Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Choices and Consequences Game Review: The Wolf Among Us - In Sheep's Clothing

The penultimate episode of The Wolf Among Us follows a beaten and battered Bigby as he comes to terms with the fact that even he has to be worried about his own mortality. The story delves deeper into the seedy underbelly of Fables, and continues to deliver the fantastic mystery and suspense that this season has been known for.

The story begins with Bigby dealing with his wounds from the last episode.  He was nearly beaten, but he's determined even more to catch the person responsible.  His prime suspect has powerful allies, who will give their lives in protection, and their lair is a secret that is shrouded in magic so no one knows exactly how to enter it.  Bigby has to go further into the shady parts of Fabletown in order to find the people that work for his suspect in order to solve the mystery and bring the criminal to justice.

Once again this story introduces a secondary villain from urban legend, who is not quite as formidable as the last, but is every bit as nasty.  The design of this character is wonderful, from the unassuming glamored human form to the disturbing reality of this fable's true self.  There are many returning characters as well, most of whom had only previously had brief roles in the story.  They are finally given their moment to shine, with the wonderful animation of the facial expressions that has been consistent this season, to the fantastic portrayals by the voice actors.  The music also continues to be a high point, once again setting the gritty mood of the seedy underbelly of Fabletown excellently.

By this point, it is obvious that nothing is going to change in regards to having more player interaction beyond the quick time events and player choices, but Telltale continues to handle the different reactions by characters based on Bigby's actions quite well.  The season is all about Bigby's quest for redemption over his actions against other fables when they were still in the old world.  The way that Bigby handles the fables is a big part of the charm of the choice system of this season, as they don't trust him and they all react quite differently based on how Bigby handles the situation.  As the investigations more intense, never before has the reactions been quite as disparate.  The story benefits as a result, no matter which way you choose to play.

In Sheep's Clothing is another fantastic episode. The story is exceptionally strong here, and the mystery and suspense is intensifying satisfyingly. Puzzles and direct controlled action sequences are once again eschewed in favor of choice based gameplay that changes the perceptions of characters to the protagonist.  However, this gameplay is used really well here, with the reactions of the characters and the way they treat Bigby being quite different based on the choices made.  The art, music, and exceptional voice acting also help to make this episode another shining example of a season that is one of Telltale's best examples of their cinematic story games.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Episode Three ReviewEpisode Five Review

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