Review: The Wolf Among Us

 

 

Friday saw the release of “The Wolf Among Us” Episode 1: Faith. I wanted to make sure I was the one to write the review for Videogame Bang!, because I am the only one of us who has read the comic book that this game is based on (Fables by Bill Willingham, published by Vertigo). I want to lead off saying that I am a HUGE fan of this comic series and have been keeping an eye on this project for a few months.

 

Basics

 

If you are familiar with the recent TV show “Once Upon A Time” then you know the basics of the plot to Fables. In the Fables universe the fables are almost immortal (obviously not fully since this game revolves around a murder) and have been living among us mundane people for hundreds of years in New York City. I love the compelling storyline of the comic and the cameos from all these fairytale stories I heard as a kid, plus many which I did not know. The game follows Bigby Wolf, the sheriff of Fabletown, during his investigation and occurs prior to the comic.

 

Gameplay

 

First off let me just say that if you are looking for a big action game this is not going to satisfy. There are three parts to this game: conversation choices, quick time fights, and point/click detective work.

 

1. The game keeps the pace of the story going during the conversations by adding a timer which forces you to think fast, and is shorter during high tension sections.

 

2. Quick time events take place of the fights and action sections; I don't have much to say here since I have never been a fan of these.

 

3. The detective sections move slowly but they really let you explore the Fables universe and piece together clues which can trigger more conversation options.

 

Verdict

As a videogame I would be disappointed honestly, but while I was playing I realized that this was less of a game and more of an interactive comic book. I feel like Tom Hanks from “Big” must be somewhere on the team from Telltale Games. There are only a handful of points where you can alter the story line but I am so excited for the future chapters to come out so I can see how these decisions will filter through the rest of the game. I also had a challenging time of picking the conversation options which fit best with the character I know Bigby to be. If you have read and enjoyed any part of the comics then I would strongly recommend you try this game. If not absolutely try the demo and I want to warn you that this does a good job of filling in the player with info cards but there is still missing information. I plan to pick up the season pass so I can get all five chapters. Based on chapter 1 I am expecting the full game to be about 12 hours and then figure that I will replay each section a few times to see how the decisions filter to the ending.

 

 

 

Review by David Ng