THE WOLF AMONG US EPISODE 5: CRY WOLF

ADDZ · Jul 14, 2014

THE WOLF AMONG US EPISODE 5: CRY WOLF

TELLTALE HUFFED AND IT PUFFED AND IT BLEW US ALL AWAY

Cry Wolf brings an end to the first - but unlikely to be last - season of Telltale's Fables prequel The Wolf Among Us, and it's about as satisfying and thrilling an end as we could have hoped for.

Picking up exactly where the penultimate episode left off, we're gifted an extremely worthy - and suitably cunning - final adversary in The Crooked Man. His right-hand woman Bloody Mary is one of the best new female characters I've encountered in a game for quite some time, owing chiefly to how single-mindedly evil she is. It was also a treat to finally encounter Bigby in his true form, and to have a nod, however brief, as to his distant origins. Be sure to check out The Book of Fables at the end of the episode for a more in-depth explanation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snjTY8TWrzI

While this is by far the season's most action-packed episode, it's also one of its most thoughtful. It begins with Bigby cornered and utterly outnumbered. You can choose to settle things with a bloodbath, but you're also free to take a more diplomatic path, and this is where all your past acts may come back to haunt you - or win you some sympathetic ears, if you were prone to acts of clemency. Cry Wolf references almost every decision players have made throughout the first season, while setting up some big new choices of its own.

Every scene feels justified and leads to a satisfying conclusion or confrontation, and the action sequences and QTEs feel well-placed and paced. It is a bit of a disappointment, given the chemistry Telltale has built up between her and Bigby, that Snow White barely features in this episode at all, whilst peripheral character are given more screen time. Mind you, that'll probably be addressed by the inevitable Season Two - we're already wracking our brains over what characters and themes we'd like to see expanded upon.

With The Wolf Among Us, Telltale proved that, following on from licensed turkeys like Back to the Future and Jurassic Park, its breakthrough series The Walking Dead wasn't just a fluke. The now-familiar formula of branching dialogue trees and QTE action sequences didn't always sit comfortably within the universe, but when it did, my, what great big moments it had. It got pretty hairy for a while there, but Fabletown's more than earned its happy ever after. For now, at least.

Source: totalxbox