Review: The Wolf Among Us: Cry Wolf

The episode starts off with the stalemate we’ve been waiting for. Bigsby is up against all the enemies he’s made this season and the tension is definitely high. As usual we get the chance to play our hero as a calm and collected peace keeper or just break down and beat on anyone who speaks. In fact, there are a number of great player choices throughout Cry Wolf. Up until the final standoff I found myself constantly torn between how I should deal with the scum I’ve been fighting. There are some really good scenarios for you to decide how you want Bigsby to uphold the law.

The game presents these climactic moments wonderfully. In the first confrontation we are treated to a beautifully lit scene as it unfolds. The neon glow of this 80’s cop drama is in full effect here. A new chase scene scenario also takes place that works well to show off just how fast and powerful our protagonist is. A stamina bar is used here to gage how well you’re reacting to the quick time events. This allows for a degree of error to occur without a hard reset - something that feels much more organic. Along with this, one of the major showdowns really sets Bigby loose as you face off with one of the major villains. It’s a great moment that players have been looking forward to all season and it delivers nicely.

The one downside is that a lot of these confrontations feel less than ideal when they are depicted as little more than quicktime events. There’s never a moment of hesitation or clever confusion as you control Bigby throughout despite the character not knowing what he should be doing. Unlike in Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead, I never had to move my character through a dangerous scenario myself. Cry Wolf simply prompted me forward by pressing the one and only available button. This made the episode feel far more like I was watching rather than playing.

To add to this, the wrapping up section at the end feels extremely slow. You don’t end on any tension or cliffhangers and it’s more about watching characters say goodbye. It is a very lengthy chunk of dialogue There is a major reveal in the last moments that is extremely interesting however. A piece of information is brought forward that will make players question a number of their choices in the past and even brings new light to several moments from the first couple episodes. It’s a great reveal that unfortunately ties the bow even tighter around this package. It would have been nice to leave some questions lingering for the future.

Cry Wolf is one of the better episodes in The Wolf Among Us. It helped the series end on a high note that only the first episode could match. It starts off with a tension filled scenario and moves into the action we’ve been wanting for all along. This first half is a great pay off for fans but it’s a bummer that we had so little control over the scenario. The back half feels dialogue heavy and slow but does reveal an interesting twist to the game’s arc. It was good to see this season end with a much more interesting and rewarding episode than the previous few led us to believe.