Game Reviews

The Wolf Among Us - Episode 5, Cry Wolf

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The Wolf Among Us - Episode 5, Cry Wolf
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| The Wolf Among Us

The final chapter of The Wolf Among Us plays out exactly like any other episode in this first season.

It's sharply written in some scenes and totally engrossing in others, but it's also troubled, uneven, and ultimately dissatisfying.

First of all, we get the answer to the series-long murder mystery. And if you came into episode five hoping for some satisfying revelation into who killed Faith and Lilly, you're going to leave disappointed.

Few players will have figured out the killer's identity beforehand, seeing as no clues and no leads pointed to the real culprit during your investigation. And the murderer is simply outed in the middle of a conversation.

Sheep's clothing

Next up, it's fight scene time. These are extended quick-time events, with Bigby beating up pretty much every baddy in the game. As ever, these QTEs are painfully dull and limit your choices even further.

The best part of the episode is a showdown with The Crooked Man (even if it is largely cribbed from the finale of The Walking Dead), which plays out like an impromptu courtroom drama.

Here, your earlier decisions finally come into full focus. Bigby's previous indiscretions are used against him like weapons, with The Crooked Man arguing that the town's sheriff is no beacon of justice.

And as these really were your choices, you may feel a pang of guilt or shame as your crimes are used to undermine your credibility.

The tension rises as you feel the people of Fabletown start to lose faith in the wolf. Not that any of it makes a lick of difference, of course.

Overruled

Whether you make an airtight case for The Crooked Man's guilt or the villain successfully convinces the people of Fabletown that he should walk free, all the tension of the piece is sucked out when the case is closed up tight by a deus ex machina.

The final epilogue isn't much better. Choices are made for you, regardless of what you did earlier in the game. And while most of the series has been about the troubled relationship between Bigby and Snow White, there's no resolution to that story thread here.

And then it all wraps up with a twist ending that's so vague most players won't understand what it even means. The end. See you in season two, I guess.

I shot the sheriff

But, like every other episode, at least it was fun to be Bigby. To shape his character, choose his responses, and test his relationships with the other Fables.

And I think that's what I'll choose to take away from the game. When I look back at The Wolf Among Us I'll forget about the silly plot details, the pointless choices, the course-correcting narrative, and the dissatisfying resolutions.

Instead I'll remember the story of Bigby Wolf. Of a man who valiantly attempted to shed his "big, bad" image, and who did what he thought was best in difficult situations. Even if the world (also known as "Telltale's designers") rendered most of his choices moot.

His shoulders just aren't broad enough to hang a five-episode series on, though, and I'd struggle to recommend the entire season with any deal of enthusiasm.

But Bigby Wolf will certainly go down as one of my favourite characters of the year.

Not "the" Bigby Wolf, but "my" Bigby Wolf.

The Wolf Among Us - Episode 5, Cry Wolf

The Wolf Among Us wraps up with a final series of pointless choices, boring fight scenes, and dissatisfying conclusions
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Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer