Genre: Adventure

Publisher: Telltale Games

Developer: Telltale Games

Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360, PC

Release date: Out Now

No matter how epic they may be, no series that is delivered in an episodic fashion is immune to putting out a clunker once in a while. Episode 4 of The Wolf Among Us: In Sheep’s Clothing would be developer Telltales’ turn to deliver a less than stellar effort in what has been a tight series so far. Where the previous episodes were heavy on character growth and story progression, In Sheep’s Clothing mostly runs in place.

In Sheep’s Clothing is almost entirely exposition, and although that might sound like a good opportunity to add extra depth to the characters, before plunging them into the final chapter, both the cast and the plot do little more than tread water for the entire time. That was disappointing considering how dope the opening for In Sheep’s Clothing was where we saw the Bigby on the cusp of death after the tumultuous events of episode 3’s ending. Unfortunately the next hour or so that follows really doesn’t build on what was such an intriguing opening sequence.

As In Sheep's Clothing begins, Bigby is still haunted by images of Bloody Mary after her brutal attack, which left him riddled with silver bullet fragments and with a mangled forearm. After that encounter with her, Bigby is both recovering physically from previous injuries and increasingly frustrated. Thankfully, he and his returning partner Snow White aren’t facing a dead end for too long, as fellow Fables begin to come out of the woodwork, admit to some serious secrets, and begin offering the possibility for Bigby to put the pieces together and find out not only who is behind the recent rash of murders and crimes, but also what their overall agenda is. This episode does do a good job of reuniting Bigby and Snow with numerous returning side characters, including several that we haven’t seen for a while. With the stakes ramping up, Bigby is forced to make some tough decisions regarding his friends and what to do with them, and following in the series’ tradition, it’s up to the player to figure out how to best go about it. The highlight of the episode is an encounter with the Jersey Devil, who runs a pawn shop and is a very unpleasant character, with a creepily effective visual design. Unfortunately the showdown with him ends up with another of Telltale’s QTE sequences, which are barely interactive. Scenarios like this made In Sheep’s Clothing the least personal chapter yet. This entry is also very short when compared to the previous episodes that averaged at least a total play time of about three hours. The curtains close on In Sheep’s Clothing in about 70 minutes.

 

The XXL Endgame

Bigby is still a great character and the voice acting is excellent but the restrictive and extremely short campaign make In Sheep’s Clothing one of the weaker episodes thus far. Despite this bump in the fabletown road, I’m hoping Telltale can wrap up its first season in grand fashion when the finale drops. —written by DJRhude (@DJRhude)

XXL Rating: M (average)

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