If Telltale games have proved anything over the past few years since their rise to mainstream popularity (as well as reviving the point & click genre and making episodic gaming a legitimate thing) its that they know how to write a damn good story and they know how to adapt well established IP's into a videogame format, whilst pleasing gamers and fans alike by providing an entertaining gameplay experience all whilst sticking true to the source material and expanding on it in their own unique way.
Next up on Telltale's hitlist is Bll Willingham's Fables comic book series. A series that follows the fairytale inhabitants of Fabletown, NYC, and their day to day problems of being fictitious beings living in the real world. But does Telltale's take on the Fables comic books translate as well as their last big hit, the game that got them international recognition as one of modern gaming's greatest devs, The Walking Dead?
The Wolf Among Us acts as a prequel to the Fables comics so there is no need to be familiar with the established story. The games five episodes follow Sheriff Bigby Wolf (aka The Big Bad Wolf) as he and the mayors assistant, Snow White, try to solve a series of recent murders on their own species. Featuring well known characters such as the Tweedles (Alice in Wonderland), Ichabod Crane (Sleepy Hollow), Beauty & the Beast, the trolls from Billy Goats Gruff and Toad (Wind in the Willows) as well as many more.
In a town where everyone is a suspect, where everyone is keeping secrets and everyone has motives, TWAU is a brilliant murder mystery story. Each episode manages to make you double guess who the killer is, each new scene brings forward new and interesting information and each conversation digs up game changing evidence. Over the course of the 10 hour story I had changed my prime suspect around four or five times, with no one character having my attention for too long before new evidence made me think otherwise. Its a game that keeps you guessing up until the end, keeps you digging away and pursuing that evidence at all costs.
Its another videogame storytelling hit from Telltale. Gripping, unpredictable, brutal and at times rather beautiful.
For players of Back to the Future and The Walking Dead, you will fell right at home with The Wolf Among Us. Your right stick controls movement and right stick controls the cursor with the face buttons acting as various methods of interaction with people and items. Conversations are player controlled, allowing you to choose what you want to say or how you want to react in situations, though you only have a short period of time to choose responses in. The actions you make have consequences, the way you treat people early on will ultimately come round to either reward you or punish you in the later episodes.
One major improvement to TWAU is the combat sequences. You see as a cop that has little to no boundaries and a bad temper, Bigby has the potential to get into rather a lot of fistfights with his suspects. Fight sequences are handled as QTE's involving speedy interaction from the face buttons, triggers and sticks in order to be a successful brawler. Failure is impossible however, it will just change the outcome of the fight, you will never get a game over screen but instead just be the one that comes out of the fight a little worse for wear. Its good as a storytelling device but ultimately means that the game lacks any challenge whatsoever, because you cant fail. There is also a severe lack of puzzling, where TWD and BttF had occasional puzzling sections to break up the conversations, TWAU has no puzzles, only combat.
As the series progresses these fight scenes become bigger and more complex, with the first half of episode 5 being mostly combat based. Thanks to excellent camerawork, direction and brutality, the fight sequences do not become boring or tedious but instead scenes you cant wait for.
Speaking of Episode 5, it is in my eyes the highlight of the series. With not only long, epic fight sequences but also a very long and tense group conversation at the end of the episode that lasts a good 10+ minutes. Its nerve-shredding as you are trying to win over the opinions of the other characters you have come to know and one of the most compelling conversations in a Telltale game to date.
Telltale's games have a long running history of technical problems and TWAU is unfortunately no exception. With long, frequent loading screens and regular, severe frame rate issues it occasionally comes off as a bit of a mess. Its even worse when the action gets going in the later episodes due to frustratingly low frame rates and even freezing during loading screens.
That being said, the art style of the Fables comic books is accurately and beautifully recreated in TWAU. A colour scheme reminiscent of that of Watchmen with lots of yellows, purples, blues and oranges; Fabletown is a dark and seedy suburb of New York where crime thrives and misery is everyday life. Its so effective that occasionally you feel sorry for the characters for living in such crappy conditions.
Animations are better in TWAU than previous Telltale games. It looks more naturalistic, not to mention the lip sync is significantly improved, even from The Walking Dead. However it still has a long way to go, luckily this doesn't go too far into hindering the overall quality of the game.
The work done on the sound for TWAU however is stellar. A fitting soundtrack that perfectly suits the tone and look of the game, adding not only background atmosphere but also giving serious emphasis on the more important parts of the game. Telltale also have a brilliant crew of voice talent on board, including the return of Dave Fenoy, Melissa Hutchinson and Gavin Hammon (Lee, Clementine & Kenny from The Walking Dead) all playing frequent secondary characters. Each actor really brings their characters to live with believable and genuinely outstanding performances.
So does The Wolf Among Us cut it as one of Telltale's greatest games to date? Without a doubt. If you are a fan of Telltale's The Walking Dead you will most likely very much enjoy The Wolf Among Us thanks to its even more brutal story which at times becomes slightly sickening with the issues it explores. Its by no means a tear jerker (thank god, I only just recovered after The Walking Dead's ending) but what it lacks in sorrow it more than makes up for in genuine anger and empathy for these make-believe characters stuck in our awful and cruel world.
The Wolf Among Us – 9/10
+Another Excellent Telltale Story
+Brilliant Introduction to the Fables Comics
+Excellent, Believable Characters
+Great Soundtrack
+Bloody, Brutal and Very Graphic
-Major Technical Issues
