The Wolf Among Us
The Wolf Among Us is the latest video adventure game by the makers of The Walking Dead. Good news… it’s based on the Fables comic from Vertigo DC.
Fans of the ‘Fables’ comics series from DC Vertigo will be familiar with the background to The Wolf Among Us, the latest video adventure game from Telltale games. The background is that the fairytales are true. All the characters we know from myth, nursery rhymes, the Brothers Grimm and legend have had to escape their own kingdom following a horrific event to hide as secret immigrants in New York City. Snow White is Fabletown’s peacekeeping mayor, Rose Red is a good time party girl, the Frog (the one who got kissed by a princess) is a janitor and all the characters in Fabletown must co-exist with each other while hiding in plain sight from the mundies (which is how they refer to the ‘mundanes’).
In this noirish video game adaptation, Bigby – the Big Bad Wolf of Little Pigs and Red Riding Hood fame – is the sheriff of Fabletown, and a murder has landed on his doorstep. Telltale Games are making a name for themselves as creators of games where the big draw – apart from the luscious art – is the tough moral decisions you get to make as the player. Sure, there are some quicktime battles, but the gameplay in Wolf Among Us is pretty simple, mostly just checking things out and talking to people. For a game like this, focusing on the conversations and choices to make is perfect. The story enfolds around you, and as the sheriff of Fabletown you have to decide if you’re the kind of cop Little Red Riding Hood could take home to grandma or if it’s time to blow that little piggy’s house down.
The artwork of this atmospheric detective thriller sits really neatly with the original comic and the game’s atmosphere is moody, with plenty of shadows and neon. It’s the atmosphere and the story of the game that will win you over – there’s nothing like the same amount of nail-biting tension as there was in The Walking Dead, but when you’re dealing with broken New York fairytales, that’s probably a good thing. Like a poisoned apple, this game will get under your skin.
