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The Wolf Among Us Episode 2: Smoke and Mirrors Review for PC

The Wolf Among Us Episode 2: Smoke and Mirrors Review for PC

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

Episode 2 of Telltale’s The Wolf Among Us is a bit of a departure from the standard Telltale mold. It’s not about making serious choices that alter the game world, although that does happen. It’s not about quick time events and action sequences, although that does happen too. Heck, it’s not even about rubbing items against each other and the environment until suddenly puzzles are solved in classic adventure game style… that doesn’t happen so much.

Instead, Episode 2: Smoke and Mirrors is more of a “press your luck” detective simulator. As Bigby Wolf, you can very easily throw your weight around. Got someone tied up in an interrogation room? Smash his face in all you like! You are a powerful supernatural force of nature that can live through a bullet and tear down walls with your bare hands. That’s just who you are.

The question is, how much force do you use to get what you want? Continually beat up a suspect and he may just shut down, thinking that no amount of squawking will get him set free. Go soft and people will walk all over you, keeping secrets from you and basically telling you to f@!< right off for being unable to be tough enough to do the job. Yes, Bigby’s job needs to be handled with finesse, sometimes compassionate, sometimes tough, sometimes not even getting involved.

This is the main gameplay conceit of Episode 2 , trying to find the balance between being a violent hardass and a passive sleuth. You’d think that would be easy, but The Wolf Among Us manages to put you into plenty of hard situations.

The Wolf Among Us Episode 2: Smoke and Mirrors Screenshot

Now, we are going to try our best not to spoil the episode for you, so we will only speak in generalities here. Here are some examples of situations you’ll be put in in The Wolf Among Us Episode 2 . You’ll have to decide how hard you want to press a traumatized kid for facts after he may have witnessed a murder. You’ll have to decide whether or not to side with his father when he becomes upset at his kid for even witnessing the act in the first place. You’ll have to decide whether to side with your asshole boss or a common thug when it comes to interrogating someone, whilst simultaneously making sure that someone doesn’t clam up. You’ll need to work your way around confidentiality agreements by smartly talking to suspects. You’ll have to choose whether to be tough with your partner even though you only performed actions in your partner’s best interest. You’ll have to somehow threaten a man who WANTS you to beat him up, if only to get you in trouble. You’ll have to decide whether the case or the emotions of the people around you are more important, and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

The Wolf Among Us Episode 2: Smoke and Mirrors Screenshot

All of this decision making really helps to flesh out the character of Bigby. Once again, Bigby isn’t really a stand in for the player, like Lee Everett was in The Walking Dead . Instead, he is a character that you get to mold into the exact type of badass you want him to be. Is your Bigby the type of guy who will follow the law to the letter, prioritizing his job first? Is he the type of guy who will obsess over a case to the danger of others, including the law? Does your Bigby have a heart of gold under his tough exterior, attempting to save lives and help the people of Fabletown? Or is he a bastard, only taking this job because it allows him a safe outlet for his own violence?

Episode 2 does feel a bit more… let’s say cinematic, than Episode 1 did. Since most of the decisions you make are personal ones, it doesn’t really feel like you can choose where to go or what to investigate next. You simply push forward, taking the evidence you find, and following it to your next conclusion. There are no big splits like there were in Episode 1 , when you had to choose to purse or whether you were going to investigate or the possible death of . In fact, Episode 2 never does that cool thing where time slows down and Bigby has to make an important decision. Instead, it moves forward at a slow but meaningful pace, perfect for a murder mystery.

The Wolf Among Us Episode 2: Smoke and Mirrors Screenshot

It’s worth noting that Episode 2 is far more technically sound than Episode 1 was. There weren’t any graphical errors, nor were there any instances where the game crashed. The cursor worked just fine and I never got stuck in an area where the game wigged out and wouldn’t move forward. Loading times are a little bit longer this time around, but it’s worth it for the game to be more stable. These glitches really pulled you out of the action in Episode 1 , so it’s a good thing that they are all fixed up here.

It’s really hard to say what is good about this game without spoiling anything, but take our word for it, this episode was much more enjoyable than Episode 1 . It felt like everything that happened was much more important. Instead of simply bringing up new questions, which is much of what happened in Episode 1 , it actually felt like Bigby was getting closer to solving the mystery. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time trying to piece together clues. In fact, most of the fun of The Wolf Among Us: Episode 2 took place outside of the game itself as you try to put together facts and piece together what is happening before Bigby does. This is the video game version of the great mystery novel, a digital Sherlock Holmes if you will.

Final verdict? Well if you enjoyed Episode 1 of The Wolf Among Us , you’ll love Episode 2 . If you didn’t enjoy Episode 1 of The Wolf Among Us … what the heck is the matter with you? Telltale continues to prove why they are a master of their craft with Smoke and Mirrors. In fact, the only thing wrong with this episode, is that we are going to have to wait another few months before we find out what happens next. Go out and purchase The Wolf Among Us: Episode 2 today. You won’t regret it.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 4.5 Graphics
Telltale make a storybook New York come alive with their fantastic use of cell shading and expressive facial animations. 4.0 Control
The controls have been tightened up this time around. It still leaves something to be desired on a console controller but on the PC it works perfectly. 4.0 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Stellar performances from the entire cast. Heck, even Dave Fennoy, voice of Lee Everett in The Walking Dead, makes a return. 4.5 Play Value
Second episode was better than the first. Let’s see where this story goes. 4.3 Overall Rating – Great
Not an average. See Rating legend below for a final score breakdown.

Review Rating Legend
0.1 – 1.9 = Avoid 2.5 – 2.9 = Average 3.5 – 3.9 = Good 4.5 – 4.9 = Must Buy
2.0 – 2.4 = Poor 3.0 – 3.4 = Fair 4.0 – 4.4 = Great 5.0 = The Best

Game Features:

  • Incredible story based on the Fables series of graphic novels.
  • Make important choices that flesh out the game world.
  • Beautiful graphics that make the game look like a moving graphic novel.

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