The Wolf Among Us: Episode 4 - In Sheep's Clothing
Score: 90% Publisher: Telltale Games Developer: Telltale Games Media: Download/1 Players: 1 Genre: Adventure
Setting the Stage: The Wolf Among Us: Episode 3 - A Crooked Mile ended with an explosively violent encounter with Bloody Mary, an encounter that, no matter how you played it out, ended with Bigby in really bad shape. But since Fables are ridiculously difficult to kill (and Bigby being one of the tougher ones out there), he's able to return to "light duty." It's not like a fragmented silver bullet in the side or a left arm broken completely in half is going to stop the Big Bad Wolf. Now that the mystery has had its door hinges blown completely off, Bigby can begin his pursuit in earnest. In The Wolf Among Us: Episode 4 - In Sheep's Clothing, he can finally get start getting answers regarding the two dead hookers that have been driving this narrative since Episode 1 - Faith.
The Id of a Fable: Despite warnings from his physician and Snow White, Bigby isn't content to rest on his laurels. He's going to bust some heads and pick some brains no matter how loudly his body protests. Unfortunately for Bigby, the one lead that he has to go on results in him crossing paths with some very uncooperative (and powerful) individuals. The conflict deepens even further when the mantle of the deposed (and now captured) Ichabod Crane is taken up by Snow White, whose hypervigilance regarding the rules frequently goes against Bigby's beastly nature. She wants to see Fabletown governed according to the human idea of justice; and that means she wants to see an end to Bigby's transformations, as they always lead to gory beatdowns -- not exactly by-the-book work. Her pragmatism is also very clearly leading towards a moral choice that you will have to make before the end of this tale.
Tension Redefined: Much like the previous chapters, The Wolf Among Us: Episode 4 - In Sheep's Clothing is rife with unrest and discomfort. Nobody is ever happy to see Bigby, and they're usually right for that. But the embattled Fabletown Sheriff is charged with maintaining order in a community full of dishonest individuals who only care about themselves. One very memorable antique store encounter with the Jersey Devil might go down as one of the most brutal scenes of the year, and a quiet, deliberate trek through a meat locker had me on the edge of my seat. It's all great stuff. There's some social commentary at work in In Sheep's Clothing, and it has to do with the idea of sacrificing our morality in service to our own selfish goals. Some hard questions get asked, the most memorable of which involves unglamoured Fables and their involuntary relocation to The Farm, a kind of internment camp for Fables. Much like the main mystery driving this series, I suspect these issues will come to a head in Episode 5 - Cry Wolf, and I'm excited to see where it all ends up.
The End Is Near: It's kind of bittersweet to know that there's only one more episode in this series. And truthfully, I'm hoping that Telltale revisits this world in the future. While I enjoyed The Walking Dead and am excited to see what kind of treatment they give Game of Thrones, simply being in this world is an intoxicating experience. While The Wolf Among Us: Episode 4 - In Sheep's Clothing isn't as incredible or as memorable as A Crooked Mile, it still acts as a fine tablesetter and ends with a cliffhanger that makes it very difficult to wait for the finale.
-FenixDown, GameVortex Communications AKA Jon Carlos
Related Links: Official Website of The Wolf Among Us Game Vortex's The Wolf Among Us Coverage Vertigo Comics Homepage
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