a bigger company should have tackled the project, with Bethesda (makers of the Elder Scrolls fantasy RPG series) and BioWare (the makers of the Dragon Age and Mass Effect series) frequently cited. However, what a lot of people don't know is that both of these companies, and others, have considered exactly such a project in the past.

Bethesda Softworks

Some time between the completion of their fourth Elder Scrolls game, Oblivion (published in 2006) and starting work on the fifth, Skyrim (2011), probably whilst they were still working on Fallout 3 (2008), Bethesda were approached by George R.R. Martin's agent as he believed they were a 'good fit' for the Song of Ice and Fire series. Todd Howard, the head of Bethesda Studios, agreed but also knew they were extremely busy between two different franchises, with games in each franchise taking between 3 and 5 years to develop individually. With their online off-shoot (Zenimax Online Entertaiment) working in secret on The Elder Scrolls Online, there was no capacity at the company to embark on such a big project, and they (regretfully) passed.

"With A Song of Ice and Fire, we went ‘We want to do that!’ People in our studio liked it, and it seeped in a bit to what we were doing. We were actually asked a while ago to turn those books into games. We wanted to do our own world. That’s where we wanted to put out time into. Before we were even making Skyrim, there was a conversation with George R.R. Martin’s people. They thought it would be a good match—and so did we, actually—but then we thought about if that was where we wanted to spend our time. It was tempting, though."

BioWare

Unlike Bethesda, these ideas never made it to any kind of formal discussion with GRRM or his agent, but internally there was a strong feeling at BioWare that they should consider making an MMORPG based on A Song of Ice and Fire, even going as far as producing proof-of-concept documents. However, LucasArts and BioWare then decided to make Star Wars: The Old Republic, based on their earlier Knights of the Old Republic games, which turned out to be a very lengthy and incredibly expensive project indeed.

"So we were looking at doing a Lord of the Rings MMO, a Silmarillion MMO, a kind of a Gunslinger-esque Dark Tower MMO, a Game of Thrones MMO." Each setting has different strengths," Ohlen added, describing the 10 page documents that the team drew up at an early design stage. "If we were going to do a Game of Thrones MMO, what kind of rules and what kind of gameplay elements would really bring that world to life? Each one had that, but we always focused on the story at the fore."

However, minor references to the books can be found in their Dragon Age games, which were developed with A Song of Ice and Fire cited as a major influence.

Relic Entertainment

As with BioWare, this seems to have been an idea kicked around in-house and never spoken about officially with the rights-holders. However, one of the project leads on Relic's superb WW2 real-time strategy game Company of Heroes did like the idea of producing a strategy game based on the ASoIaF novels:

In the latest Games For Windows podcast, Josh Mosqueira - the lead designer on Company of Heroes - said that he wanted to make an RTS based on acclaimed fantasy author George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books. When asked what games he wanted to make, Mosqueira replied, "Game of Thrones [the first book in the series] - that would be awesome." In case you haven't read any of A Song of Ice and Fire (and we recommend that you do), it's an epic story with extremely complicated and devious characters. Mosqueira rightly described it as, "It's like fantasy, but without the sucky parts of fantasy." The books also describe detailed military strategies, as well as various well-developed armies and houses, each with different strengths. As such, an RTS based on the series could be amazing, and Mosqueira said that the books featured, "a lot of interesting things in terms of what could be done within a strategy setting."

Paradox Interactive

Paradox are the extremely well-regarded developers of numerous 'hardcore' strategy games, including the popular Europa Universalis and Hearts of Iron series, as well as the Crusader Kings games (which have very popular ASoIaF-based mods). Surprisingly, they were apparently also in touch with GRRM's camp a few years ago over a possible game, but ultimately decided not to proceed with a licensed property. Paradox CEO Fred Wester explains:

"A few years ago we were in contact with George RR Martin to make a CK like game based on the books, but we didn't finalize any contract. It is quite unlikely that we will work with third party IP, for many reasons."

Ultimately, Cyanide got the job because they pursued the licence with passion and commitment. Whilst the games have not worked out as well as might be hoped, the simple truth is that it's unlikely a larger company would have taken a risk with - what was a few years ago - an obscure property. Today, with the success of the TV series, it would likely be a different story. I suspect we have not seen the last ASoIaF computer game and it'll be interesting to see what happens next.  It's also worth remembering that there's some very exciting fan gaming projects coming up that look vastly superior to anything Cyanide has done.

GAME OF THRONES RPG's release clashes with year's biggest 2 games

Cyanide have released a docu-trailer for their Game of Thrones computer RPG. This trailer shows some gameplay with two of the game's developers talking about the title.

Game of Thrones: The RPG will be released on 15 May in the United States but, completely inexplicably, won't be out in Europe until 1 June (since clearly it takes two weeks for digital information to cross the Atlantic). The publishers, in their wisdom, have also decided the release the game on the same day as Max Payne 3 (one of the biggest games of the year on both console and PC) and Diablo III (probably the biggest game of the year on PC). In fact, they've somehow managed to cross with both dates for Max Payne 3 (which is out on 15 May on console and 1 June on PC).

I can only conclude at this stage that the publishers don't actually want anyone to play the game. There's some very strange decision-making going on there.

More info on GAME OF THRONES: THE RPG

RockPaperShotgun has some more info on the Game of Thrones RPG due from Cyanide in Spring 2012.

The most notable bit of news is the hithero-unknown (to me, anyway) piece of information that the game uses Unreal Engine 3, which means it should look pretty awesome. The new screenshots accompanying the article confirm this:

"Cult-looking types up to no good in the forest. They're probably either going to attack me or give me some kind of tedious fetch quest."

"Seriously, I can't see a fricking thing with this hood up. What the hell am I thinking? Can't take it off now, I'd look weak and indecisive. Hang on, what's that I've just stepped in?"

At the link are some more shots, including one that shows combat in-progress. The game is due for release on PC, X-Box 360 and PS3 in the Spring. Whilst developed by Cyanide, it's a different studio operating on a different continent to the poor RTS released earlier this year, and hopefully should be a better game.

GAME OF THRONES and ICE & FIRE news round-up

HBO have released four high-res images of locations in the series: one of King's Landing (see below), one of the Wall and two of Winterfell. These are pretty smart and worth a look.

King's Landing, with the Red Keep prominently displayed. The Great Sept of Baelor can be seen on the far right.

Still with the TV series, HBO has released a new trailer, this one entitled 'Power'. This trailer seems slightly more aimed at people who haven't read the books.

On the computer game front, Cyanide have released the first screenshot from the second game, the RPG, due in summer 2012 on PC and console. They've also spoken about it a little for the first time, revealing that the game will alternate between two characters, Mors Westford (a member of the Night's Watch and skinchanger) and Alester Sarwyck, a noble heir returning to Westeros after years travelling the east, during which time he became a priest of the red god. The game takes place close to the time period of the novels, and some characters from the books like Varys will make an appearance.

"You appear concerned, Lord Commander."
"Indeed. Are we actually in the GoT RPG, The Witcher 2 or Dragon Age? It's hard to tell."

In addition they have released two new screenshots from the real-time strategy game, Genesis, which is due later this year.



I have to say these screenshots are very unimpressive. Early fears that they are aiming more for an Age of Empires-style, stylised approach to the game appear to have been realised, with out-of-scale units and buildings and seriously unambitious ideas for the Wall and the Eyrie (which in the game appears to sit on a rather mild hill rather than on a shoulder of a 17,000-foot-tall sheer mountain).

On the book front, the new editions of the first four novels should now be readily available in the USA, along with the TV tie-in edition of A Game of Thrones (this edition should hit the UK in the middle of next week, and may already be on sale in some areas). On the Dance with Dragons front, George R.R. Martin's editor has published a picture of the manuscript for the novel (or the 95% of it submitted so far):

The manuscript is so huge it generates its own gravitational field, and has consumed the books it formerly shared the shelf with.

HarperCollins Voyager are also now listing their estimated hardcover page count as 1,040 pages, whilst Bantam in the USA are still only predicting 1,008. A final page count is waiting for the delivery of the last couple of chapters, but these estimates confirm the book is expected to be gargantuan. Unfortunately, some further controversy has been caused amongst UK purchasers by the news that Voyager is publishing the hardcover at a recommended retail price of £25.00, or about £5 more than the price of a standard hardcover (both The Way of Kings and The Wise Man's Fear, which are not far off ADWD's length, were £20 in hardcover). However, the novel will still be heavily discounted before release and during the first few weeks on sale.

Cyanide unveil more info on GAME OF THRONES: GENESIS

French-based developers Cyanide have been working away quietly on their two Song of Ice and Fire-related games for a while now. Two titles are planned: an RPG and a real-time strategy game. The strategy game was given a name, Game of Throes: Genesis, a little while ago but no further information was revealed.

Expect complaints about Targaryen balance issues.

Today, via GDN, Cyanide unveiled their first in-game screenshots of the title, as well as some of the box art (by noted ASoIaF artist Marc Simonetti). The strategy game allows different paths to victory, by making political alliances, by starving them through economical warfare or through direct military action. The game also allows different eras in the history of Westeros to be explored, including Aegon the Conqueror's invasion and the War of the Five Kings that the books cover (though presumably playing as Aegon might be a bit dull: send in your dragons every time and wait for the screaming to die down).

The RTS is due for release in 'summer 2011'. The RPG is apparently a lot further off.

Interesting news, if it pans out. The screenshots look unremarkable, however, with the game apparently treading the Age of Empires III/Battle for Middle-earth path of good-but-not-outstanding RTS titles. However, the notion that you can use politics and economical warfare as well as out-and-out conflict sounds good. Whether a small French company can succeed where a major developer like the Creative Assembly (creators of the Total War series) have constantly struggled for a dozen years remains to be seen.

Press release:

"A Game of Thrones - Genesis is the video game adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s best-seller series of novels A Song of Ice and Fire.

In this real time strategy game developed by Cyanide Studio (Blood Bowl), your political prowess will be as important as your strategic and military skills! A Game of Thrones - Genesis immerses you into the heart of the battles and intrigues between the Houses that shaped the Kingdom of Westeros. From Nymeria’s arrival in the Kingdom of Dorne to the awakening of the Others beyond the Wall, you’ll live the origins of the A Song of Ice and Fire saga through more than 1000 years of history. Take part in Westeros’ founding events and largest battles such as Aegon the Conqueror’s invasion on the continent or the War of the Usurper. In this great strategy game, victory does not necessarily result from brute force. You can choose to use a military approach and besiege your opponents, strangle them in an economical war, or even use dirty tricks and diplomacy to politically crush them. Treachery and deception are everywhere, so watch your back and prepare for battle! Thanks to a well-developed single player campaign written under supervision of the author George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones - Genesis is also a great multiplayer game. Up to 8 players confront each others to claim the Iron Throne in intense games where alliances, betrayals, cheap shots, and pitched battles take place."

EDIT: Coverage on the excellent Rock-Paper-Shotgun blog.