Review – The Wolf Among Us – PS4

The Wolf Among Us is the second Telltale Game that I have played, following Tales from the Borderlands. I had high expectations going in as I had read that many people consider it the best of the bunch. All I actually knew about it was that it was about werewolves. Well.. that’s what I thought. Imagine my surprise when the main character turned out to be the Big Bad Wolf! See, The Wolf Among Us is actually based on the DC Fables comics. Take Shrek. Set it in NY. Add in a mystery crime drama angle. Now add sex, drugs and rock and roll. Throw in some blood, guts, and lots of cussing. There you have, the Fables. I like to compare it to the MCU. Marvel has its superhero blockbusters, then it has its gritty Netflix dramas. Well, this is the Netflix of fairytales. Dark, gritty, brutal and it is just as bizarre as you’d expect it to be.

Bigby Wolf is the Sheriff of Fabletown, slogging away to try and keep Fabletown a functional place while also making up for his terrible past. Soon after we are introduced to the world, things start going downhill, fast. A crime takes place and it’s down to Bigby to solve it. Throughout the game we learn about the characters, past and present. As time goes on you will make crucial decisions in a bid to solve the mystery and make the town a better place. The game is not a comedy but it does have some dark humor, and for me it took a few episodes just to stop laughing at the whole concept. I mean that in the best way possible. The more I was introduced to new characters and lore, the more surreal and yet brilliant I found it. The world is immersive, the dark tone compliments the whole scenario perfectly and I actually found myself pausing the game just to give myself longer to make certain decisions which is something I had promised myself I would never do.

As far as gameplay is concerned, it is played in the same way as other Telltale games. It is very story based and the main components of gameplay include dialogue options, QTE’s during action, and sections of exploration and detective work. Not forgetting, of course, the decision making. I found the game didn’t always play as smoothly as I had hoped, the screen lagged and skipped a couple of times but it wasn’t as bad as Tales from the Borderlands. I thought the graphics were great. The game is very stylish and it suits the fact that it is inspired by comics. The music, the colours, the setting, they all worked together perfectly to create the atmosphere that you want to keep coming back to.

I enjoyed the story, however I did think some of the dialogue was clunky sometimes. As always, you get to play Bigbys character however you prefer by choosing the appropriate dialogue. However, sometimes I would make a selection but it wouldn’t come out as I had expected, or sometimes there wasn’t an option that I wanted at all. Then sometimes peoples replies didn’t sound quite right. I instinctively compare it to Tales from the Borderlands because that game impressed me so much with its brilliant dialogue, unfortunately it didn’t quite live up to its standards. As long as you are aware of it though then it shouldn’t bother you too much, I think my only problem was having my expectations too high.

Telltale games are known for having easy platinum trophies. Usually you get platinum for completing the game. The Wolf Among Us, however, had a few extra things to do to achieve platinum which I enjoyed very much as it allowed you to go back and explore other options.

Personally, I enjoyed Tales from the Borderlands more than The Wolf Among Us. However, that is only down to personal taste. This is certainly a game to play. If you are intrigued by the concept then absolutely pick it up. I do not think you will be disappointed. It is a joy to play and if you are anything like me you will be sad that it’s over when you finish it.

SPOILERS BELOW! DO NOT CONTINUE UNLESS YOU HAVE PLAYED THE WHOLE GAME!

First of all, I would like to discuss the ending. When the game ended I sat staring for a while trying to figure out what I had missed. I honestly did not understand the twist. I was quite disappointed. It took a bit of research for me to understand other people’s interpretations. Either 1. Faith was glamoured as Nerissa all along. That would mean that the dead Faith at the beginning was actually Nerissa under glamour. This would make sense because Faith was known for being a master of disguise. Or 2. We never actually met Faith. She was already dead at the beginning and when we did meet ‘Faith’ it was actually Nerissa glamoured as her. This was to get Bigby’s attention before he later found her head. Although I feel like the first theory is more likely the answer, I prefer the second one so much more. It only makes one smart and unprecedented change to the story rather than making a whole character feel like a lie. After reading that the writers didn’t even have a set ending in mind, it only added to my disappointment as I felt it came very much out of the blue.

What I would have really liked was to see more of what happened after the fact. In my ending, the Crooked Man went down the witching well and I won the town over. Problem is, there wasn’t much of an epilogue to show the consequences of my decisions. For all that happened, I might as well have just ripped his head off… I probably wouldn’t have known the difference.

The other thing that I would have liked to have seen more of is the Farm. We heard about it a lot and I genuinely thought that we were going to visit it. I think it would be awesome to have a Season 2 based on the Farm being corrupt. Unraveling some conspiracy and turning it into a ‘happy ever after’…

Considering I know shockingly little about real fable stories, I found some of the appearances so funny. The conflict between Bigby and the Woodsman was brilliant, I knew deep down that it wasn’t him and it was so satisfying when we had a moment of mutual respect. I found it hilarious that Georgie Porgie was a pimp. I played the whole beginning adamant that it wasn’t the pimp that was responsible… oops. Bloody Mary was terrifying. The Tweedles were AWFUL, I loved ripping his throat out. I enjoyed the glamours, the mundies, the near immortality, going full big bad wolf, even the butcher gave me a giggle. The whole world was so cool and well thought out, I do hope that we get a Season 2.