The Wolf Among Us

That was then and this is now…

The Vertigo imprint of DC Comics prints more adult non superhero type of comics like John Constantine and Sandman. Another comic book series they published was called Fables. Telltales Games has adapted this series into a chose your own adventure type of game, where your in game choices will effect the outcome of the story. Fables (and this game) revolves around, you kind of guessed it, Fairy Tales. However, it is a more realistic and modern look on these characters because they no longer live in fantastical landscapes or castles. In the real world they have to do whatever they can to scrape by. Most of the Fables reside in the Grimm streets of New York City, in a place called Fabletown where living happily ever after is far from reality.

The characters that populate this world come from every fairy tale imaginable. From the classics like Snow White to the flying monkey from Oz. Even mythical legends like the Jersey Devil has a place in Fabletown. One of the charms of the game is seeing how they all fit within the larger story. You play through the game as Bigby Wolf. In the old lands you were know as the Big Bad Wolf that wanted to eat Little Red Riding Hood. That was then and this is now. With the residents of Fabletown now living in the real world, new rules needed to be established, and in the present time you are the sherif of Fabletown. You are charged with taking care of problems as they arise with the Fables. Even in this new world Fables are hard to kill, not impossible, but hard to kill. Because of this truth there hasn’t been a murder in Fabletown in a very long time. That fact has now changed and as the sherif it is your job to get to the bottom of this rabbit hole. To deliver justice to the fallen Fables.

Above all else the two biggest things the game has going for it is the visual style and the story telling mechanics. The characters are beautifully rendered and animated. The game is basically a living breathing comic book with it’s vibrant colors and artistic style. The voice actors deliver great performances solidifying your experience and choices. You can’t help but be sucked into the story. I was invested in the characters right from the start. When a certain something happened in the game (No Spoilers) I was effected. I even verbally expressed my reaction to the event. That doesn’t happen very often from me. This type of story telling is engaging because ironically you are not just reading a story. Your in the middle of it, your actions change things that are yet to unfold, and some choices have larger consequences.

You can also say that Telltales Games is now another unique company on the same level as Traveller's Tales (TT Games), the makers of the Lego games. They can now give any franchise the Telltales treatment, which they have with Batman, The Walking Dead, and Borderlands to name a few. Between the mechanics, the art, the atmosphere, and world building I really enjoyed this game. So much so, that I not only look forward to other Telltale games told in this style, but now I kind of want to go hunt down this Fable Comic Book series.