![]() ![]() Among the threats and machismo, there’s one perfectly delivered gag that not only works as comedic semicolon but also reveals a great deal about his character. In confessional mode, The Woodsman is a key player in the episode’s finest scene, a dive bar conversation that bristles with the threat of violence. There are moments of exceedingly unpleasant violence right from the opening scene, but they offer more than shock value, helping to unwrap the mysteries as to who these characters really are, and how they are (mal)adjusting to their new lives. Both are tragic figures, with a more glorious past behind them, but the writing flickers happily between the serious and the ridiculous. The Woodsman, Bigby’s old nemesis, is far more interesting and, along with Mr Toad sans Toad Hall, demonstrates Telltale at their best. ![]() ![]() Concealed behind a veil, it’s a dark ‘something’, necessary to his cynicism and rough edges but unexplored. Bigby’s past life, as a mass murdering devourer of grannies, becomes his Chinatown. There’s no space or desire for an exploration of the wolf as nature’s red tooth or ferocious lust. Bigby Wolf (geddit?) is immediately relatable but also perhaps the least creative – despite his tendency to transform into his enormous animal form when enraged, he’s more of a borrowing from neo-noir than a reinterpretation of the Wolf. One of the Three Little Pigs, Colin, occasionally sleeps on the Wolf’s couch, figuring that he’s owed some hospitality considering what happened to his house of straw.Ī great part of the pleasure in both the comics and the game is derived from seeing old characters in new roles. He conducts his investigations on the mean streets and from his cupboard of an office, its dingy confines set into sharp relief alongside the TARDIS-like meeting room next door, an enormous space containing stacks of legendary artifacts, magically crammed into an apartment block. He looks human, like a cross between Wolverine and Philip Marlowe, and he’s the sheriff of Fabletown and the game’s protagonist here. When I first read the comics, I took the chain-smoking dishevelled Big Bad Wolf in my stride. Basic governmental functions assist them in their daily lives but many have struggled to adapt to the city and there are internal conflicts, political and personal. Most of them are living out their exile in New York, hidden from the eyes of the mundane world (humans are ‘mundys’) by glamours and other mind-clouding magic. The Fables are characters from fairytales, fiction and folklore who have been cast out of their homelands by the Adversary. The Fables concept is stupendously obvious, or at least it seems that way to someone who reads a lot of speculative fiction and has been known to spend a working day managing a dark elf sports team. Drawing heavily on the first (short) arc of the series, The Wolf Among Us introduces its weird world with confidence and style. As always with Telltale, the license can help or hinder as well, and the studio’s interpretation of Fables is a triumph. Whatever the medium, interactive or not, a story with strong writing, engaging characters and decent pacing is a fine thing to explore. Thankfully, Telltale’s tree is made of sturdy stuff. I mention all of this not because I want The Wolf Among Us to be something other than what it is but because it’d be unjust of me to spend so much of the week scowling at the Page and Cage show, and making snide comments about the full-screen adverts for Beyond: Two Souls on IMDB, without acknowledging that Telltale’s wolf is barking up a similar tree. A story, with a few QTE action sequences, dialogue choices that define the future relationships between Bigby and the rest of the cast, and (very) occasional larger choices. Few people would have expected multi-scene puzzles and an overstuffed inventory of nonsense, but it’s important to establish what The Wolf Among Us is. The Wolf Among Us continues down this path. Obstacles in later episodes tended to be solved by looking at every hotspot in a room and then picking a line of dialogue. Crossing the motel forecourt in episode one didn’t overly tax the brain but it was an extended sequence that required pauses for thought about the immediate consequences of any chosen action. My occasionally faulty memory reckons that the puzzles in The Walking Dead faded from episode to episode. The Wolf Among Us, adapted from DC Vertigo’s on-going Fables series, is another comic adaptation and, as with The Walking Dead, its creators care more for their characters than for puzzles or challenge. Or, in Telltale’s case, the sensible option is to provide more of the same. How do you follow The Walking Dead? At a slow pace and a safe distance, preferably while soaked in corpse juices and with intestines draped around your neck. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |