The Wolf Among Us Episode 3 has finally been released after short 2 months, shorter than the 4 month gap between the first and second episodes. For those who missed the first part 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 and possibly from Episode 3.”
Story
Episode 1 & 2:
From episode two, 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 3:
Starting straight after the discovery of Crane’s fetish and possible involvement with the murder cases, Bigby storms off out from the Motel and to the funeral of Molly’s sister’s funeral to find Snow and let her know what has happened and your suspicion of Crane, only to be interrupted by the Tweedle brothers and a fight ensues between the grievers and the brothers. After the fight, Bigby continues to look for Crane, having three places to choose between, with only having time for two, Crane’s Room, The Trip Trap and/or The Tweedles investigation office.
Like the first Two Episodes, Episode 3 is around 2 hours long, and around 1 hour for a second run of it. This episode feels even shorter than the first and second and isn’t as drawn out the short 2 month hiatus can be seen in the lack of things to do in this episode, as there are two very short fights and a lot more in the conversation and investigation side of things.
I continued with both of my saves, the good and the bad wolf, and was disappointed at the different paths you could take, either allowing you to keep money, punch a person or set a tree on fire… though the last was satisfying. The decisions from past episodes made hardly any appearance in this episode, besides if you were able to save Faith’s Husband or not.
Gameplay
Episode 3 continues on with the investigations and conversation orientated gameplay, with the conversations leading you to piece clues together and try and figure out who the mastermind is, requiring you to remember what characters are like and what motives they may have. The investigative part of this Episode is more a “pick and look” tactic as when you go to one of the three location you simple look around and investigate any object you can for clues and insight.
The lag issues that were found in the first two episodes seem to be non-existent in both of my playthroughs.
Overall Thoughts and Feelings
Episode Three felt lacklustre in the music department and again didn’t really stand out like the previous episode, either from reuse of songs or too quiet sounds. The score is still very well done, with appealing tunes and atmosphere matching themes and fits all together in one OST, when you notice them that is.
The fighting has also been lessened in this episode, with two fights consisting of very few button presses, the first only having about 4. While the last fight is flashier in its display and could be what fans were waiting for it still lacked the action it was hyping.
Like I said before the lag issues seem to have lessened in this Episode, but still lacks any function of fast forward to allow for faster replays. The option for interrupting speech is improved however as you can select a reply why someone is still talking and cut them off, but this can mean you miss out on valuable hints or information slipping by. There is also a lack of constant choice consequences in episode 2 as only 3 or 4 choices are persistent, though they are pretty well done when you notice them.
Overall I would give The Wolf Among Us: Episode 3 a 3/5, it is still a good part of the game as a whole but in my opinion it is the clear weak part of the series. It doesn’t add any more improvements and still contains a lot of the problems from the first two episodes. There is still a feeling of having little voice in the world as you are confined to 4 choices that don’t always represent what you want to say. Hopefully in the later episodes the choices we have made will make a bigger impact on the story as a whole and how people respond to us.
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.
