The Wolf Among Us: Episode 2 - Smoke and Mirrors PC Game Review GAMERamble

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The Wolf Among Us: Episode 02 - Smoke And Mirrors
Telltale Games
Telltale Games
2014
Adventure
Official Website
Digital Download

The Wolf Among Us: Episode 02 - Smoke And Mirrors

Episode two of The Wolf Among us continues the events set in motion by the murder of a fable in the debut installment of the series. The game picks up directly after the cliffhanger ending of episode one and players once again steps into the shoes of Bigby Wolf.

I don't want to spoil anything so let's just say that things got very personal for Bigby in episode one and this time round you get to choose how he reacts to what has happened. An interrogation scene can play out with Bigby pulverizing his victim or you can hold back and try to coax information out of him in a more reasonable manner. Virtually most of your choices in episode two strike a balance between violence and restraint with fewer moral conundrums.

This episode features a few old scenes but mixes in some really cool new locations as well. The most memorable is a strip club run by a seedy fable called Georgie. There is even a bit of nudity which further emphasizes that this is no fairy tale despite the colorful cast of characters. Quick-time events are a lot less frequent this time around and I actually found myself wishing for another scrap like the one Bigby had with his old nemesis in episode one. The one or two altercations that did occur in my playthrough of episode two felt a bit forced as my Bigby was a lot calmer this time round.

To me episode two felt a bit more linear than the original and didn't feature any of the location selection scenes. There is definitely a lot more emphasis on conversation this time round and Bigby actually makes some decent progress with his investigation. I did notice the impact of some of the choices I made back in episode one but nothing that shook the story up in a major way yet. Completing the game took me about 90 minutes which is slightly less than episode one but once again the game wastes very little time on inconsequential things and instead focuses on moving the plot along. It obviously ends on another cliffhanger although not quite as shocking as the one in "Faith."

Visually the game continues to impress with stylish graphics and interesting locations. The range of emotions displayed by characters is genuinely impressive and the voice acting is once again spot on. The new fables that are introduced fit right in and further flesh out the squalid world that Bigby must venture into to continue his investigation.

Despite the shorter playtime and greater emphasis on conversations I was still hooked on this episode from start to finish. The pace of the story seems to be picking up speed and I can't wait to see what turns the investigation will take in episode three.

System Requirements

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Windows XP SP3 or higher
Core 2 Duo 2GHz or equivalent
3 GB
ATI or NVidia card w/ 512 MB RAM
DirectX-compatible sound
9.0c
n/a
2 GB
Keyboard, Mouse, Controller

TAGS: The Wolf Among Us, Episode 02, Smoke And Mirrors, Bigby, Snow White, Georgie,

Gameplay: A little less action but plenty of drama and intrigue.
Graphics: Captures the spirit of the comic books perfectly.
Sound: Great music and even better voice acting.

Smoke And Mirrors is a bit more focused than episode one and introduces some new characters. The story continues directly after the events of Faith and during the course of the episode Bigby quickly picks up the trail of the murderer that is stalking Fabletown. This episode is skewed a bit more towards conversations than quick-time events or crime scene investigation but it is still very engrossing.