By Jeremy Hannaford (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: July 16, 2014
I was of two very different opinions after finishing only two episodes of Telltale’s The Wolf Among Us. The first episode was a great introduction to the world of Bill Willingham’s Fables and offered a twisted detective narrative in this world of fairy tales and noir crime. The second episode, however, was delayed for more than three months and was very disappointing in terms of content and technicality. This change in quality shifted my appreciation for the game to complete rejection.
As much as these games give the sense of choice and consequence, the story will always come to a predetermined conclusion. This was extremely clear in the first two episodes of the The Wolf Among Us. At the basic core, these games are point-and-click adventures where different approaches to resolving disputes are met with identical reactions.
The final episode of The Wolf Among Us raises these same concerns. But this episode is the true essence of what Telltale Games is all about. The difference between those previous episodes and this one is their budget and their amazing writing team.
Every major decision you have made in the game comes to a head in the interactions with the game’s final adversary, the Crooked Man. This is where The Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead games differ. The Walking Dead was a survival game that ran on a set track, with characters dying no matter your actions. It was one major decision made early in the game that would come back to the forefront in the finale. In the The Wolf Among Us, all major decisions, including violence, come to bear when judging how you as the Sheriff have handled the investigation. Whether you removed Grendel’s arm, abused suspects, or killed Tweedle Dum, it all works into the Crooked Man’s plans. He isn’t fighting for his innocence in the final climax; he’s proving how he is more of an asset to Fabletown than the authority has ever been.
When it comes to the confrontation with Bloody Mary, I have to applaud Telltale’s interpretation of her: turning the cult fable into a psychotic murderer was a stroke of brilliance, and she is incredible to watch every time she comes on screen. Her true form is made all the more terrifying by shards of glass embedded in her body and tribal markings burned into her skin. The final fight scene is packed with action, drama and a hint of wit. This is definitely the most expansive battle scene done by Telltale.
While it doesn’t beat The Walking Dead in overall scope, it certainly lays down a story that is full of compelling characters. But despite that, I still prefer the The Wolf Among Us from a content standpoint just because of the intricacy of Willingham’s universe. And while the conclusion certainly leaves one pondering what else could be done with the series, I won’t deny that I’m interested in seeing where it will all go. Telltale just needs to understand the importance of quality assurance and broadening a story, especially in terms of a whodunit construct.
Telltale Games proves once again that it has a great writing team which can spin stories that Fables creator Bill Willingham would be proud of. There still are some technical issues to be addressed such as glitches and texture pop-ins (for the console anyway) as well as a rather lacklustre reveal to the identity of the murderer. But this episode was a massive improvement to the The Wolf Among Us series.
