It seems there’s no slowing down the Telltale Games franchise train. They’ve already done JURASSIC PARK, BACK TO THE FUTURE, the critically acclaimed WALKING DEAD, and now, Vertigo’s comic seres FABLES with THE WOLF AMONG US.
Fortunately, Telltale Games does franchises justice—a far cry from the old days when licensed games were a quick buck and nothing more. Like their other games, specifically THE WALKING DEAD, Telltale Games injects THE WOLF AMONG US with its tried and true formula of an adventure game focusing on story with some choices along the way.
If you haven’t played THE WOLF AMONG US before [Note: Some spoilers in the rest of the article], here’s a breakdown: it’s FABLES set in the 80s with a noir twist to it, as Bigsby attempts to solve the murder of a beheaded woman only to find a much bigger conspiracy brewing underneath it all. If you have never read FABLES, not to worry. Like THE WALKING DEAD, THE WOLF AMONG US requires no prior knowledge of the canon. It pleases the fans by being faithful and true to the source, while making it pretty easy for newcomers to grasp.
“A Crooked Mile” picks up right after the events of Episode 2 and has the twists and ending cliffhanger that one would expect from Telltale Games. And keeping standard with the rest of the company’s recent titles, the writing is pretty rock solid. FABLES is known for having characters with plenty of flavor, and Telltale games has made the most out of their roster. I won’t spoil it for you, but there’s a newcomer towards the end of the episode, and she’s a complete scene stealer.
One of the significant changes to the gameplay and story is that pretty much all of the puzzles have been thrown out. TellTale Games is known for being more casual with puzzles, and I’m usually fond of them for being so, but here it’s almost completely lacking. Rather than feeling like an adventure game with some fun puzzles, THE WOLF AMONG US: EPISODE 3 feels more like a multiple choice television episode.
On the positive, the decisions here are much more brutal than before. The best of classic noir has the character stumbling through the story, and here, Bigsby fumbles through no matter how you play it. Decisions are always on the split second, and there’s only remorse to be found.
Still, something feels lacking about this episode, despite strong writing and terrific acting. I think it chalks up to the fact that it’s an extremely short game, especially considering that you aren’t even slowed down to solve some puzzles or view long optional dialogues. It’s all about being rushed from one place to the next, with no time to smell the roses. Character development gets mostly thrown out the window in favor of pure plot. Unfortunately, the plot doesn’t feel as intriguing as the other THE WOLF AMONG US or THE WALKING DEAD episodes.
But even at their worst, Telltale Games still makes a decent effort. THE WOLF AMONG US: EPISODE 3 is an entertaining episode, despite lacking the meat and bones of its predecessors. If you’re a FABLES fan or even enjoyed Telltale Games’ THE WALKING DEAD, then you definitely have to pick up THE WOLF AMONG US. Just don’t expect the third episode to have the same gut punch as the previous ones.
RELEASE DATE: April 8th, 2014
PUBLISHER: Telltale Games
DEVELOPER: Telltale Games
RATING: M
April 18, 2014 By Andrew Hudson