The living and the dead faced off on Game of Thrones in “The Long Night.” Strategy video game Age of Darkness: Final Stand takes that idea and runs with it.
For seven seasons of Game of Thrones, the mysterious White Walkers lurked on the edges of the story, ready to break through the Wall and slaughter the living. Things finally came to blows in “The Long Night,” the season 8 episode where Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen and their followers defended Winterfell from the onslaught of the Night King.
It wasn’t a perfect episode, but it definitely set a memorably foreboding tone, one that inspired other creatives. For instance, PlaySide designer James Berkelmans told PC Games N that the episode was one of the big inspirations behind their new real-time strategy game Age of Darkness: Final Stand.
“When starting development we were inspired by the Game of Thrones episode ‘The Long Night’,” Berkelmans said. “The whole idea being that when night came you had to hold your ground against a large horde of enemies, that’s where the idea of our death nights started.”
The hook of Age of Darkness is that you gather resources in the day, and then get behind your castle walls at night as an eerie fog envelops the land and monsters attack by the tens of thousands. Watching the trailer, there definitely is a “Long Night” kind of feeling:
“Age of Darkness is an ambitious game in many ways,” Berkelmans continued. “We integrate a lot of light RPG and roguelike elements… We trust that players want a game that tests their skills – providing procedurally generated maps, steep difficulty climbs and high skill ceilings to allow for this.”
Designer Mario Barone also weighed in: “We’ve created this system to give us the flexibility to create some amazing game moments. It goes without saying that the sheer amount of units our engine can allow is very impressive. Not only can we do this – but we can do so with many 3D effects and a highly detailed world.”
Age of Darkness: Final Stand will come out on PC via Steam Early Access this fall.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels