A wolf in a detective’s clothing

The Wolf Among Us is a 2013-2014 neo-noir investigative drama single-player game by Telltale Games. The game is based on the world of the Fables comics by Bill Willingham.

Set in the streets of New York in the 80’s, The Wolf Among Us introduces us to a hidden community of fables – fairy tale characters who’ve found themselves having to integrate to our world. To conceal their true nature from the regular people – or “mundies”—the non-human fables must use a substance called ‘glamour’ to take on human forms. We quickly learn that the world of Fabletown is far from your average fairytale, with its inhabitants struggling with crime, poverty and – as the story kicks off – a mysterious murder.

The player controls the actions of Big Bad “Bigby” Wolf. As the sheriff of Fabletown, Bigby works to keep the crime to a minimum and to make sure that the non-human fables are glamoured. The story takes off with Bigby discovering the head of a young girl on the steps of the bureau. The story is at its core a murder mystery, but deeper webs of struggle and corruption lie uncovered.

As a big fan of the neo-noir genre, I appreciate the art direction of the game. The soundtrack is infused with moody synths and the gritty yet vibrant streets of New York work as a great backdrop for the game’s story. The colors, compositions and art style really make you feel like you’re in a comic. The main appeal of the game is that of player choice and being able to affect how the story progresses. Though I thought that my choices could’ve had a bigger effect on the outcomes, I ultimately liked the different approaches you could take with Bigby. Even if the story doesn’t change all that much depending on how you play, your experience of the story will change depending on which choices you make.

Being a story-based game to the core, the game has fairly little to offer gameplay-wise. Though this is the case with many of Telltale’s releases, the studio is ultimately known for this, and the simple style serves the story well. The style is at its core point-and-click exploration with occasional quick-time events to engage the player.

Another strong point of the game was the characters and voice acting. Though the animations of the characters can sometimes be lacking with stiff and puppet-like emoting, the voice acting sells the performance and immerses the player. Overall, the game’s story was solid and kept the suspense up with satisfying payoffs. Though the game undoubtedly has some genre-cliches such as the main character being a broody man detective with a violent past and a strip club working as one of the main areas, these aspects have enough strong writing behind them so as not to seem too tiring and stereotypical. The only trope I am beginning to be tired with seeing is that the victims are more often than not young girls in stories like these, and these mysteries consistently begin with our main character finding a mutilated body of a girl. There were also a few glitches in the game, but the worst of it was solved with a quick reboot.

The game was an interesting mix of neo-noir, fantasy and realism. On top of being a murder mystery, it dealt with topics such as class-struggle and corruption and has the player wondering whether the ends justify the means. Overall, the game was one of the best I’ve seen from Telltale Games. The game is a must for fans of choice-based adventure and neo noir games.

 

 

Telltale Games

Android, iOS, OS X, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Windows, Xbox 360, Xbox One

2013-2014

Graphic adventure, Neo-noir, Mystery, Drama

PEGI: 18

 

Photos: promotional pictures from The Wolf Among Us (Telltale Games 2013)

https://www.telltale.com/the-wolf-among-us/

 

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