Platform Played On: PC
 |
| "The Big Bad Wolf?" More like "The Big Emo Wolf!" Ha! Don't hurt me Bigby. |
Rating: 8.5/10
Verdict: The Wolf Among Us: Episode 3 is a return to stronger storytelling, like the first episode, but the lack of real gameplay will always be an issue for me in this type of game.
Since I have a terrible memory, I don't know what I said in my reviews for the previous episodes. They're all very similar so I'm sure I'll say similar things each episode... hell, I've probably said something like this before.
In Episode 3, you are still Bigby and you are still on the prowl. Like any good murder mystery, the plot thickened and now you've gotten a different lead. At the end of Episode 2, Bigby found a picture that he thinks proves Crane is the guy who murdered Lily... a woman that should be praised for her valiant services (she's a prostitute).
The pros and cons of The Wolf Among Us are on display once again, only this is a return to stronger storytelling than Episode 2, which I felt was still great but a bit of a letdown after the first. This series lives and dies by its plot and how it's told, and I have to admit that despite the little flaws, I have become engulfed by the twists and turns that this series brings.
Sometimes the voice acting is a little sub-par, and the mouths don't always line up to what is being said, but if you look past that minor issue there's a lot to like here. Episode 3 moved at a brisker pace than Episode 2, and it tried to add a sense of urgency to the proceedings by having a timer. It's not a big thing, but it's nice that they put it in there.
The plot is always intriguing, and even if the choices don't drastically alter the events, they still make a bit of difference and make you think about what you're saying. Will you be understanding as Bigby? Or will you go all-in, all the time, showing people why you're the Big Bad Wolf (despite him claiming he has changed). In fact, that whole sentiment looms over your actions as Bigby, constantly gnawing away at you.
Maybe you want to be a mixture of both. Maybe you want to be nice to Snow White because you want Bigby to get with her, which I'm guilty of. The point is, regardless of what choices you make, something interesting always happens afterward. These are great interactive movies, and the premise of Fables is always going to be interesting. Luckily, Telltale has done a good job with it.
Though it didn't have the cliffhanger that the first episode had, it probably had a better narrative. If that's all you want from a game, you can rate this higher than an 8.5. However, a game is still a game to me, and if a game doesn't have compelling gameplay, I hesitate to give it an extremely high mark. Episode 3 simplifies the detective elements even more than the first episode did, and because of that it's a weaker conventional game.
The gameplay still amounts to watching it, making a couple choices, and then walking around a room looking at everything that is clearly indicated. When I did end up getting in a fight, I was able to choose a couple different things to do while in the heat of combat. The series has done this since episode one, and I appreciate it, but it's nothing new at this point. What made this particular fight the most memorable moment of the series for me was the build up and the aftermath (which I made possible by my choices). It is moments like that that The Wolf Among Us is at its best.
But don't get it twisted: The Wolf Among Us is one of the best video game stories going right now. A lot of larger games pale in comparison. This isn't a series that you can turn into a first-person shooter, nor do I want it to be another addition to that stale genre, but it's an adventure game with very little adventure so adding more elements of that -- like fleshing out the detective parts -- would be welcomed by me.
No comments:
Post a Comment