The Wolf Among Us – Episode 4: In Sheep's Clothing Review
29 May 2014 | By Chris Capel
Telltale's Fables series reaches its penultimate episode
I get the feeling Telltale have been waiting to use the episode title In Sheep's Clothing since they decided on Bigby Wolf as the main character of their Fables series, so I'm glad they've got that out of their system. That said if the next episode is called "Will The Wolf Survive" or "I'm Hungry Like The Me" it'll get a zero. Anyway, silly titles aside the penultimate episode of The Wolf Among Us is here, which means "not the last episode, the last episode before the last episode". The season has generally been excellent so far despite a bizarrely long wait for the second episode, so let's hope Episode 4: In Sheep's Clothing (ugh) continues that trend.
As usual, I won't spoil anything for episode 4 but here's a quick catch-up of the plot so far. I'll sum up the whole season in the final episode's review so feel free to skip this if you're not up to date. Put simply, bad stuff is going down in Fabletown. Things haven't been great since the storybook characters were forced from the Homelands to our world's New York City, but things are worse than ever. While investigating a couple of hideous murders Sheriff Bigby Wolf thought he'd found the perpetrator in Deputy Mayor Ichabod Crane, only to discover that the murders and Crane's dealings were only a front for a secretive Fable called The Crooked Man who's planning something big, and Bigby nearly pays for this information with his life.
Episode 4 opens with Bigby having silver bullet pieces pulled out of him by Fable doctor Swineheart, and a rather gruesome scene in which Bigby re-sets his jutting near-severed arm. Which of course is interactive via quick-time event. Between this and The Walking Dead (remember Lee's arm-hacking-off scene?) Telltale seem to be doing their damnedest to make me faint. At the very least I can say that Episode 4 opens with a bang, alongside some wonderful conversations and dialogue with plenty of character-based choices in it, so we're off to a great start.
Telltale continue to get the Fables world and characters perfect, but then they do with every license they acquire (seriously, I can't wait for Game of Thrones). From classic comic characters like Bigby, Beauty and the Beast, and Snow White to brand new ones like the Tweedles, Nerissa (the ex-Little Mermaid), the Woodsman or the vicious Bloody Mary, they all feel like real people with hopes, wants and fears. If I have one small complaint on the character side though I feel that Telltale are kinda pushing it with the idea of what a Fable is - I thought they were all meant to be from fairytales or ancient stories, not just characters from novels. Mr Toad and the Tweedles worked, but I think new character Tiny Tim (who only has a short appearance here) crosses a line. The Homelands are supposed to be devoid of any modern life and they've never seen guns or cars, and while A Christmas Carol doesn't feature them they certainly exist in that world. But that's a comic fan's nitpick, so you can probably ignore it.
If I'm going to criticise the episode itself then, it'll be because of length (story of my life - actually no it's not, ask my wife). Episode 2 received some criticism because it felt short even for a Telltale episode as it could be finished in around an hour, and after such a long wait it felt like Telltale were taking the piss. I'm sad to say that while the wait was shorter In Sheep's Clothing can also be finished in equally short a time. These aren't complicated games, you probably won't die even in the tricky QTE sections and there aren't any really any tough puzzles, so the length is determined just by content rather than challenge. And Episode 4 is rather lacking in content. Not that there's nothing here - there's several new locations and characters and the plot is really beginning to grow more desperate and exciting - but it's not enough to stop the episode being over in a flash. I thought there was going to be a chat and an action-packed escape right at the end (no spoilers) but it just fades to a rather non-committal "next time on...".
It's the choices that matter of course with a Telltale game, and while there are a lot of nice character beats where you have to take sides and some lovely morally-dubious actions that could bite you back later Episode 4 seems to be missing some of the bigger decisions. Episode 3 was a highlight for The Wolf Among Us in that respect, with a major choice moment featuring three locations that would change depending on which you went to first. Episode 4 attempts the same thing again, but with only two locations. I still got excited as the game suggested that whichever one I went to the other might become totally useless or even get eliminated, but I seemed to see everything regardless. I'd have to play the episode again to find out what difference choosing the other location would make, but if there's no obvious consequences for actions there's no fun. I just hope Beauty & Beast (who each gave me a location) receive some trouble for ratting out the Crooked Man. Apart from these though the choices seem somewhat tame, including one major one that for me was just "lighting a cigarette". Er, great.
As usual, I won't spoil anything for episode 4 but here's a quick catch-up of the plot so far. I'll sum up the whole season in the final episode's review so feel free to skip this if you're not up to date. Put simply, bad stuff is going down in Fabletown. Things haven't been great since the storybook characters were forced from the Homelands to our world's New York City, but things are worse than ever. While investigating a couple of hideous murders Sheriff Bigby Wolf thought he'd found the perpetrator in Deputy Mayor Ichabod Crane, only to discover that the murders and Crane's dealings were only a front for a secretive Fable called The Crooked Man who's planning something big, and Bigby nearly pays for this information with his life.
 |
| AAAAAAOOooooohhh (faints) |
Episode 4 opens with Bigby having silver bullet pieces pulled out of him by Fable doctor Swineheart, and a rather gruesome scene in which Bigby re-sets his jutting near-severed arm. Which of course is interactive via quick-time event. Between this and The Walking Dead (remember Lee's arm-hacking-off scene?) Telltale seem to be doing their damnedest to make me faint. At the very least I can say that Episode 4 opens with a bang, alongside some wonderful conversations and dialogue with plenty of character-based choices in it, so we're off to a great start.
Telltale continue to get the Fables world and characters perfect, but then they do with every license they acquire (seriously, I can't wait for Game of Thrones). From classic comic characters like Bigby, Beauty and the Beast, and Snow White to brand new ones like the Tweedles, Nerissa (the ex-Little Mermaid), the Woodsman or the vicious Bloody Mary, they all feel like real people with hopes, wants and fears. If I have one small complaint on the character side though I feel that Telltale are kinda pushing it with the idea of what a Fable is - I thought they were all meant to be from fairytales or ancient stories, not just characters from novels. Mr Toad and the Tweedles worked, but I think new character Tiny Tim (who only has a short appearance here) crosses a line. The Homelands are supposed to be devoid of any modern life and they've never seen guns or cars, and while A Christmas Carol doesn't feature them they certainly exist in that world. But that's a comic fan's nitpick, so you can probably ignore it.
If I'm going to criticise the episode itself then, it'll be because of length (story of my life - actually no it's not, ask my wife). Episode 2 received some criticism because it felt short even for a Telltale episode as it could be finished in around an hour, and after such a long wait it felt like Telltale were taking the piss. I'm sad to say that while the wait was shorter In Sheep's Clothing can also be finished in equally short a time. These aren't complicated games, you probably won't die even in the tricky QTE sections and there aren't any really any tough puzzles, so the length is determined just by content rather than challenge. And Episode 4 is rather lacking in content. Not that there's nothing here - there's several new locations and characters and the plot is really beginning to grow more desperate and exciting - but it's not enough to stop the episode being over in a flash. I thought there was going to be a chat and an action-packed escape right at the end (no spoilers) but it just fades to a rather non-committal "next time on...".
 |
| Nothing weird happening here |
It's the choices that matter of course with a Telltale game, and while there are a lot of nice character beats where you have to take sides and some lovely morally-dubious actions that could bite you back later Episode 4 seems to be missing some of the bigger decisions. Episode 3 was a highlight for The Wolf Among Us in that respect, with a major choice moment featuring three locations that would change depending on which you went to first. Episode 4 attempts the same thing again, but with only two locations. I still got excited as the game suggested that whichever one I went to the other might become totally useless or even get eliminated, but I seemed to see everything regardless. I'd have to play the episode again to find out what difference choosing the other location would make, but if there's no obvious consequences for actions there's no fun. I just hope Beauty & Beast (who each gave me a location) receive some trouble for ratting out the Crooked Man. Apart from these though the choices seem somewhat tame, including one major one that for me was just "lighting a cigarette". Er, great.
THE WOLF AMONG US – EPISODE 4: IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING VERDICT
Despite the acting, music, and graphics teams doing their bang-up jobs, and the storyline taking some interesting turns toward an epic finale, Episode 4 of The Wolf Among Us was more than a little unsatisfying. Yes the writing’s great but there’s not enough content here, nor were there any choices that felt like they truly mattered or were shaping the plot. I’m excited about the final episode, but it’s sad that after a stellar episode each from Telltale of The Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead both series were followed up by a slightly disappointing episode. I admit I’m far more invested in Fables so I’m waiting with baited breath and hopeful for a big finish. And to end this review here’s a conspiracy theory for you: much like how The Walking Dead doesn’t necessarily mean the zombies… I don’t think The Wolf Among Us is referring to Sheriff Bigby Wolf. Dun dun dunnn.
TOP GAME MOMENT
The fight with the Jersey Devil. Pretty damn creepy design, that guy.
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