Let Me TELL You About This Squad
Telltale Games is the new kid on the electronic entertainment block. The newly surging video game company has found their bread and butter after revitalizing the graphic adventure genre with their award-winning The Walking Dead, the adaptation of the comic book series. They have their characters and story that is concurrent with the events in the comic. Success comes in a package with recognition, and with that comes higher expectations from fans, so how is Telltale going to follow The Walking Dead?
To all of the thumb smashing fanatics, and on behalf of Telltale Games, I present to you their next installment: The Wolf Among Us, the adaptation of the Fables Comic. Like its predecessor, The Wolf Among Us is a dialogue centric episodic point and click adventure. Only this time, you will be involved with fable characters like the Little Mermaid and the Big Bad Wolf but with a mature twist.
To those who are unfamiliar with dialogue centric games, players will be in a series of conversations as the story unfolds, and the player's choice determines the outcome of each interaction. Each option varies in tone and motive. Every conversation in the game directs and redirects the story, so each player has a different journey based on the decisions they have made. Everything said or unsaid will be remembered by supporting characters, and this can potentially work in your favor or haunt you when critical moments of the story reveals itself. Telltale Games drives home the point that every choice, every action has a consequence.
All Telltale games are released in an episodic format at around five episodes for each game. Including the in-game cut scenes and actual gameplay, events run for about an hour and a half. Gamers usually like to binge their way through their favorite games. Still, an episodic release format accompanied by teasers that highlight the next episode creates anticipation that is only matched by watching your favorite television shows. The single downside is the wait between each chapter is a month-long. Still, the game offers excellent replay that includes different options to explore and an achievement list for the hardcore gamer if you haven't had the chance to start The Wolf Among Us then you aren't far behind because we are only on the second episode.
The second essential element of Telltale Games is the point and click gameplay, which provides a nice change up to the increasingly popular shooters and open sandbox games. The point and click mechanic is simple yet engaging. It makes the game environment come to life, whereas in other genres, the atmosphere just blends in with the action. Each area has icons that the player can click, and these icons represent items, puzzles, sights, or easter eggs that embellish and tie the whole experience together.
The Wolf Among Us places Bigby Wolf, formerly known as The Big Bad Wolf, center stage in a mystery crime thriller. He operates as Sheriff in Fabletown, a settlement for exiled fable characters located in the heart of New York City. Here, he keeps them safe from each other and the Mundies, also known as ordinary people. The story is set in motion when a decapitated head is placed in front of Fabletown's police headquarters. The homicide has Bigby run through a gauntlet of suspicion and unnerving encounters with a long list of characters: Snow White, Grendel, Beauty, Beast, Mr. Toad, the Little Mermaid, Ichabod Crane, Tweedledum, and Tweedledee.
The premise of The Wolf Among Us is promising, and it delivers through so far on its gameplay experience. It isn't the heart-wrenching tear-jerking thrill ride that The Walking Dead was, and that is a good thing, you want to recreate the same quality gaming experience, not the same experience. The Wolf Among Us is a noir-esque story laced with a grimy vibe. Like The Walking Dead, the graphics operate like it's straight out from the pages of the comic book. The mature twist to childhood characters, such as having the Little Mermaid work as a stripper, or Tweedledum and Tweedledee stand in as thugs for hire, enriches the experience by tapping into nostalgia from a different angle.
The Wolf Among Us is rated M for mature. You can purchase it on Steam or online on the other video game consoles. You can buy the game for $5 an episode or buy the entire season for $20. Look out for discounts on Steam. Telltale Games is picking up momentum with their more recent releases and has already announced two new projects: Tales From The Borderlands and Game Of Thrones.
