Reviewed by Rachel McBurney
For those of us who had a chance to play The Wolf Among Us: Episode 1 – Faith, waiting for the next episode was nerve-wracking to say the least. So many unanswered questions were left dangling in the air, held together by nothing more than our own overactive imaginations. On Tuesday, February 5th, Telltale Games decided to answer some of those questions (and create a few more) by releasing Episode 2 – Smoke and Mirrors, the second in a five-part graphic adventure that is sure to pique the interests of gamers everywhere. But was this four month build up to the next episode worth the wait, or will players be throwing down their controllers and mice down in a fit of blind rage?
The Wolf Among Us is centered around the citizens of Fabletown, a community based out of New York City that is home to fairy tale characters exiled hundreds of years ago from their magical realm. These citizens, commonly referred to as Fables, attempt to blend in with society using magical spells called glamours to hide their true appearance.
We follow the investigations of Sheriff Bigby Wolf, a familiar character from our childhood bookshelves. Bigby is the Big Bad Wolf in Little Red Riding Hood, though it becomes apparent very quickly that he may not be everything the stories say he is, as decisions made in the game may make you question if he really isn’t just a big old softy when you get down to the core of him. The game also allows the player controlling Bigby to shape who he is through each choice he makes, so your Bigby may be a completely different character than mine!
When you first embark on your adventure, you’ll quickly realize that the game plays more like Heavy Rain mixed with Mass Effect and just a dash of a point-and-click adventure. The investigative scenes you’ll be selecting people and objects, walking around and interacting with things on your screen. When it comes to fight scenes you’ll be forced to react by pressing the correct button prompts (such as repeatedly hitting Q during a struggle), or die in the attempt. There are a few points where the game is a little hard to work with, as sometimes moving Bigby around a crime scene feels clumsy at best, with the character reacting to your direction with robotic movement and clearly struggling to get to the other side of the room. It definitely breaks the immersion, but not to the point where the game becomes a struggle to keep playing. The scenes where Bigby has an entire room to more around in are few and far between, as most of the game plays like an interactive movie, so don’t let a few minor irritants get in the way of your fun!
Where The Wolf Among separates itself from the pack is the intriguing character designs, and the ability to choose the way shape the story through your dialog. Your speech choices are always on a timer, and usually stop almost immediately after the characters you’re interacting with finish their sentences. It doesn’t give you a lot of time to sit and think about what to do, which is something those of us playing games like Mass Effect or Fallout are used to. If you don’t choose an option before the time runs out, the game chooses for you. You’ll also notice that what you do has an effect, threatening or reassuring little windows pop up after some points of dialog that say things like “He’ll remember that” or “She noticed you cared”, can mean very different things for you in the future. Earlier in the game, you may accidentally tick off some characters that you will need to save someone’s life later, leaving you out of luck when you really need it.
Smoke and Mirrors forces players to think both quickly and carefully at the same time. I found the best way to play the game is to go with your gut: what would you do in Bigby’s shoes? Would you clock that little jerk who called Snow that nasty word, or would you let him finish and catch him slipping up later? There are several ways the story can take shape and different endings based on what you choose to do. Unless you’re clairvoyant (or so completely incredible at figuring things out that you should probably stop playing the game and go collect your Nobel peace prize), you’ll want to really think about the choices that you make, so they don’t kick you in the butt later!
Speaking of intriguing characters in Smoke and Mirrors, there are very apparent backstories to each person you meet, all of whom seem dark and mysterious in the dingy atmosphere surrounding Fabletown. The game makes it very obvious there is a lot of history between many of the characters, and each one has a rich and unique personality to keep you interested. Mr. Toad is a slimy little scaredy-cat who refuses to hide himself through glamours and walks around as a giant frog, with a big mouth and not a lot of courage to back it up. Holly, on the other hand, is more often quiet but blunt, silver haired barmaid, with a whole set of emotional battle scars written all over the expressions on her face. The overall tone of the game is darker, but the way the characters are brought to life, it’s hard not to get sucked in. There are even little points of humour to the game to lighten the mood, like when Bigby looks at a soda machine, and tells himself “that stuff will kill ya”, while he’s taking a drag from his cigarette.
You may have decided to forego buying this season’s pass to The Wolf Among Us based on the cartoon nature of the game, but its design is part of its charm. Smoke and Mirrors feels like Sin City and Dick Tracy painted a new 2.5D dark fairy tale together. Telltale Games mixes hard, chalky outlines, dim lighting, and wildly vibrant colours to create an effect that makes you feel like you’re playing through the rough side of a dirty sewer. Everything in the game feels like it needs a bath, but strangely fits the theme perfectly. Cartoon or not, the facial expressions on the characters are drawn in great detail, matching both the voice actors for each character, and the emotions they’re portraying at the time. The music is a little more electric, with buzzes and whirs mixed in to constant drum beats, but keeping it in the background where it belongs. You’ll rarely run into a moment where you even notice the music unless you’re listening for it.
Comparing the two episodes is the hardest part of reviewing The Wolf Among Us, because it’s like comparing two chapters in a book. Episode 1 – Faith is like the big showy section that drags the reader in, with one exciting page turner after another. Episode 2 – Smoke and Mirrors, however, is more comfortable, with less shock and more intrigue. It’s to be expected that some of our wild ideas about what was going to happen next didn’t come true, such as thinking Beauty was a druggy who was dancing off her debts and way in over her head, or Mr. Toad being part of an organized crime syndicate. By the time Smoke and Mirrors was released, players had built up the game in their minds and perhaps made it bigger than it should have been, without remembering that this time they’d be playing a game they were already familiar with, which is always more predictable.
Smoke and Mirrors seems like it was designed to provide a few more character connections, and get into the meat of what’s really going on. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that idea, but keep in mind that this is only the second episode of a five-part series, and every good story needs a baseline to jump from.
Overall, the “choose your own adventure” games are always more fun to mess around with than some of the more linear forms of entertainment. As far as replay value goes, The Wolf Among Us provides more than a couple of ways you can unravel the story, while still feeling like you’re watching a gripping television series. Each episode by itself is $4.99, and $24.99 for the whole set, so if you’re unsure whether you’ll like the series, pick up Episode 1 – Faith before jumping in and buying the whole package.