4.5/5 ★ – clunkymechanics's review of The Wolf Among Us.

Completed: January 27 2021 Time to beat: 9 Hours Platform: PlayStation 4 Recommended by @MattieWitty Baby's first Telltale game and I absolutely adored it. I have always been turned off of Telltale games specifically due to the content - nothing about Batman, The Walking Dead, or Disney Princesses excites me, so as a starting place these franchises seemed so far out of my wheelhouse. After a bit of coaxing and a couple mentions of the word "noir" however, Mattie talked me into playing The Wolf Among Us. Film Noir is one of my favourite genres, I can't really put a finger on why other than I am a sucker for a dark and brooding tone with an interesting layer of mystery. The Wolf Among Us absolutely nailed this tone. Games like L.A. Noire, Grim Fandango, and Killer 7 have all tried to capture this but something about the genre falls a little flat when contrasted against the inevitably goofiness of a video game. The Wolf Among Us allows the player just enough control to feel like they are truly navigating the situation, however not enough control to allow the player to make the story less serious than intended (ahem, L.A. Noire VR edition...) Dialogue in this game got absolutely heated, I never find myself playing the 'bad cop' in games like this but I couldn't help but pick the rude option from time to time because to be honest, the characters in this game are absolute dicks and I love it. The overall narrative was pretty cut and dry for a crime thriller, and then the last 2 minutes of the game happened. Those last two minutes boosted my personal enjoyment of the game tenfold. Like any good noir the conclusion leaves you hanging just a tiny bit, never fully clearing the mystery. It is interesting because I watched the film "Under The Silver Lake" recently which absolutely drove me insane for its lack of clarity in the ending, The Wolf Among Us however leaves the perfect tidbit of unknowingness, not enough to be frustrating but enough to make you think. The only issue I had with this game was the camera controls sometimes felt very dated. Like the classic Resident Evil games the camera is often fixed from a third person perspective and you control your character while moving through a static space. The controls felt very awkward at times and simple sequences led to more irritation than I would have liked. Luckily segments are super short so nothing was too painful for too long. In sum, I cannot wait for The Wolf Among Us 2. I totally get the hype now.