The Wolf Among Us (PC) Review

The Wolf Among Us Game Review - By Matthew Cooper

Hot off the smashing success of The Walking Dead: Season 1, Telltale Games brings us The Wolf Among Us - another episodic, story-based series that started last year and finally culminated today. Based off of the Fables comic book series, The Wolf Among Us doesn't quite have the emotional weight of The Walking Dead, but Telltale still proves they are the kings of video game storytelling.

Pushing aside the zombie genre, The Wolf Among Us tells the story of Fabletown - the home of various fairy tales (called Fables) in a film noir styled Bronx. You play as Bigby Wolf, the former villain turned sheriff, who must solve the murder of a girl named Faith. What starts as a simple “whodunit” case slowly unravels itself as an intricate conspiracy involving the black market, prostitution, and embezzlement. I won’t spoil anything, but the story is consistently great, but slows down a little too much in the middle episodes.

The Wolf Among Us’ story is strengthened by some outstanding characters from nearly every fairy tale you can think of. Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, The Woodsman, and many, many more show up throughout the five episodes. Each one is done with a modern twist that sets them apart from their original counterparts. Playing as The Big Bad Wolf makes for some interesting interactions with the other citizens of Fabletown. Almost nobody trusts you, and whether or not you gain their trust is up to your playstyle.

As with the other Telltale games, The Wolf Among Us has a heavy emphasis on choice. The decisions this time aren’t as simple as “kill or don’t kill” (although there are plenty of those situations) but generally affect how the other residents of Fabletown view Bigby Wolf. Some of them were so subtle that I didn't realize it was a major decision until after the credits rolled.

To compliment all of the talking and detective work, The Wolf Among Us has some truly incredible action sequences. Telltale has stepped up their game since The Walking Dead, and it makes for some fantastic changes of pace. Although if you’re not a fan of quicktime events, you probably won’t enjoy them. But if you’re playing The Wolf Among Us for the action, you’re playing it for the wrong reason.

Probably my biggest complaint with the games is the conclusion. The relationship with Bigby and Snow White was a big part of the earlier episodes, but as episode five concluded, I was left unsatisfied. Snow is only in the episode for one scene, and while their relationship is continued in the comic book series, I still wanted more closure. The game also leaves a lot of ambiguity to it. A second season has yet to be announced, and until it does, the game leaves too many questions unanswered to be a standalone piece. If a second season never comes, I hope that Telltale releases a DLC episode like they did with The Walking Dead.

Despite some minor grievances, The Wolf Among Us stands as another fantastic outing by Telltale games. Abandoning the emotional skeleton of The Walking Dead was a risky choice, but the intriguing story here is quite satisfying, and when complemented by the action, left me wanting more.

Intriguing Story + Fantastic Art Style + Great Characters + Intense Action Sequences - Some Bad Pacing - Closure = 8.7/10