Games / Game Reviews

Review: The Wolf Among Us: A Crooked Mile

By Sean Booker
April 13, 2014 - 12:18

The Wolf Among Us takes a dip in quality and interest with the third episode: A Crooked Mile. The episode remains as short as the previous installment and doesn’t really move the plot forward too much. A lot of your time is spent looking for clues only to end up with a brief moment of actual importance at the end. The episode may finish strong but feels like it’s dragging its feet to get there.

A Crooked Mile starts off in a heated moment for Bigsby after the revelation at the end of episode two. You get some great moments of pure rage from the detective as you curse and yell your way out of the hotel. It’s a fun moment to watch and be a part of. This is also book-ended nicely with a great ending scene for this character. We get to see just how strong Bigsby Wolf is and it’s a really great and heartwrenching scene.

In fact most of this episode is about learning more about the characters and interacting with them. We meet a range of new characters that really add to the roster nicely. To avoid spoilers I will just say that I enjoyed talking to everyone that popped up in this episode whether they were newly introduced or showing a different side than we’ve seen. However, this emphasis actually ends up causing the episode to feel somewhat stagnant as nothing else of real interest takes place.

The majority of this episode is rather bland in terms of plot progression. You spend your time dealing with quieter moments and a lot of clue searching. There isn’t even a ton of searching to be had since you spend most of your time talking to various people at each location. You’re not even rewarded with anything great when you reach the end of your hunt. A journey that unfortunately lasts for only a bit over an hour. Apart from the very enjoyable final scene, A Crooked Mile doesn’t move the plot forward in any real interesting way. It’s slow and only sets the future mysteries sparingly. You’ll even notice that the majority of the ‘meaningful choices’ are centered around how characters feel towards you and not about the actions you took. This episode feels more like filler as opposed to a fully fleshed-out installment.

Also, I want to make sure I mention the great music that composer Jared Emerson-Johnson continues to pump into Telltale’s games.

A Crooked Mile ended up being the weakest episode so far in The Wolf Among Us. We spent more time talking to characters then learning new aspects about the plot. The narrative is only moved forward a little and it happens quickly and suddenly in the last couple minutes. It’s a shame the episode was also so short since the entirety of it feels lacking. If you’re invested in the story then there’s no doubt you will play this but I can only hope we get some actual interesting movement in the next episode.

Rating: 4 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12