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| You get to choose two out of three locations to visit in this episode. I've already made the first choice, this is for the second. |
- Developer: Telltale Games
- Publisher: Telltale Games
- Release Date: 8 April 2014
- Time Played: 1.5 hours
It seems Telltale are now back on track with their 1-2 month gap between episodes as the latest episode of The Wolf Among Us, "A Crooked Mile", is now available to play. So how does this episode compare with previous ones?
Note that the review will read very similar to previous The Wolf Among Us reviews as not really much has changed besides the plot.
Plot (5/5)
The Wolf Among Us is set during the 1980s in New York City. Fairy tale characters (aka "Fables") now live amongst normal humans (called "mundanes") in their own immigrant neighbourhood known as "Fabletown". Some fairy tale characters, who can afford it, use "glamour" in order to disguise their true appearance from mundanes. Those that cannot afford to disguise themselves are sent to "The Farm" in rural New York. You play Bigsby Wolf aka The Big Bad Wolf, whose job is sheriff of Fabletown. Consequently it's your job to keep the peace and in this third episode, you finally make some leeway on who you and Snow White believes to be a murderer. Things aren't always what they seem though, and you soon discover there's a bigger conspiracy lurking in the background.
Just as it was with the previous episodes, there appears to be a branching narrative in this game so conversations will be slightly different based on your relationships with other characters or certain clues you notice. At the end of an episode, you're also able to review whether you sit with the majority or not when it comes to pivotal choices in the game (e.g. showing compassion to a character or not).
Like the second episode, this episode was quite short compared to the first one (only about 1.5 hours long) however the plot seems more intriguing. There's definitely a lot more anger, angst and action too - the atmosphere is volatile and people are starting to get more desperate.
Gameplay (3/5)
Just like The Walking Dead, and indeed previous The Wolf Among Us episodes, gameplay may seem minimal by some since it basically consists of very simple puzzles ala the adventure game genre incorporated with visual novel elements (e.g. conversations having an impact on character relationships) thrown in with a bit of Quick Time Events (QTEs) for action sequences. For those valuing gameplay over plot, you have been warned!
What I do like about this episode though is that at one point you're given a choice of which place out of three to investigate first - with only time to investigate two. This gives the player a little bit more freedom in tailoring their own story which is always welcome.
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| "Gren won't remember this." Some self-referential humour by Telltale there |
Sound (4/5)
Voice acting is great but that's to be expected from veteran voice actors – the only issue I had was that the audio was sometimes too loud or too soft.
Music (4/5)
The game has some moody 80s-style synth which fits the game perfectly (this is a neo-noir game set in the 80s after all). Nothing too memorable but top quality stuff all the same.
Graphics (4/5)
The graphics are on par with The Walking Dead and since this game is also based on a comic book, it has incorporated a similar style. The only issues I had was the occasional framerate jumps and the occasional animation glitch.
Replay (3/5)
Just as it was in The Walking Dead, replaying The Wolf Among Us will reveal a slightly different narrative depending on the choices you make. Just as I did with the previous episodes, I tried to continue my stoic and professional approach, i.e. refraining from violence where I could (admittedly it was more difficult to this time around).
Unlike The Walking Dead, it's slightly more difficult to get all achievements, requiring you to explore different choices I believe in order to unlock all of them (which in turn invites at least one replay).
Polish (4/5)
Unfortunately, as it's a Telltale game, it uses the most recent Telltale Tool so the interface is a very console-friendly one, not a simple point 'n' click adventure. The game also has the annoying Type 1 save system where progress is autosaved but you never know when the next save point is.
Score – 8/10
Like Episode Two, Episode Three or "A Crooked Mile" seems to be a bit shorter than the first episode, however the anger, angst, atmosphere and action in this episode will keep you on the edge of your seat as you delve even deeper into Fabletown's dark secrets.If you want to get the game, you can get it on Steam or Telltale Games.
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