The Wolf Among Us Episode 2 – Smoke and Mirrors Review
The Wolf Among Us (Telltale’s other current project) debuted with Chapter 1 in October, to decent reviews. Nearly 4 months later…yeah 4 months later…Chapter 2 is upon us. “Faith” ended on a pretty wicked twist. Spoilers, Snow White’s severed head is found on the steps of the Woodlands apt building. “Smoke and Mirrors” start off immediately where the Chapter 1 ends. You still play as Bigby and he is still investigating the murder of Lily, but now he’s investigating the murder of Snow White.
I’m not going to spoil anything in Chapter 2 but very big twists happen in the story very quickly and these twists are simultaneously shocking and confusing. At first the direction the story takes seemed very cheap and unnecessary. The reason for this is the player’s lack of familiarity with the world of Fabletown. As more details are revealed about the world the twists make more sense and the environment becomes much more realized. Like the first chapter, there’s little exposition explaining and the player must extrapolate alot of the narrative through context clues and logic. Its very hard to talk about Chapter 2’s specifics without spoiling it, and the details are better when actually experienced.
Overall Chapter 2 is a more cohesive story than it’s predecessor. Bigby’s actions and the places he visits seem more justified and flow with his investigation better. Its also very good to see The Wolf Among Us getting a personality of its own. Chapter 2 is an investigation much more than the first chapter. Evidence gets examined, questions are answered and conclusions are drawn. I haven’t played L.A. Noire, but Chapter 2 is how I imagine that game played out (at least according to how its been described to me). The trickle of information about the murders is fascinating enough to keep the players attention and substantial enough to be believable. Bigby isn’t making wild assumptions based on the evidence he finds and that’s refreshing.
Because of the investigative nature of the Chapter, the action is greatly toned down. There’s really only one action sequence and its placement seems a bit forced. Chapter 2 is more exciting than Chapter 1, but that excitement doesn’t come from action or fighting. It comes from the intrigue of the characters, setting and dialog. Speaking of the dialogue, most of it is fantastic. The interactions with the strip club owner Georgie, and the Little Mermaid are incredibly believable and, despite the lack of action, easily carry the story into its Act 3.
I don’t want to dwell on the delay between chapters, but it must be mentioned, as in the short term it really affects the effect of the story. The Walking Dead chapters were released 2 months apart and stayed on a pretty good schedule. 4 months is a long time to wait, and I found myself forgetting alot of the details of the Chapter 1. I eventually had to look up a synopsis to jog my memory. Had the recap at the beginning of Chapter 2 been better that probably wouldn’t have be an issue, but in the long run, after all chapters are out, this will be a non-issue. I’m sure the team is spread thin having to do Season 2 of The Walking Dead simultaneously, but here’s to hoping they can churn out the next 3 chapters at a quicker pace.
Chapter 1 was great but the world didn’t hook me, I thought it was good and really reminded me of The Walking Dead. The setting felt trite and uninteresting, and the characters looked like they would rely too much on their Fable-based counterparts. After Playing Chapter 2 I am full-on hooked. The twist at the end has me eager to dive back into the world of Fabletown and I want the Big Bad Wolf to start beating ass. I also hope that the series keeps this Cop-Drama direction. Its fun to dissect the crime scenes, and come to realizations when Bigby does.
Verdict: So far, so good, Telltale is staying the course on what looks to be a another solid title.
