THE wait has already been unbearable, yet there’s still another four excruciatingly painful months to wait.

Fans of Game of Thrones are eagerly waiting for the back-stabbing, murder-plotting, throne-toppling TV series to return to the box. Gamers thankfully have something to whet their appetite and to bridge that seemingly never-ending gap.

In true Telltale style, Iron and Ice follows the story of a lesser known group set in a familiar setting – in this case Westeros. Things centre around the shenanigans of House Forrester, former bannermen to House Stark and take place around the time of The War of the Three Kings.

Play swaps between three key members of the family, and although we all know the decisions won’t have a dramatic effect on the overarching Game of Thrones storyline, they make a difference to the family and consequently the other playable characters.

To add that lacquer of authenticity, the voice actors we’ve come to know and love have lent their voice talents to their animated counterparts. Peter Dinklage is phenomenal at voicing Tyrion Lannister, while Lena Heady menacing in her role as the scheming Queen Cersei. Although the other voice actors may not be as well known, each does their job superbly, and delivers the well written dialogue with realism and panache.

Aside from the voice acting, the well-crafted animation helps to envelope the player in the fantasy settings we’re already familiar with. Although Telltale Games have gone for a more regular animated style over the cel-shaded animation they’ve been using recently, it’s perhaps better suited for this particular series.

The story comes thick and fast at the sacrifice of playable segments. There aren’t many opportunities to explore Westeros, which is a slight disappointment.

Iron from Ice is incredibly faithful to the source material – to the point it feels like one of the television episodes. From the moment the music starts, fans know exactly what they’re getting; a tale that can’t be second-guessed and consequently something to well and truly bridge that gap.

IAN CRUMP

SCORE 8/10