You should totally buy The Wolf Among Us

[Gizmo1990]

I made but one mistake. Buying it before all episodes were released. I hate cliffhangers and as i have read alot of Fables over the years the ending was a big mind fuck for me.

On the plus side, having played it I am now no longer angry that they are making this instead of more Monkey Island.

 

[IGetNoSlack]

The ending to Episode 1 is a terrible, intelligence insulting, and needless attempt to raise the stakes.

Spoiler

Snow dies. WTF? That completely disregards the source material! Snow is one of the main characters in the comics! You don't kill off important characters in a prequel, it makes no sense!

Anyway, GOTY? So far, no. It's great, not as good as TWD. Partially because of the aforementioned botched ending.

Also, it's a point and click adventure game. They are, actually, a vital part of our medium's history, and they shouldn't be taken lightly because "they have bad gameplay." (They don't. "Bad" is an entirely subjective term.) Don't like it, don't play it.

However, keep this in mind: "gaming" is a frighteningly broad term.

That being said, TWAU is a major (performance-wise) improvement over TWD. It also seems like they improved the manner in the player-character walks, which was one of my main complaints about TWD. (Argh, Lee, why u move so slow and choppy?)

 

[Daystar Clarion]

The ending to Episode 1 is a terrible, intelligence insulting, and needless attempt to raise the stakes.

Spoiler

Snow dies. WTF? That completely disregards the source material! Snow is one of the main characters in the comics! You don't kill off important characters in a prequel, it makes no sense!

Anyway, GOTY? So far, no. It's great, not as good as TWD. Partially because of the aforementioned botched ending.

Also, it's a point and click adventure game. They are, actually, a vital part of our medium's history, and they shouldn't be taken lightly because "they have bad gameplay." (They don't. "Bad" is an entirely subjective term.) Don't like it, don't play it.

However, keep this in mind: "gaming" is a frighteningly broad term.

That being said, TWAU is a major (performance-wise) improvement over TWD. It also seems like they improved the manner in the player-character walks, which was one of my main complaints about TWD. (Argh, Lee, why u move so slow and choppy?)

Ironic you call it intelligence insulting, because if anything, given by what you've put in the spoiler, there's more to this twist than meets the eye.


So yes.

Quite ironic indeed.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

And not even a review by the escapist

If the rest of the series ends up being the same quality, I may have already found my GOTY here folks, you should really check it out.

When is the rest coming out? TBH I'd rather wait until the whole game is out before I give it a go.

No clue, but I assume it's the same release cycle as TWD, releasing episodes periodically over a number of months.

Honestly, it's worth playing it now. Gives you something to think about between episodes, some down time is always good, you get to savour it more that way.

 

[Phrozenflame500]

Snow dies. WTF? That completely disregards the source material! Snow is one of the main characters in the comics! You don't kill off important characters in a prequel, it makes no sense!

I sort of agree on this part. I've never read the comic before, but they shouldn't do something that so clearly will have to be undone to preserve canon. I'd have preferred if they declared the whole thing non-canon so they could have more creative freedom with the setting and maybe have this make a bit more sense.

That being said, I second Daystar. The first episode really impressed me, although that may just be because I'm a sucker for the noir genre.

And it really seems like a noir story, with a noir plot with the more fantastical "it's magic" elements downplayed or used to conceal things from the player. Unlike TWD, where the whole plot revolves around how you treat Clementine and how you decide to raise her in a zombie-infected world, TWAU seems to want to put you in the place of the standard noir detective.

You're a man with a damn nice tie with a dark past and little social connections, you're highly trained and can easily take anyone down in a straight-on fight but you can't do that without alienating everybody and making your job harder. You're in an unfair classiest society where you need to solve a murder mystery while dealing with a useless bureaucracy and a lower-class which hates you for associating with them. What do you do? Are you a by-the-book cop who follows the law no matter what, a thug who threatens and maims to get what he wants or a smooth-talking charmer who only resorts to violence when he absolutely has too.

It follows TWD's formula of "the dialogue is the gameplay, with a few puzzles", and while the action sequences have been improved with the use of the WASD keys it's still the same alternating between mashing Q/E and aligning your cursor with circles. If you're looking for an action game you won't find it here. There are short detective segments where you need to work out what happened, but most of the time you failing generally just makes you feel like a dumbass and may penalize what other people think of you.

Overall, if you're looking for a really damn good story with a unique setting I'd recommend it especially if you liked TWD. Of course if you're one of the "it's not really a game I'm not doing anything" guys you may want to step out of this one.

 

[Smiley Face]

My brother and I both got quite a kick out of Episode 1 - and, being strangers to the comics, the universe was quite well-presented and compelling. It doesn't have the emotional kick of The Walking Dead, but then it doesn't have to to be good (and I don't know whether that'd be appropriate to the source material or characters involved). I really love the aesthetics they're going with, visually and music-wise, and I like the detective in a small community sensibility of the story. Really looking forward to the next one.

The ending to Episode 1 is a terrible, intelligence insulting, and needless attempt to raise the stakes.

Spoiler

Snow dies. WTF? That completely disregards the source material! Snow is one of the main characters in the comics! You don't kill off important characters in a prequel, it makes no sense!

Anyway, GOTY? So far, no. It's great, not as good as TWD. Partially because of the aforementioned botched ending.

Ironic you call it intelligence insulting, because if anything, given by what you've put in the spoiler, there's more to this twist than meets the eye.


So yes.

Quite ironic indeed.

As I often miss things like this, I like to try every now and again to make sure that important points aren't missed in subtle jibes, so my apologies to anyone to which the following addendum seems unnecessary and perhaps uncouth.

To be more blunt, given that Telltale's made pains to say that the series will conform to canon, perhaps you should think past your knee-jerk 'WTF just happened, I now hate this' reaction and consider possible ways that the ending might be able to conform to canon.

Spoiler: For example, what I managed to think of after about 10 seconds:

Both of the heads were fakes, probably magical. After all, people don't go looking for missing persons if everyone thinks they're dead.

That's just a guess from someone who hasn't read the comics, but I think it's an overreaction to condemn Telltale for wanting to rattle fans of the comics out of the complacency that the characters they know and love will be fine, even if the means they use to rattle you is a somewhat obvious fake-out.

 

[Windcaler]

Ive only had experience with TellTales Walking dead and wolf among us so I dont know what their past experience is with game development. That said, with two series turning out so similar I think Im ready to put them in the same position as David Cage in the sense that I dont believe these are games so much as they are interactive movies. That said they tell great and immersive stories but thats not going to be enough for everyone.

That said, my big criticism with Wolf among us is you cant really explore the characters or the city at your leasuire. In walking dead it made sense to keep things to a confined area but you could still explore to a reasonable degree. Wolf is just way to linear IMO because it takes away the ability to explore interesting places that are key points of the story as well as just chat up some of the various characters to see how theyre doing in this world. Maybe this will change in future episodes but right now I think this is a major weakness of the game when your dealing with such a rich background

If people want a good interactive movie, yeah its great and worth a buy. However its got its issues if someone wants more then that

 

[IGetNoSlack]

To be more blunt, given that Telltale's made pains to say that the series will conform to canon, perhaps you should think past your knee-jerk 'WTF just happened, I now hate this' reaction and consider possible ways that the ending might be able to conform to canon.

Spoiler: For example, what I managed to think of after about 10 seconds:

Both of the heads were fakes, probably magical. After all, people don't go looking for missing persons if everyone thinks they're dead.

That's just a guess from someone who hasn't read the comics, but I think it's an overreaction to condemn Telltale for wanting to rattle fans of the comics out of the complacency that the characters they know and love will be fine, even if the means they use to rattle you is a somewhat obvious fake-out.

This was my thinking. Well, except for the first head. That, to me, seems legitimate. And if if isn't then they've got me fooled.


I just think that there were multiple points immediately prior to this particular incident, that could've made for a better ending that would've raised the stakes even better than what they eventually went with.

 

[Tanakh]

Long story short, if you like mysteries, liked The Walking Dead, or like Telltale games in general, you should really pick it up, the voice acting is superb, the visuals are gorgeous, the mechanics are refined from TWD games, and overall I really enjoyed the 2 hours or so I spent with the first episode, and I wasn't expecting the way it ended, which is a good thing.

Damn you Daystar... I loathe to play Telltale games in general, didn't gave a rat ass about TWD (game or series, somewhat liked the comic), like a mystery or two here and there but absolutely LOVE Fables....

Guess I might pick it up on a sale or as a present for a female friend.

 

[Marik2]

Will just wait for the whole package to come out as usual. Saw The Walking Dead complete game for $20 and trying to save up for that.

 

[Gill Kaiser]

I was already familiar with his story, but I wish they'd given more backstory on Bluebeard for those people who didn't know about him. The killings are so obviously his MO, but Bigby keeps mentioning him without explaining why he would even be a suspect.

 

[Mikeyfell]

After watching TB's review (he did complete the first episode), it's just seems to be a purely cinematic experience paring with non-existent gameplay. This is a major deal breaker for me, I don't play games to watch as I could watch a Let's play instead.

Goty? Doubtful, a game without any significant gameplay isn't a game. Ever since Dear Esther we're seemed to be getting more and more excuses for a game.

Don't think about the gameplay in terms of what you're mechanically or kinesthetically doing.
The Wolf Among Us (And The Walking Dead game from last year, which DID win GOTY) is a Roll Playing Game in the truest sense of the word.
Your actions have a real effect on the game world, to the point where any 2 random playthroughs will be very different. And if this is anything like Walking Dead those differences will trickle down into the next episodes. By the time you get to the last one it's completely possible for two different players will have unrecognizable experiences.

The flip side being you, me and 1000 other people could all play Grand Theft Auto 5 and have the exact same experience as watching a Let's Play video.

Watching someone else play this particular game won't cut it. (You may just not like point and click style games, which is fine) The point of Telltale games is to watch a narrative that you have an impact on unfold.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

I'd say, if I had to criticize it for something(And this is just based on me watching an LP), it'd be that the mystery has so far been kind of mundane in that you could substitute most of the things in the game for a mundane real world solution and it wouldn't change much.

Don't get me wrong though, I know part of the good about the game is that it has characters from fables in the real world, but at the same time... I don't know, it's really not anything major anyway, it's been good so far.

 

[mad825]

Games are an interactive medium.

Can you interact with The Wolf Among Us? Yes?

Then it's a game.

Way to go to simply things daystar like you always do. Films can be interactive, does it makes them a game?
-------

Don't think about the gameplay in terms of what you're mechanically or kinesthetically doing.

Even if that was true, it doesn't do it well. And I would go as far to say it's at Mass Effect's level of competency where your choices only gives you a different flavour of the same ice cream scoop - the illusion of choice.

Having recently being gifted this game by my friend because he apparently had money to burn(or couldn't spend it on booze) I had the joys of playing it.

Spoiler: case in point spoiler

Faith, you're given a choice to give her money or not. For those who did give Faith the money...

It was a pre-emptive dick move to give you that kind of a choice then have her killed off regardless. It almost seemed like chekhov's gun.

...I feel as if this clip is relevant to this game.

Just as you're developing a story arch with Snow....She dies.

The QTEs, oh god, the QTEs. This is bad enough with David cage making this his core gaming mechanic, the person behind this idea especially for a game with the PC in mind should be euthanised. QTEs is not a good mechanic and they have never been good. They do not add to gameplay.

To break your analogy, the results, the end for Wolf is always the same but the means are slightly different. For any let's player, a sandbox/adventure type style is always the hardest to do simply because the entertainment factor is highly dependent on the personality, creativity and imagination. Without it they would be making a Walk-though instead but the player control freedom that's given to them allows them to create an entirely different experience.

When a game like Blade Runner (point and click adventure game) which was released in 97 has better and more diverse gameplay mechanics which can yet tell a story I have to point fingers.

By no means am I saying that this game is bad, it's good and enjoyable but it doesn't deserve the raves and hypes that people are giving it, it doesn't really deserve what you're trying to parrot. Is it worth it's price point? I feel as if it depends whether you have the patients of Mahatma Gandhi or the Dalai Lama.

The Wolf Among Us (And The Walking Dead game from last year, which DID win GOTY) is a Roll Playing Game in the truest sense of the word.
^cringeworthy

For one Spike VGA is nothing special and RPGs are not just one mechanic.

 

[Bertylicious]

One of the things I loved about TWD, aside from the amazing characters that made me feel like a real surrogate father in a perilous situation, was the sadness porn. Would I be right in assuming that TWAU is more secrets porn?

Also, are the characters as well written as those from TWD? I demand emotional attachment!

 

[Daystar Clarion]

One of the things I loved about TWD, aside from the amazing characters that made me feel like a real surrogate father in a perilous situation, was the sadness porn. Would I be right in assuming that TWAU is more secrets porn?

Also, are the characters as well written as those from TWD? I demand emotional attachment!

The characters are written really well, and while it may not be as sad as TWD, I found myself liking a number of characters almost instantly.

 

[hermes]

I will probably get it down the line. I really liked most of the games of telltale...
But I am waiting for a season pass. So far, I can only buy one episode at the time, I hope this gets fixed soon.

 

[ERaptor]

Nah. I'll wait til all Episodes are out, or at least a few, and then watch a Let's play of the thing. A movie where i can occasionally choose a direction just isnt worth 20$ to me. I need some actual stimulating Gameplay to lay down the money. But as it stands, the Gameplay is just in the way. I never felt there was a need for all the walking around etc. if the "Puzzles" can be solved by a trained monkey with brain damage.

They should either improve the interaction, or make the whole thing into a series instead of a game.