Regardless that Fables is an award-winning comic series, I'd never heard of it before TellTale Games released The Wolf Among Us. I'm sure that a large portion of people were, and are, in my position when it comes to that. Despite the acclaimed status of Fables, it's largely a cult success and not one of the more popular DC Comics/Vertigo publishings. I'm also sure that if The Walking Dead hasn't been put on TV prior to the TellTale Games release, many folks would've been unfamiliar with that comic as well. The Wolf Among Us is in so many ways different than anything that TellTale Games has released; in both the past and present. It's their grittiest, goriest, and most violent title to date.
For those of you like myself, who don't know what you're jumping in to with The Wolf Among Us and Fables, allow me to clarify from newfound experience. Fables puts a dark, blood-soaked spin on classic fairy tales, such as the Three Pigs, Snow White, and Little Red Riding Hood. It's the staple of the series, and it's something that TellTale have not forgotten in this video game adaptation. Set in the year 1986, nearly 20 years before the events of Fables, this title is a prequel; so you don't need any knowledge of the comic series to enjoy this game. In fact, you're off to a better start by playing this first, prior to reading.
You play as Bigby Wolf, the Sherrif of Fabletown, which is a hidden community of fairytale characters that's set within New York City. The characters hide in human form to mask their secrets. The game starts off when Bigby receives a call from Mr. Toad, leading to him saving a woman of the evening from his arch nemesis, the Woodsman. Soon afterwards, Bigby finds a decapitated head on a doorstep, and further clues reveals that the identity of the person is a woman named Faith; a Fable from Allerleirauh. Upon the discovery, the Deputy Mayor Ichabod Crane tells Bigby and Snow White to investigate the death, which is the beginning of copious amounts of detective work across five episodes.
The 80's spirit is alive and well within the graphical representation of this title. There are loads of neon colors present at nearly any given moment of the game, but primarily when you're outside; there's a fixation on purple and pink hues, however. It's such a behemothic dissimilarity to the soft pastels and generally monochromatic backdrops of TaleTell's massively successful Walking Dead series. That said, it's a greatly welcomed change of pace, and there's no other game that boasts quite the visual stimulation that The Wolf Among Us does; both with its neon lights and its grotesque amounts of comic gore and bloodshed. The characters and landscapes are still done in the signature cell shaded style that's so closely associated with comics in general.
Not only to be outdone visually, The Wolf Among Us opens up an entire new world of gameplay in the TaleTell series. Rather than following a linear chain of events, the player is tasked of playing a detective role. You must find and observe clues, and interrogate characters. If you ask wrong questions, or are generally rude to the cast, you may find your progress slightly hindered and you may raise even more questions rather than find answers. Even though it's a murder mystery, the title has a lot of quick time events and combat elements to keep it engaging, rather than letting it feel like another interactive story. There are even times where you will change into the big bad wolf himself, unleashing Bigby's true form. Gamers will control Bigby, and where he goes, while the story is told through cutscenes and many dialogue sequences.
I might also mention that as with most previous TellTale work, the voice acting is at the top of its game. Bigby sounds incredibly gruff and devoid of emotion with the exception of anger, and genuinely as though he's a person fueled by hatred. The rest of the characters have voices filled with appropriate emotions, and there's a ton of vulgar language to take in; another real first for the developer.
Though it's not as emotionally provoking as The Walking Dead series, The Wolf Among Us has an incredible tale that's just waiting to be dived into. The new gameplay elements mix well with older systems such as the "remember" mechanic, where the cast will remember your actions and conversations with them, to give the game a new yet familiar feel. The visuals are absolutely stunning, and a great deviation from TaleTell's prior works, and the vibrant colors work well with the 80's timeframe. If you're looking for an immersive detective story, especially one filled with copious amounts of gore, then you've come to the right place.
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