Bill Willingham’s world of politically driven, refugee fairy tales living undercover in New York has been one of the more silently celebrated comic book entries this decade. Telltale announced it’s desire to make a game based on the reinvented fairy tale universe awhile ago, but it was not until last year’s roaring success of The Walking Dead that expectations were assigned to the project. Following the game that put Telltale on the map is a tough act to follow and The Wolf Among Us faced plenty of doubters, wondering if a second team at Telltale could recapture the magic that last year’s zombie game had. Excuse the pun, but The Wolf Among Us is a completely different animal; taking directly from the Fables universe the game faces the same scrutiny of many blockbuster movies, where fans compare new material to the beloved source. Despite all of these hurdles, The Wolf Among Us emerges on the other side as great game, giving us the grounded characters, interesting choices, and devilishly-addictive plot that Telltale has become known for.
There are drastic difference between Telltale’s Fables Universe and Willingham’s work, but the background remains the same. Famous European/American Fables have been chased from their homeland by a faceless foe called The Adversary. Now living in New York city, hidden by strict rules and protective magic, these fables struggle to coexist with each other and their new laws. The central character is the titular Bigby Wolf, the Big Bad Wolf from all the legends, ranging from The Three Little Pigs to Red Riding Hood. Much like the comics, The Wolf Among Us does not waste time trying to keep its players up-to-speed with its references. There’s no wink to the camera or dramatic entrance, you either know the characters involved or your don’t.
With player selected dialogue, Telltale finds itself in the unique position to allow for more bad puns and inside jokes based on player preference, but often calls them out if they are chosen. It is a brilliant move to satisfy those players looking to fill their game with references or to ignore them. The plot shows a knowledge and appreciation for the world of Fables, relationships between characters hint at future plot lines, none more-so than the relationship between Bigby and Snow White. Representing two different factions of the same government, Bigby and Snow spend the majority of their time together, trying to right the wrongs of Fabletown. While there is an obvious caring between the two characters, it is portrayed with the same subtle touch that Willingham gives the comics.
Separating the game from comic is the noir motif that Telltale has used to paint the game. The art-style and writing feel like a run from a different artist, but not completely out of place. Fables has never shied away from violence or graphic content, but it does not revel in it as much as Telltale likes to do. There are brutally violent scenes in the first episode of the game, and plenty of graphic language from Bigby and his enemies. These differences make The Wolf Among Us stand apart from the comic, establishing that while the world may be that of Willingham, the game is all Telltale.
With all the good things of a Telltale game come the bad, and the studio’s latest effort still suffers from much of the trouble that their previous titles shared. The game still has uncomfortably long loading screens at odd times that pull you out of the action, and while not as glitchy as The Walking Dead, there are still hiccups here and there. The gameplay troubles are also as cumbersome as they were in previous Telltale titles. Often times the game will instruct the player to dodge in a direction, but the timing to do so is weird. Other times the game will give you multiple options but your selection will be delayed due to button latency. The game’s action sequences also feel less varied than in The Walking Dead. When you are not pointing, clicking, or talking, the only variance of the gameplay is a couple fights and a chase scene. It is not so bad, but it lacks the creativity Telltale has previously exhibited. Where the gameplay shines is in the mystery aspect to the game. Oftentimes, players will have to search crime scenes and gather clues, a natural fit for the point-and-click style of Telltale games. Finding clues and questioning witnesses blend together like two pieces of a puzzle used to solve the riddle of a crime scene.
Due to the crime-solving nature of The Wolf Among Us, the noir feel fits right in. Shadows are loving draped across the faces of the main characters, creating a significant tonal shift from the washed out colors of the The Walking Dead. It is nice to see Telltale embrace this art-style and sink its teeth into creating a cohesive world that is as intriguing as its lore and plot. This art style shows a maturity for Telltale, and sets The Wolf Among Us apart from other games. Much of the game feels akin to the Telltale catalogue, making the artistic division all the more important.
With The Wolf Among Us, Telltale has shoved itself back into the forefront of video game conversation, reminding us all what sucked us into their titles in the first place. There are few studios who have writers as good as the crew working at Telltale, and The Wolf Among Us proves that last year’s run was no stroke of luck, this studio knows how capture the attention and imagination of players, regardless of background. If anyone was doing these point-and-click adventures as well as Telltale does, it would be easy to brush off their Fables romp as simply repeating a winning formula, but there is no one who is doing what Telltale is doing, not even close. The Wolf Among is a win for anyone who likes a good story. The first chapter of this five-part, episodic release will grab you by the chest and hook you. Don’t bother buying the game one part at a time, it is clear that this whole series will be a joy to play.
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