GAME OF THRONES: THE LOST LORDS (EPISODE TWO)

Written By:

Andrew Pollard

GAME REVIEW: GAME OF THRONES: THE LOST LORDS (EPISODE TWO) / DEVELOPER: TELLTALE GAMES / PUBLISHER: TELLTALE GAMES / PLATFORM: PS3, PS4, XBOX 360, XBOX ONE, WINDOWS, MAC OS X, iOS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

The second of Telltale’s Game of Thrones game picks up right from the final moments of the first part; and by that, we largely mean that the decisions that you made back in Episode One (some of which you’ve likely forgotten about by this point until they come back to bite you on the arse) influence how things play out at times here.

As with the first episode, the focus of the attention here is House Forrester, formerly sworn to House Stark before the whole ‘Red Wedding’ massacre went down. Joining a lot of the familiar faces of the first episode, we get introduced to Asher Forrester and his story, with him having ran off to Yunkai to make a life for himself there. This episode sees Asher begin to make his way back home in the wake of the developing troubles between House Forrester and Ramsay Snow et al. We also pick things up with Gared Tuttle’s trek to The Wall and his wish to became a Ranger… which also serves as Jon Snow’s entrance to the game. Mira Forrester is over at King’s Landing and trying her best to get Margaery Tyrell’s backing for her family, and then there’s Rodrick Forrester’s path to becoming the Lord of his House in the wake of the deaths of his father and younger brother.

The Lost Lords is just as brutal as the first episode and there’s enough adult language to shock a nun with Tourette’s. The violence is plentiful and gory, and a lot of the decisions that you choose to make will have you further contemplating them hours and days after they were made. There’s also the intrigue factor of just how your decisions will play out not just in this outing but in future episodes (this is the second of a planned six).

Much like the first episode, The Lost Lords does at times feel a little plodding. In fact, the plodding and slow-burn is far worse here than in Iron from Ice. As a result, the story and action feels as gripping as it is infuriating. There’s one moment early on where you literally have to spend time essentially learning to walk.

Despite often flowing as uneasy as a geriatric’s bowel movements, this episode does have some memorable and shocking moments to offer players. It’s also great to get a further insight into Jon Snow’s mind-set on the matter of Red Wedding and how Robb Stark was killed (no mention of mother Catelyn, mind).

This is certainly an up and down episode, although the overall story arc is played out rather wonderfully when it’s allowed to gather some momentum. It’s just that the pacing feels just too unbalanced. Slow-burn is good, but the only way that certain moments of The Lost Lords could go any slower is if the game itself froze.

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