The Wolf Among Us

I originally want to give this game a 8/10, but I went back to the game and boy did I love it. The story is like a good noir crime story with fairytale characters. From the beginning, it felt bizarre but I quickly got invested with its world and characters. The main protagonist, Sheriff Bigby Wolf is probably the most accurate character when it comes to making choices: You make a choice that's either satisfying or disappointing, either way, you're playing a character that just can't win. It has good acting, best style of art direction, and great narrative storytelling.

There's something about this game that no matter how many times I'll play it, I'll just can't get enough of it. I Highly recommend this gem of a game to the people who have not played it yet.

Telltale Games cleverly sews together a specific niche for themselves with classic adventure system and comic book style art. The Wolf Among Us, unlike their survival oriented The Walking Dead, is a one of a kind mix of noir and fable. While the concept itself has been done by TV series or comics, this game offers a unique muse rarely found in any other games. It doesn't escape the grasp of flaws, most notably from the lagging, and it's relatively short but like Cinderella's nocturnal escapade, it's also everlastingly sweet.

Without revealing much about the plot, the game revolves around Bigby Wolf, a more literal interpretation of wolf than expected, as the Sheriff of Fabletown, a glorified community-appointed fixer. While the jargon might sound too conservatively medieval, the game actually sets in modern metropolis of New York. Furthermore, its playful contrast between the two different realms works wonderfully, albeit in much darker tone than any tale would lead you to believe.

It's been a while since a game focused on detective work prowled by. The Wolf Among Us utilizes the sleuth aspect with magical properties and manages to create a mature and strangely captivating tale. As in The Walking Dead, choices are imperative and will heavily influence later consequences. The outcome of event is determined by how players ascertain situation, divulge secrets, exercise discretion or trust certain individual. Interactions between characters are varied, and these multitudes of decisions, even down to subtle dialogues or gestures, can immerse players to the bizarre world and odd predicament they are going through.

Players would be hard pressed not to sympathize with Bigby and his fellow mythical colleagues as wicked crimes terrorize them. Decisions or remarks made could have immediate or far-reaching repercussion, or they may just be merely fleeting words. There are also bits that need some timing or deduction skill to solve, but they are not particularly hard. The screenplay these personalities dance to is amazingly written with equal consistent pace, whimsical banter and the less glamorous daily profanity.

Action sequences still use QTE, as archaic mechanism as it may be, the game tries to make them more responsive. It doesn't possess much innovation, but it surprisingly makes for engaging combat, and it is a tad more polished than their previous one from The Walking Dead. Unfortunately, these instances are hampered by constant frame rate drop. It's a usual occurrence that the changing of scenery is accompanied by slight lag, which shouldn't happen much considering the technical aspect of the game isn't that taxing.

For a game that has bountiful dialogues, The Wolf Among Us invests plenty towards the voice chanting, just like Little Mermaid did. Characters are well fitted, they sound very appropriate and have knack on wittily quipping on any given moment. Since the game is decision based and cycles through players' choice, the delivery might stumble, but the seasoned voice actors along with good editing produce coherent and continuous scenes.

There is not much melody aside from a few ditties, mainly humming and thumping that quietly very effective in setting the tone. Some simpler themes works to create noir atmosphere, and even though it has fable element, the game never quite sounds merry. One minor complain is sometimes sound effect doesn't fit the visual, perhaps due to slight frame rate drop, but it's not often enough to be a malady.

The game is divided into five episodes, each might last about one and a half hour, making the total playtime somewhere around eight hours. It's decent, but a bit short considering it's released across the span of several months. Players can replay the episodes to find branching outcomes or all entries to Book of Fables, a catalog of events and characters of the game, which is a nice touch, but nevertheless not a very enticing incentive to replay the game.

The Wolf Among Us is an alluring adventure game, one that belies its cartoon art and delves deep at the characters' and their motives. With the rate Telltale Games is going, they might just create a genre to themselves.

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Graphic : Artistically well done, good contrast on lighting, although a bit flawed by the frame rate stagger. 7/10

Sound: Great voice acting for everyone, no persona seems out of place, dialogues are meticulously crafted. Its deceptively hushed theme captures the ambiance well. 8.5/10

Gameplay: It's classic point-and-click adventure mechanic with a bit of QTE, but it fits its purpose and pretty engaging for such simple gameplay. 7.5/10

Presentation : Brilliantly told story with peculiarly dark touch. Characters are welcoming, funny and twisted in their own right. 9/10

Overall 8/10

I'm a fan of the "Fables" graphic comic series, I really love the concept which is wild but strangely works, the notion of what would happen when the characters of fantasy came to reality; let alone mixing both the noir and fantasy genre turned out to be a wicked combo. This series also may have been the partial inspiration for the TV shows "Once Upon a Time" and "Grimm". Having this as another volume in the Teletale Game series was just a dream come true for me.

The art is great it's really gets everything making it really look like the graphic comic series come to life. From the grittiness and grime of Fabletown to the character models themselves.

Music is also great, it really sounds like something out of a John Carpenter film, which fits like a glove for this game as this game has a really dark, dangerous and moody nourish atmosphere.

Gameplay is about the same you'd expect from any Teletale game but I wouldn't have it any other way. To me it's a bit of a throwback to some of the point and click games of the early to mid 90's that have became a lost practice; those kind of games were always about observation, investigation and decision making.

I really like it from the choice aspect where you are constantly weighing the pros and cons of your range of choices hoping you've made the right choice. However you can't take too much time as there is a counter on the menu, so choice carefully. There is the usual point and click where your investigating areas and searching for clues. The action is solid, sort of like in the arcade game "Dragons Lair" as it's based on reaction, really like some of the fights Bigby is in and gets to do. Two that stand out are the fight with the Jersey Devil whom looks like one of the Skinwalkers from Indian folklore which makes sense and that is who I partial suspected who the Jersey Devil could be. And the other which is the fight with Bloody Mary which is a lot of fun, almost reminds me a bit of the battle with the multiple Agent Smith's in "The Matrix Reloaded".

However what really makes the game like all Teletale games stand out is the story itself. It take place way before volume one of the series which is cool, the way the story plays out it really feels like another volume in the series. The voice acting is great and fits like a glove as their all how I imagined they would sound like. Really like the voice actor Adam Harrington whom plays Bigby, he almost sounds like Steve Blum but isn't. As well as Erin Yvette as Snow which is a sweet, strong and sexy voice.

The characters are their usual selves if your familiar with the series. I really love the back and forth between both Bigby and Snow, both of them are one of my favorite fictional couples. Despite knowing ahead of time of their relationship if you've ever read the series, you still have a great feel for both of them, there are sparks flying between both of them.

Some might be a little confused or even swayed by the fact most of the fairy tale characters their familiar with may act and seem contrary to the versions were familiar with. But in a way that just adds to the mystery of the game and series, as it takes the assumptions we've already drawn out and turns them on it's head. Just showing that we can't take anything for granted and nobody is whom they seem.

I even like how just like in the series this game gets into not just the ethical boundary concept which most of the Teltale games usual do but also other social and philosophical issues like the constant difficulty in adjustment and adaptation to change and transition, our subconscious need to hold onto and reclaim traces of the past, but also identity.

When you hear about some of what's happened to certain Fairy Tale characters were familiar with and what life in the reality realm has done to them it's kinda interesting and for some sad. Like with the Beast and Beauty talking in one episode how both use to be royalty and ruled a kingdom, but when they were forced to immigrate to our realm they reign ended and worst of all barely remember who they use to be.

Bigby whom to me is my favorite character in the series because he has a fascinating arc as he is a former villain reformed kinda similar to Regina in "Once Upon a Time". But despite the changes he made in his life, he is still constantly wrestling internally to keep the wolf inside in check.

In a way I can't help but feel there is some truth in this, in a way these down to Earth versions of the Fables represent ourselves as we've grown up our perspectives and prospects about ourselves and life constantly change, especially on the fantasy characters we eternally hold dear. Things like that you have to ask yourself can or are you still you, or have you changed so much that your someone else entirely.

I wouldn't mind another volume for this game, probably take place somewhere in the middle of the series or even after or before one of the story arcs. Though personally I'd like to see another DC Vertigo property made into a Teletale game, one I had in mind is "John Constintine Hellblazer" yeah that would be awesome, it's just a thought.

"The Wolf Among Us" howls with intrigue.

Rating: 4 stars

What a unique game. The Walking Dead was good, really good but for some reason I preferred this. It's edgy, fantastical and often darkly comical. Not to mention an insanely bad ass protagonist. The numerous twists and turns coil together to create a sense that you have no idea what is going on or who the killer is. Best of all, you get to play your way, be the Big bad wolf everyone knows you for or the good guy trying his damnedest to make up for past mistakes. How you shape him is all up to you. The only gripe I have is that it does not optimally function on Xbox360 consoles, even with a hard-drive. Even so, it is an amazing experience and a unique mystery that needs to be experienced at least once. Definite must-play.