A review of The Wolf Among Us as a whole.
The final episode of Telltale's The
Wolf Among Us, Cry
Wolf, was released recently and provides a fitting conclusion that
neatly (or messily, depending on your choices) wraps up the ongoing
murder investigation conducted by protagonist, Bigby Wolf. With that
in mind, I though t now would be the best (and only) time to offer my
thoughts on the series as a whole.
Before
I begin properly, I must first say that I love the art style and the
music. Both of which aid the overall neo-noire atmosphere of the
game. What really brings to life the atmosphere, to me, is the
character and environment designs which create the perfect feel of a
city's seedy underbelly and the colourful cast of characters that
allows.
A
logical place to start would be with Episode One: Faith (but I
didn't). Episode one does a good job of introducing the main
characters while leaving enough mystery hanging to bring us back for
Episode Two. The characters themselves are fairly fleshed out and
have a slew of existing relationships that make the story feel that
much more human. This could be a product of the source material, I've
not read it though, so I can't say. What I can say is that the voice
acting is excellent and remains consistent throughout, especially
Adam Harrington and Erin Yvette, the voices of Bigby and Snow White,
respectively.
Aside
from kicking off with a nice action sequence and some introduction to
the way Bigby's personality is shaped through dialogue choices,
Episode One starts the investigation off quite quickly in a high
stakes fashion. This also neatly bookends the episode as things
intensify in preparation for Episode Two.
Episode
Two: Smoke and Mirrors kicks off with Bigby being interrogated a
Mundy (normal human) police officer. This is followed by a moral
dilemma in which it gradually becomes harder and harder not to choose
the 'bad' option. The good thing about this, however, is that it
presents the options a neither 'bad' nor 'good' and is, instead, left
to the player to decide based on their own morals. Another part of
this scene, which provides an excellent example of subtle labelling
when it comes to moral choices, is by having an, for want of better
word, arsehole, try and push the player into committing the 'bad'
action. One thing that must be said about Episode Two is that it
throws a huge curveball at you relatively early that I can't reveal
lest I spoil it. This episode also introduces a new antagonist,
Georgie (of girl kissing fame) who runs the Pudding and Pie, a strip
club operating as part of a prostitution ring. Episode Two gives us
another huge plot thread to follow in future episodes and sheds some
light on a rather perverse fantasy held by one of Fabletown's
citizens.
The
third episode: A Crooked Mile, the one that I discussed with friends
the most, did it's job remarkably well. It's job was to follow up on
Episode Two's finale and to introduce new characters and plot points.
The episode kicks off after the discovery of some pretty damning
evidence. This is followed by a funeral for a recently deceased Fable
which is promptly interrupted due to the ongoing investigation. This
is the first of the two fantastic action sequences in this episode
but not the one that left me talking about it for days. No, that was
the concluding sequence that I can only describe as intense. One
thing against it, which is quite petty of me, is that there's a
character who hides their appearance and I immediately caught on.
Unfortunately, I had to play along as the dialogue choices wouldn't
allow me to call them out on it which left me feeling somewhat
impatient and impeded the pacing a little. On the more positive side
of things, the decisions made in this episode can be tough and have a
lasting impact on the story and, presumably, far beyond its
conclusion.
Now
for the black sheep, as it were. Episode Four: In Sheep's Clothing
isn't as good as previous episodes or its successor when compared to
them. On its own, it's fine, it's OK, mediocre is a fair word (and
far less vague). You see, the problem is that it has to follow an
intense previous episode and set up for the finale, which doesn't
allow it to really do much. My main issue with it was a result of
this and that's the characters. New characters are introduced but
there's not enough screen time to create any level of emotional
investment from the player. This doesn't extend to existing
characters as Episode Four has a strong focus on the theme of
Friendship vs The Rules, which adds a level of depth and highlights
the conflict between Bigby's past and present.
Ah,
I've been waiting for this one. Episode Five: Cry Wolf, my favourite
of the series. Not only does it open to a tense scene but it carries
that through to the end. The episode kicks of exactly where Episode
Four left off and provides a non stop ride of tough decisions,
important dialogue and one mind blowing, intense, fight sequence that
will leave you dumbfounded. Tie this in with the amount of closure
and the tying up of loose ends in masterful, artistic way and you
have yourself one of the most satisfying endings to a murder
investigation that you'll ever experience (unless, you know, you're
part of a real one). The ending answers the overarching mystery but
leaves a new one in it's place, revealed by a KotOR-esque flashback
of events and snippets of dialogue. Still though, my favourite
episode.
Overall,
the story is fantastic, the music great, the atmosphere spot on, the
cast (for the large part) engaging and the art style superb. I
heartily recommend you buy it now (as it's on sale right here: [http://store.steampowered.com/app/250320/]). To the lads and lasses at Telltale, well done, to you the
readers thanks for sticking with this review.
Thanks,
Darren
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