Game of Thrones: War for Westeros Hands-On Preview – Reclaiming the Iron Throne
As we saw from this week’s Gamescom showcase, Game of Thrones: War for Westeros is alive and well. Great news for Game of Thrones fans, and even great news for real-time-strategy (RTS) fans, as we’ve been waiting for a new, potentially big, RTS to drop for some time now. Sadly, we’ll still have to wait a bit, as the game isn’t scheduled to release until next year.
But we did manage to get our hands on an early demo, and although light in playable content, it showed a whole lot of potential for something great.
One House to Rule Them All
Why yes, that was Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister in the Game of Thrones HBO series) you just heard narrating the latest trailer for Game of Thrones: War for Westeros. It’s been a minute- a full year, in fact- since we got our last major update on the game, but you can rest easy knowing that this game is very much still alive.
Building off the idea of, essentially, what if this happened instead of what we got in the show, Game of Thrones: War for Westeros is an RTS where players can live out their dream battles. It’s an exciting prospect, especially to those who didn’t like how the series finale ended things and are looking for the chance to rewrite history, forge their own alliances, and claim the Iron Throne on their own terms.
In an era when IP owners are especially protective of their IPs, this idea for this type of game and series is rather surprising. Unfortunately, it’s one we’ll have to continue to wait and see, as our early hands-on demo was strictly 1v1 skirmish matches.
But that’s not to say that things are already looking good for Game of Thrones: War for Westeros.
Quite possibly the closest comparison we have, and this one is going to make many RTS fans very happy, is The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth 2. Fans have been calling it since the initial reveal and gameplay teases, but yes, Game of Thrones: War for Westeros has a very The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth 2 vibe. There are hero units based on each house (the big, popular ones to start), each with their own abilities. The two houses (House Stark and Lannister) in the demo also played differently. Building structures matched each house, but it went beyond the visuals, as gameplay also felt geared toward each house’s personality, with the Lannisters having a clear advantage in wealth and building out their militia.
That’s not to say that House Stark had a disadvantage, as the Lannisters focus on flaunting their wealth and building an army made of gold; House Stark focuses on survivability and making sure they can outlast the other house. Take gold. Naturally, the Lannisters have more of it, and in the show, their whole empire relies on being the wealthiest. But as the saying goes, a Lannister always pays his debt, and here that comes in the form of how they acquire that gold. The Lannisters will use mines that eventually deplete over time, forcing them to be destroyed and eventually replaced. It yields more gold, but requires much more management.
House Stark, on the other hand, can build windmills, and unless these get destroyed by the enemy forces, they will continue to generate a stable income.
There are other micro mechanics that players will have to manage from both houses (and presumably the others), but I love how this adds more personality to each house, rather than being a visual facelift, with everything else being the same.
On the battlefield, each house will start off with an owned zone, with the goal being to grow your empire. Like any good RTS, you must think carefully about every unit you spawn in and every building you create. Need more gold to build an army? Well, start building some windmills. Oh, you build a bunch of windmills, but now you need troops? Well, expand with barracks and other training grounds. But wait, what’s that on the edge of the screen? Oh, the enemy? How did they get here so quickly? I forgot to build defensive measures and spent too much time focusing on building my base, ignoring that somewhere out there is another house making claim to the land.
Now you’ve got a massive army of Lannisters at your front door, and the only thing on their minds is to take everything you’ve got. You can’t enlist much help, because while you were busy with getting gold and making buildings, the other team was out there expanding their influence. On the other hand, though, maybe they weren’t focused on building out their army as much as you. Maybe that army at your front door is all they have? There’s a lot of things to think about in an RTS, and while the demo was only a snippet of the full experience, it did show much promise that Playside wasn’t just trying to cash in on the IP, but rather deliver on an experience that would make any Game of Thrones fan happy.
Unfortunately, this build was solely 1v1 skirmishes, rather than the alternate scenario the trailers have been setting up. So I can’t comment much on anything related to the story, but if the trailers are anything to go by, the promise of living out your dream battles is certainly something to be excited about.
It’s still far too early to tell if Game of Thrones: War for Westeros will be the next big thing in the RTS genre, but based on what I have played so far, it’s looking very promising. Whether you’re a Game of Thrones fan or love the RTS genre in general, this is one title you’re going to want to keep a close eye on.
Game of Thrones: War for Westeros is scheduled to release in early 2027 on PC.
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