The Case

The popularity of Telltale Games skyrocketed last year, after the episodic release of The Walking Dead. Praised as a phenomenal achievement in video game storytelling, it forced players to consider tough decisions and make the best out of the bad situation at hand, like few other zombie games had before it. With The Wolf Among Us, Telltale are at it again. But little has changed between then and now, mechanically speaking. Is this a simple coat of paint, a wolf in sheep’s clothing that lazily attempts to hide the fact that it’s the same game, or is it a different beast altogether?

The Trial

Ah, Telltale Games. Last year’s smash hit, The Walking Dead, changed up a lot for the developer. No longer were they making straight point & click adventure games with a lighthearted story and atmosphere. The Walking Dead offered a gritty and desperate storyline combined with an interesting and unique gameplay style, that rid itself of the typical pixel hunting that we see in most point & click games. As a result, it felt more like an interactive story than a traditional game.

If you’ve played The Walking Dead, then you already know a bit about The Wolf Among Us. Similar to its predecessor, The Wolf Among Us takes advantage of the universe its based upon; Vertigo’s Fables comic book series. Faith, the titular first episode of Telltale’s new epic, uses the same combination of modernized point & click systems, dialogue where your decisions can make a huge impact, and QTE-based combat and chase sequences, as The Walking Dead. The story delivered in the first episode is deep, the world is constructed with an intense attention to detail and the decisions you make are as tough as ever.

The Wolf Among Us is set in the ‘Fables’ comic book universe, in which all kinds of characters and creatures - collectively referred to as Fables - from popular fairy tales and folklore have been exiled from their fantasy lands. They are now living within a single neighborhood of downtown New York, known as Fabletown. To blend in with the mundies - short for mundane, used to refer to humans - many of these creatures have taken to using magic spells known as Glamour, which make you appear human. In fact, wearing a Glamour while in public is required according to Fable law. However, these come at a hefty price, and not everyone can afford them. Through seedy underworld connections, Fables are able to fetch Glamour cheaper, but they are often of low quality and prone to malfunction at inopportune moments.

You will quickly notice that this game is a whole lot more physical than The Walking Dead ever was. There are more fights and chases than before, and they last a lot longer. Though you might normally be the kind of person who dislikes quick time events, The Wolf Among Us does it in a manner that never feels obtrusive or distracts you from the experience. Moreover, it’s never too hard, avoiding tedious checkpoint reloads and button memorisation. The fights here are practically well choreographed in-game cutscenes, with some button presses thrown in for good measure.

The pacing also feels somewhat different from previous Telltale adventures. It conveys a much more noticeable sense of constant urgency than TWD. Rarely will you feel like you have time to fiddle around for too long before another major event takes place. Everything happens on the go. You’re constantly talking to someone, or fighting, or searching for clues while pressured for time. It mostly works quite well, but newcomers to the comic book universe of Fables may feel a little offput in the beginning. Especially if they choose not to read the occasional entry updates of the Book of Fables; your sort of journal describing important events, locations and characters that you come across throughout the adventure.

Having to read short, well-written journal entries in order to understand the circumstances of a character or event is a small price to pay when what you get in return is such a fantastically deep, multilayered and believable story as this. Video games set in pre-existing universes often tend to use cheap solutions for story or character exposition, but you will find none of that here. You are quite literally thrown into this unique world, and you are expected to at least understand the most basic principles of it. The game’s mature story, adult themes and graphic violence make it crystal clear: No children or childish people allowed.

So, what is the story, exactly? I’m not going to go into too much detail, as it would ruin the experience for you, but here are the basics. The player inhabits the role of Bigby Wolf, more famously referred to as the Big Bad Wolf, who almost ate Red Riding Hood alive. Bigby is employed as Fabletown’s sheriff, tasked to keep the peace, make sure the Fables don’t expose themselves to the mundie world, and other sorts of sheriff business.

It becomes clear from the outset, that most Fables aren’t living the highest quality lives in our world. Most of them live in downtrodden apartments with barely enough resources to get by. Glamours can cost an entire life spending, but Fables that aren’t able to acquire one risk being sent to The Farm, a sort of home for poor Fables located in upstate New York. It’s about to get a lot worse too, as a murder mystery rapidly transpires after Bigby is called out to stop two Fables from tearing each other apart. The motive behind the murder is unclear, and the list of suspects is as long as Bigby’s claws on a really bad day.

It’s hard to explain any more than that, but rest assured, the overarching story takes hold of you fast, and it doesn’t let go even when the two hours you’ll spend completing the episode have passed. It’s a thick and believable story that, as fantastical as it sometimes feels, is still rooted in themes that are easy to connect with. Themes of identity, loyalty and redemption, to mention a few. You’ll be forced to take sides and make decisions that, despite good intentions, may see you tumbling down a path you had never anticipated, and this is often where the game shines.

Framing in the gritty narrative, is the astounding visual presentation. It simply looks amazing, a comic book come to life like never before. Colorful, artistic, beautiful...I could go on and on, but I don’t need to; the screenshots speak for themselves. The sound design is also ace, and though the soundtrack is minimalistic, it sets in at the perfect moments to make you feel exactly what the game wants you to feel. The voicework delivers in every avenue. The voices coming out of characters’ mouths consistently sound genuine, the dialogues have a good flow and the transition between each voice clip rarely feels disjointed unlike so many other point & click games.

However it’s not all perfect in Fabletown. The Wolf Among Us carries over a lot of the great features we know and love from The Walking Dead, but it also brings with it some issues. The game sometimes “cheats” with the dialogue options it gives you. A few times here and there, an option might make you think you’re going to say one thing, but turns out to be something entirely different, or Bigby will follow the sentence up with another sentence that is completely different. This may lead to frustration, as a conversation can sometimes take a sour turn, not because of the events that transpire within the game, but because the game itself failed to let you know what that specific dialogue option actually entails.

Another issue remaining from TWD, is that you sometimes aren’t sufficiently informed of which object in the environment you are supposed to interact with to progress the story. You can potentially miss important clues because you accidentally clicked on an item that started a discussion you couldn’t get out of, which then lead you to a new environment without letting you investigate further.

The Verdict

Despite some very minor occasional hiccups that can be a tad disruptive, there is no doubt that Telltale Games are onto something truly golden. Though the first episode is only about two hours long, it sets the stage for something big, and every second playing it is pure love-making for your eyes, ears and mind. It is a dark, gritty journey where no decisions are right or wrong, and it treats mature players with respect. While we have no way of knowing if subsequent episodes will follow through on the promises made by the first episode, I would go so far as to say that the first episode alone warrants the asking price. I’ve paid far more for far less in my time as a gamer. Don’t hesitate. If you enjoy video games, movies or comic books for adults, with an adult atmosphere and adult themes, then this is where it’s at.

Case Review