Why do people like The Wolf Among Us?
The Wolf Among Us has been given rave reviews by news outlets and mixed reviews by the community. Now with such differences in opinion, what do people like about The Wolf Among Us? The answers are quite simple if you yourself have played the game and enjoy it. For those who have never stepped into the shoes of the Big Bad Wolf, now’s the perfect time to become the beast and solve fairy tale murders.
The Premise
Now picture this, you are the big bag wolf, and you and your fellow compatriot fairy tale neighbors have been cast out unto the crime ridden streets of noire 1986 New York City by a powerful overlord. You have established a secret society and government to manage the fables in your community. Now get this, the Big Bad Wolf, who may I say isn’t the hero type in many children or pigs lives, is the sheriff of this community. One day after getting into a brawl with another fable you come back to your office to find the severed head of a fable you just spoke to only hours ago. It’s now up to you to solve this murder and maybe even some others along the way.
People love a good detective story, and pairing it with the familiarity of fairy tale creatures, means that people who usually don’t play story games or interactive games will want to join in. The selling point of the game pre-release was that fact that you are the Big Bad Wolf. A creature considered evil and shifty in fairly tale and folklore, has now been given the authority to track down and if need be, discipline unruly fables. How can that not sound interesting? The game itself is also based on the series of graphics novels titles ‘Fables’. They are very well written and add so much more depth to the fable universe. The game is actually a prequel to those series of novels. I warn you now, there are a lot of novels but they provide massive amounts of character growth and world exploration.
The Characters
Bigby Wolf, Snow White, and The Woodsman, the list goes on. The characters in The Wolf Among Us are what make the game so feel so natural. The characters all have a distinct personality to them and some of them borrow from their fairy tale stories. For instance, The Big Bad Wolf (who goes by Bigby Wolf) is a smoking, drinking and depending on your choices can be a hit first, talk later kind of guy. This character that they have written for him makes sense. The Big Bad Wolf isn’t use to this. He’s usually on the side of the unruly. Since given this responsibility he finds ways to cope and carry on in this new life.
Snow White is also the same way, in the game she is without her dwarves and is given the job of being the Fabletown assistant to the deputy mayor. She has had a tremendous amount of work laid on her shoulders and has become rather irate in the game’s story, but she still finds a way to look on the bright side and take charge. She’s a strong independent woman in a new life, and for her, life isn’t a fairy tale anymore. One more character who steals the show and adds some great diversity to the story is Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary serves as one of the main antagonists of the game. Her powers allow her to travel through mirrors and make quips that make us want to go into a full beast mode and destroy her.
The characters in the game are what make players come back. Each character has the potential of being the players favorite because the cast is so diverse. We all know their backstories and what they have been through. Some we can even relate to in some way. Telltale has adapted a story that gives these characters feelings that we can see, not just what’s on paper. Playing the game you’ll find out even more about these characters and meet some you may not even expect to be there. Interact with them and possibly even fight with a few to achieve the ultimate goal.
It’s Your Story
It’s a Telltale game. For those who don’t usually play Telltale games let me explain. Telltale games usually involve the player being able to make key decisions in the story that will have consequences later. It can be seen in their multiple story-driven games such as The Walking Dead & Game of Thrones. While the entire story will ultimately lead up to the same point, not to bash the games themselves, alon with the way you will be able to make some choices to change the story and how you play it. Some choices can be major, and some may be small. It’s great though that you, the player, getting some say in the story, does make the story feel more engaging and interactive. Feeling like your actually the Big Bad Wolf. Compelled to solve these murders and save the town.
Some choices will have characters praise you and some will have them hate you. You can be sure any choice you make will have an impact on the public opinion of Bigby Wolf. Not everyone is comfortable having the Big Bad Wolf being their sheriff. Some people won’t be happy to see you and depending on how you approach them, this could go one way or out a window. This is your story and you have some say in how it goes, be careful with this power you’ve been given. Be a hero and work with your people, or be the Big Bad Wolf everyone sees you as and get the information out of them, by any means.
Occasionally you will find yourself in a moment in the story that is filled with more feeling than anything else. Those tender moments that show you just how much feeling these characters have. Some moments will be sad, some moments will be happy, all will leave you with some feeling. These moments will be slow but that’s the point, these moments also incorporate your decisions made thus far. Allowing you to truly be apart and craft relationships with these fables, and paired with the art style of the games it also makes it as if your reading a fairy tale.
Being Bad
There are certain segments of the game where you will see the true powers of the Big Bad Wolf. Moments where push comes to shove and the wolf comes out to bite. Bigby Wolf may look human in appearance but with all the smoke and mirrors is the beast that has been portrayed in the various forms of stories and tales. Fight scenes are personally my favorite moments about this series. Flaring your fangs and putting the hurt on those that deserve it. Bigby can transform into 3 versions of the Big Bad Wolf. Bigby is one hell of a brawler, and it’s moments like these that show you why he was appointed sheriff in the first place. He’s a force of nature, born of the white wolf and the north wind. You are the Big Bad Wolf, and sometimes it’s good to be bad.
The simple answer is that The Wolf Among Us has a beautifully crafted story. With a lot of replay value, players can go back and make choices that maybe they didn’t make the first time. The game is usually what makes players turn their attention to the novels, which I highly recommend. They are a great read and are set 20 years after the events of The Wolf Among Us. They flesh out Fabletown so much and introduce many new characters and events that make The Wolf Among Us seem small in comparison, go check them out. The Wolf Among Us is that rare blend of story and game where sometimes we aren’t interested in duking it out with everyone in sight but instead want to see depth. Getting to explore this hidden universe and its characters while at the same time doing something that matters.
The Wolf Among Us started back in 2013 and just recently the second season was announced to arrive in 2018. Soon we’ll be able to see the return of some of our favorite characters in an all new story. You can find more about that here. Now’s the perfect time to go back and become the Big Bad Wolf again and avenge the deaths of your fellow fables. For those who have never played, give it a try, you may just find something you like.
