It is difficult to be Stark

In early December, Telltale Games , an analogue of the HBO channel in the gaming industry, released the Game of Thrones - Episode One: Iron from Ice . The interactive series is made according to the same recipe as “The Walking Dead: The Game” . The game component is still minimized: there is no puzzle, no interaction with objects, nor freedom of movement. Combat mechanics are simplified - it only needs to be pressed from the user that press the necessary buttons in time. But endless importance is gaining the choice of replicas in dialogs - threads with which the player embroiders history. Rather, it sews up a bleeding wound - speech in Iron from Ice , as usual with George R.R. Martina, is about a family that threatens death. Those who did not watch the third season of the series “Game of Thrones”, then better not read.

Northerners of Forresters are the faithful banners of the Stark. The history of the fall of both noble houses begins with a red wedding. The Starkov army is devoted and broken, Lord Forrester and his eldest son remained with the Gemini. The power in the house goes to the very young Itan - the peer of Bran Stark. Bolton, the new guardians of the North, want to take away the forests that are important for the army of the forest. The raider seizure is headed by Ramsey Snow, an inventive sadist of books, whose image was noticeably softened by the series. Mira Forrester, the maid of Margeri Tirell, is trying to find patrons for his poor family in the capital - and passes through about the same flour as Sansa Stark. Meanwhile, the squire of the deceased Lord Gared Tattle kills the soldier Bolton and runs (I want to joke: it climbs) from the royal “justice” on the wall.

Who is destined to get married will not drown.

It is easy to notice that forresters are the understudies of the Stark. Their house is waiting for a similar tragic fate. Their offspring are some hostages, some on the wall, and some in the grave. Nobleness, directness and courage - qualities from the classic fantasy of Tolkien - do not promise them anything good in the dirty Middle Ages Martin. The game copies from the series not only the alignment of forces, but also the main means of expression - prohibitive cruelty and unpredictable deaths of key characters. The style of the “Game of Thrones” is recognized instantly - there are not enough bed scenes. In fact, Iron from Ice makes an already familiar plot an interactive, offering to survive all the tragedies of the Stark. So why is this game worth the candle?

Because it violates the main law of its industry - a guarantee of victory and success. Whatever we do, the Forresters are only worse. “Iron from Ice” is a quiz without the correct answers. In one episode, Ethan must decide the fate of a thief-dezertir: chop off three fingers, as his father did, send to the wall or forgive. The trouble is that the whole besieged fortress sympathizes with the panicir. In another episode, Cersei Lannister will ask the world whose interests are above the other - family, mistress or king, and any answer will be bad. In the third squire, a few seconds are given to choose who to save - a close friend or his master.

Games in which it is incredibly difficult to win are very rare, and the darkness in them is already enough at the level of names. In the interesting French anti -utopia “Dark Earth” (1997), the damned hero lost his human appearance so quickly that almost none of the users could bring him in a solid mind to the final. In the dark fantasy “Dark Souls II” (2014), the knight is so helpless in front of the demons that in You T Ube immediately after the premiere poured videos “How I died 100 times in half an hour”. But these games, at least, leave the opportunity to win. In Iron from Ice, the heroes have not the slightest chance. What is even worse, they are not even allowed to lose with dignity. The whole first series of Forresters force knees to the villains, to beg for the sake of the family the help of the most dangerous intriguers of the seven kingdoms and tolerate one mockery after another. Previously, such fatalism seems to have been found only in the Russian art icon “Mor. Utopia ”(2005) - an interactive performance without a happy interchange that told about the last days of the city, covered by plague. But in the "sea" (which, by the way, will soon be reborn thanks to Kickstarter ), strictly speaking, there was no narrative - the story there was replaced by meaningful visionary.

A completely different thing is the plot “Iron from Ice” , told according to all HBO drama rules. The development was carefully controlled by the curators from the channel and assistants of the writer, so the story organically fits into the general annals of Westeros, like “non -reversed scenes” with DVD . In the books of George Martin, the House of Forresters is mentioned in one line, so the game can do with the heroes what he wants. And her desires are approximately the same as Ramsey Snow. As a result, we find ourselves in the same bank with toxic spiders and understand how difficult it is to be Stark. At the same time, the spiders are voiced by familiar actors - Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Lena Hidy (Queen Cersei), Natalie Dormer (Margeri Tirell) and Ivan Reon (Ramsey Snow). In the next series, Keith Harington (John Snow) will appear - but what is the benefit of the poor forresters from a person who knows nothing?

Invited stars are both a marketing find and the dramatic failure of Iron from Ice . The fate of their characters is predetermined by books and series, and their immunity to any tragedy reduces the intensity of passions. Forresters are preparing to meet Ramsey Snow with weapons in their hands - but it is clear in advance that nothing threatens him. Margeri Tirell in the royal harbor boldly stood up for the maid in front of the Lannisters - but who is destined to get married will not drown. A completely different thing is forresers, the generation of a single phrase from the book “Dance with Dragons”.

It is curious that nine years ago a similar focus with the presentation of a grandiose story through the fate of little people made a HBO channel - he pulled out at random from the “Notes of the Gallic War” of Caesar the names of two legionnaires and made them the heroes of the epic series “Rome”. The Iron from ICE pilot passes in just two to three hours. During this time, the player witnesses a red wedding, looks into the royal harbor twice, enters into a desperate, as if descending from the pages of Walter Scott's Books for his father’s house, hides in the forest from the rums of Ramsi and is three times in Ironrata - the generic citadel of the Forresters. This is already a very rich program, but at least another five episodes are ahead that promise to form a grandiose family saga.

And yes: as in the case of “The Walking Dead: The Game” , this game cannot be repeatedly repeated. It is worth doing this, and the illusion of free choice will dissipate - the script here, it turns out, is predetermined. I would like to see how George Martin plays this.