QCF: The Wolf Among Us-Episode 1

hen I was but a young Toast, I was not really into fairytales. Perhaps it was because I was more comfortable watching Saturday morning cartoons than Disney films about princesses and happily ever afters. Maybe it was because I couldn't read and was extremely afraid of dwarves, but either way it just wasn't my cup of tea. That is why it is so surprising that now thanks to the world created by Bill Willingham and the team at Telltale Games, I enjoy fairytales and folklore the way they were meant to be experienced. A world not unlike our own, filled with mysteries, crime and wolves disguised in sheeps clothing. Scary and mean wolves that chain smoke as they walk down the neon-lit streets of New York City.

It's no secret that the last Telltale game I played, The Walking Dead Season One was one of my favorite games last year. With the momentum of their last successful title, the developer decided to tackle the award winning comic series, Fables. After my impressions of the games demo at PAX Prime this past fall, I was very intrigued by this upcoming release. Similar to their take on The Walking Dead, Telltale has created a world based on the characters and settings of the comic with their own twist and parallel story lines. Not being familiar with the comic did not hinder my excitement to play the first episode, as I knew that the decisions that would be made in the chapters to come would shape a story that would take on a life of its own. Each interaction could potentially lay the foundation for an arching storyline that would be tailor-fit to my choices. As the main character of our tale, Sheriff Bigby Wolf arrived at a broken down tenement building in the South Bronx, the world and it's inhabitants began to take form.

The gameplay has expected similarities to games like The Walking Dead, where the player selects from several options via a dialogue wheel to interact with other characters. A timer will count down so the decisions are in the heat of the moment and cannot be thought upon for too long. These choices can shape Bigby as a character, whether it is the big bad wolf that blew the house down, or a former villain attempting to finally play nice. The action in the game is in the form of quick time events, involving the face and trigger buttons for attacking and the analog stick to avoid attacks. These moments are well executed, providing the right amount of tense maneuvers in combat without the hang ups that most quick time events are known for. Meeting new characters and developing relationships good or bad will also unlock entries into the Book of Fables, a handy reference to the world of Fables with terminology and characters relevant to the story. The Book of Fables was a great addition for any player that may not be familiar with the comics, or even the fairytales the story is based upon.

The episode plays out like a film noir set in the eighties, a gritty crime drama with an unusual cast of characters including Snow White, Beauty and The Beast. These fantasy mainstays blend in with regular human, or "mundy" communities with the use of a witch-brewed concoction known as glamour. A terrible act of violence shakes the community, and Bigby is tasked with sniffing out the trail. Finding clues and attempting to gather information, sometimes by force will fill in the parts of the tale, leading to another grizzly discovery before the episode concludes. It was a gripping experience, three hours of a fantastical tale that is only beginning.

Telltale once again creates a rich narrative, allowing the player to piece together how the story unfolds. The character of Bigby can be several things, friend and foe, hero and villain. I played through the introductory episode twice, to see how each avenue could be explored. So far this tale is not as depressing as what The Walking Dead was, but it is a grim blend of mystery and drama. The Wolf Among Us has the potential to eclipse one of last year's best games and does the source material justice. We at Press Pause Radio will once again review each episode as they become available, with the Games Club podcast to follow the finale.