“The Wolf Among Us – Part 2, Smoke and Mirrors” – Telltale Games – Xbox 360, PS3, iOS, PC/MAC — $24.99 Season Pass, $4.99 Individual – Feb 4, 2014
Photo – “Georgie”
The second installment to “The Wolf Among Us” is just as brutal, gritty and interesting as the first portion and unveils even more jaw-dropping surprises than its predecessor. The ending will yet again leave you begging for the next installment.
How long can Telltale keep knocking games out of the park?
Bigby continues his investigation into the ongoing murders of “Fables” including the death of his companion Snow White. The biggest challenge I found was to keep my emotions in check and avoid making choices that I may regret later. There was a consistent temptation to bring out the full wrath of the wolf when different characters (especially Georgie), decided popping off was in their best interest instead of helping.
While this game is definitely not for children, the twisted take on the fairy tales that we all grew up on is something that continuously adds a shock factor that doesn’t go away. You would think that the 1980’s cop drama that Bigby is leading us through would find itself stale after awhile, but for an inexplicable reason that just makes it better. The soundtrack remains the same perfect mix of well-timed chords and mood setting music, and the controls still feel natural for the genre.
This game is dark, gritty, and captivating at every moment.
As the story has progressed watching Bigby and Snow realize that a lot of the problems faced by the Fables in the story are actually created by the bureaucracy that they work for adds another layer to the story that I’m sure will be fun to watch unfold. The continuous guessing games as you are trying to narrow down suspects and figure out just exactly what happened with to these poor people is another amazing part of the meta game that the writing naturally creates.
Truthfully there isn’t a ton left to say on the matter of this game. It is dark, gritty, and captivating at every moment. The short 2 hour spurts that it is being delivered in like its counterparts keeps everything fresh and leaves nothing to feel repetitive.
If you haven’t bought this on one of the thirty systems it’s available for you’re missing out. You won’t get a better value for $24.99 anywhere.