The Wolf Among Us Episode 4 has just been released after a shorter wait of 1 month, shorter than the 4 month gap between the first and second episodes and the 2 month gap between the second and third. For those who missed the first parts of this review The Wolf Among us is a game developed and published by Telltale Games, best known for their The Walking Dead game and upcoming Tales From the Borderlands.
If you wish for a more in-depth review on the game as a whole check out the Review for the first episode, though I will reference some parts of that review in this one.
“This review contains spoilers from Episode 1, 2, 3 and possibly from Episode 4.”
Story
Episode 1 & 2 & 3:
From episode one, the game started off with our first encounter with the Woodsman, the head of Faith on our doorstep and the actions we as the player took along the way. Following the trail to the Trip Trap where we took into custody either Tweedle Dee or the Woodsman. Upon taking the captive back to the Woodlands he finds the head of Snow White on the doorstep and the Mundies investigating the area.
Episode two begins with the end of episode one and shows us a glimpse of what happened at the end of the last episode, with Bigby looking at the head of Snow white on the doorstep to the Woodlands apartments. After being taken in and being broke out we are sent off on our investigation once more as we interrogate the prisoner we got in the first episode and finding out that Snow was still alive. Leading us to the Open Arms Hotel at the end where we find out Ichabod Crane had been hiring Prostitutes and Glamouring them as Snow White, making him a primes suspect.
Episode three put us on the trail of Crane after we found his fetish dungeon in the Open Arms and possible involvement with the murder cases. After an interrupted funeral and investigating Crane’s Room, The Trip Trap and/or The Tweedles investigation office, Bigby finds Ichabod Crane in the Puddin and Pie trying to get answers out of the Prostitutes. The episode ended on Bigby getting shot at, him transforming, then being put down with a silver bullet which was one of Bigby’s major weaknesses.
Episode 4:
After being patched up once more, Bigby is visited by Narissa, the woman who gave him the key to the open arm hotel, who tries to help him in his case. Getting little out of the prostitute Bigby is called to Beaut and Beasts’ apartment where he finds out that beast also works for the Crooked man and follows two more leads. Choosing between visiting the Butchers Shop or the Pawn shop which are both fronted by The Crooked Man, Bigby confronts their owners and even the woodsman to get details and locations.
Following in suit with the previous episodes, Episode 4 will last around 2 hours on the first playthrough and around an hour for the second. Episode 4 follows a more investigative and conversational route, with Bigby only getting in one fight throughout the episode.
The diversity of the different styles of playthrough was again displeasing as there wasn’t much of a ripple effect from previous decisions, besides characters acting slightly different around you.
Gameplay
Episode 4 seemed rather dumbed down, with most of the gameplay in talking to people with a “Look at things until something happens” approach to moving the story along. You don’t feel as much in control as you did in the previous episodes which felt a bit disappointing.
The lag issues returned in this release, with jittering and lag reaching its peak during the battle scene and loading in times.
Overall Thoughts and Feelings
Episode Four felt a lot more laid back, in both its delivery and the music that sat behind it, there weren’t many times when the music jumped out at me, besides the fight scene. I would of loved to hear more music or more prominent songs in this episode but the songs on offer were too subdued to be heard.
Again the fighting took a dip, with one fight consisting over very few multiple choice attacks and little amount of button presses required.
Overall I would give The Wolf Among Us: Episode 4 a 3/5, it continues on the series but doesn’t add anything new and takes from the beginning experience too much. The choices made don’t seem to make too much of an impact and characters keep the same demeanour even if you were nice to them in previous episodes which brings you out of the immersion.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
