2nd Opinion: The Wolf Among Us

Yet another successful episodic game series released by the game developer, Telltale Games.  The Wolf Among Us has been released on a multi-platform level, from pc to iOS to consoles. Telltale’s episodic series games are typical of a point and click action/adventure-based game. The Wolf Among us in particular is based on the Fables comic book series, similar to its predecessor The Walking Dead. The Wolf Among us received amazing reviews, and it’s popularity hit the roof after being released on PC platforms. Fast-forward a few months and now it is available for iOS platforms too. 

Gameplay

Those who are familiar with The Walking Dead game will naturally feel at ease with this game. Controls are similar and easy to get to grips with. The Wolf Among us follows the same pattern as The Walking Dead; being set across a series of five episodes. The first of which has recently been released on the iOS platforms; the following episodes in the series are expected to arrive periodically throughout 2014. 

A basic understanding of the story should be grasped before playing the game, although this isn’t essential. I found myself unfamiliar with the story which made understanding the gameplay slightly more difficult. The plot focuses on well-known fairy tale characters that have been cast out of their homelands and into the real world to live among us, as humans in disguise. 

The game has you interacting with fairy tale characters such as; Snow White, one of the three little pigs, Beast, Beauty, The Huntsman and other famous fairy tale creatures. The protagonist of the game is the Big Bad Wolf, or as he addresses himself, Bigby Wolf. Bigby Wolf is the Sheriff of Fable town. As ‘Fables’ have been banished from their home they have to be in human form through the use of Glamor, otherwise they have to live on a place called the farm.

The Wolf Among us is great at informing players of the back story; Fables struggle in the human world, some even putting themselves in danger through prostitution just to gain money to live. The player is introduced to many characters early on, as ‘Fables’ are magical creatures they are harder to kill and also live at lot longer than the natural human being. Fables can also change to their own form at any point, for Bigby Wolf this seems most prevalent when he becomes angry. 

The protagonist is faced with a murder mystery, which the player must attempt to solve. The gameplay has the player interacting with objects and other characters where the game marks relevant places to be clicked on. As with other episodic games Telltale Games have developed, one of the main features of the game are the choices, which can have a huge impact on future episodes. Players are faced with crucial choices from the beginning of the episode, this can affect the way in which some characters treat you, fortunately the game doesn’t give you much time to make these decisions, forcing you to take potentially rash choices that may impact on the game in unexpected ways later.

One of the games most attractive traits is the character development the gameplay offers. The player gains a huge understanding on each character and can even sympathise with certain Fables. Similar to The Walking Dead there are some Quick Time events within fight scenes, however they seem to be more prevalent within The Wolf Among us. A delay in response to some QTE will result in a game over screen, so keep your eyes open when faced with these particular scenes. 

I played The Wolf Among Us on the iPad, making the controls of the game focused on a touchscreen. Actions seem to flow seamlessly and with quality, unfortunately the game proves to be glitchy when moving characters around due to the touchscreen. In order to take full advantage of the quality of the game I would recommend playing on the iPad because of it's larger screen/retina display.

Graphics and Sound

The first thing that comes to mind is the vibrant and loud colour choices in an urban environment, very pop art like. The voice actors suit the individual characters and work well alongside the high quality of the facial movements and facial expressions. When compared to The Walking Dead, it becomes obvious that the game's developers have heightened the quality of the facial movements for this new episodic series. 

The only clear downside of the music and sound is its average stature within the game; it doesn’t come across as particularly outstanding. This would be fine if other aspects of the game had a similar quality, however the other features of the game are of such higher quality that these underwhelming sound and music elements stick out like a sore thumb. Fortunately, music doesn’t have a huge role in The Wolf Among Us beyond adding to the already brilliant atmoshpere. 

Pros

- Great development of plot and characters 

- Easy controls 

- Addictive gameplay and build up to the following episodes 

- Graphics are outstanding

Cons

- Movements can be glitcy throughout the game

- The sound has room for improvement 

Overall 

The Wolf Among Us offers a quality game, unlike any other. It is at a surprisingly low price when considering the outstanding 3 hours of gameplay and engrossing graphics. 

This game proved to be a great relief; it revealed a positive sign of the iOS platform striving towards major improvements and development into becoming a reliable platform for gaming. More and more decent games of higher superiority are being released at affordable prices. 

It is great to look at, and the gaming quality outdoes what I'd originally expected. Definitely not a game to be missed!

Score: 5/5

Developer: Telltale Games

Price: £2.99

Platforms: iOS, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Playstation Vita, PC
Reviewed on: iOS (iPad)

Released: 5^th December 2013

Laura Ash / @lauraanneash

To read more about The Wolf Among Us and find out what our writer Tom France thought click here!