True to the spirit of George R.R. Martin's merciless pen, Cyanide's Game of Thrones RTS killed something in cold blood: my ability to smile. The Blood Bowl developer isn't throwing in the towel just yet, though. Instead, it's charging forward with an RPG, and - based on the first major trickle of story info and screenshots - it's sounding, dare I say it... promising.

The plot centers around Night's Watch brother Mors and formerly exiled Red Priest Alester. They're original characters, of course, but they'll cross paths with everyone from Queen Cersei to Varys to Night's Watch Lord Commander Mormont - all of whom will ride into the digital realm looking just as they did on HBO. Only, you know, probably wearing clothes more often. Apparently, the game's "grand quest" will see you visit King's Landing, The Wall, and many other well-known regions in Westeros.

And then there's this bit, which is all at once exactly what I did and didn't want to hear:

"In Game of Thrones, you will choose the class of your characters, find your fighting style, reach a good balance between your strengths and weaknesses, and get ready for epic battles! Find, buy or loot new equipment and weapons to fit your approach of the fights, and gain experience to improve your skills or learn new ones. Slow the time down during battle to analyze the situation and choose your next moves. In Game of Thrones, political skills can be as lethal as a sharpen sword, so never underestimate the power of a silver tongue to solve a critical situation."

On one hand, politics! Cyanide's RTS may have played out like a game of cat-and-mouse between snails, sloths, and turtles, but its mix of persuasion and backstabbing - at least, on paper - remained very true to the source material. Hopefully, then, this won't be a mindless hack 'n' slash. Slow-mo, meanwhile, is supposed to... add an extra tactical layer to battles? I guess? That's a question mark until we actually see it in action, though. In the meantime, here are some new screenshots to hold you over.