By Mahesh Subramaniam
'In Sheep's Clothing.'
Telltale Games is a studio dedicated to making episodic experiences that are highly-interactive, character-driven stories. The latest such release is the fourth episode of The Wolf Among Us which, unfortunately, was not the best example of their work. I won't go into too much detail to avoid spoilers if you haven't played the first three episodes. Wolf Among Us is a prequel to the comic book series Fables, which uses famous fairy-tale characters as their main characters.
'In Sheep's Clothing.'
Telltale Games is a studio dedicated to making episodic experiences that are highly-interactive, character-driven stories. The latest such release is the fourth episode of The Wolf Among Us which, unfortunately, was not the best example of their work. I won't go into too much detail to avoid spoilers if you haven't played the first three episodes. Wolf Among Us is a prequel to the comic book series Fables, which uses famous fairy-tale characters as their main characters.
After the collapse of their magical world the fables were forced to go into disguise and find a living in the mundane world with the humans. You play as Bigby aka the Big Bad Wolf, who is the sheriff of the fables.
In the fourth episode you continue on the seemingly never ending trail to find the Crooked Man, and hopefully get some pay back on the terrifying Bloody Mary after mutilating you in the last episode. The episode was painfully short and ended on a cliff-hanger that left me irritated rather than excited. When I compare this episode to the penultimate episode of the first season of their sister series, The Walking Dead, the pace was faster, people were dying and most of all you were faced with some nail-biting choices, and the finale was a more character-driven episode. In The Wolf Among Us the characters are no doubt well-written, but because of the abundance of characters it's hard to invest in most of them. They are mainly there for the convenience of the plot and don’t add any emotional depth to the game's story. This episode didn’t offer any interesting options of dialogue either, which made every conversation feel lacking, I actually opted for the silent option when I figured the other options would lead me nowhere.
In the fourth episode you continue on the seemingly never ending trail to find the Crooked Man, and hopefully get some pay back on the terrifying Bloody Mary after mutilating you in the last episode. The episode was painfully short and ended on a cliff-hanger that left me irritated rather than excited. When I compare this episode to the penultimate episode of the first season of their sister series, The Walking Dead, the pace was faster, people were dying and most of all you were faced with some nail-biting choices, and the finale was a more character-driven episode. In The Wolf Among Us the characters are no doubt well-written, but because of the abundance of characters it's hard to invest in most of them. They are mainly there for the convenience of the plot and don’t add any emotional depth to the game's story. This episode didn’t offer any interesting options of dialogue either, which made every conversation feel lacking, I actually opted for the silent option when I figured the other options would lead me nowhere.
Another little peeve is when Bigby keeps getting blamed for the state of Fable Town, we get that fables are struggling but I can't exactly relate nor take any responsibility for that because I wasn't playing the game then, there were plenty of events Bigby did in the last three episodes that could be mentioned instead, which would have made the player more invested in the plot. It expects you to already be invested in his back-story, when really not much else was given.
As an avid fan of the studio, the lack of strong choices and the shortened episodes overall make me wonder if Telltale have taken on too many projects. While working on The Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead they are also developing a Game of Thrones series and a Tales From The Borderlands prequel. I hope Telltale focus on a more connected arc on their future installments, and that they know we don't mind waiting for something excellent than conforming to something average.
As an avid fan of the studio, the lack of strong choices and the shortened episodes overall make me wonder if Telltale have taken on too many projects. While working on The Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead they are also developing a Game of Thrones series and a Tales From The Borderlands prequel. I hope Telltale focus on a more connected arc on their future installments, and that they know we don't mind waiting for something excellent than conforming to something average.
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