The Wolf Among Us: Episode 3 – A Crooked Mile Review

As The Wolf Among Us enters its second act with A Crooked Mile, I really expected more from this episode. There are some brilliant scenes towards the end, which set up the future story arc and really shift things up a gear, but throughout, the story just doesn’t feel as good as it could be.

It all kicks off where the last episode left off with Bigby, now angry and with a suspect in his sights. He sets out on a big bad warpath of extreme urgency, and it doesn’t really slow down throughout the episode.

There’s a problem with the way things that are delivered though, and that lies with the fact that Bigby isn’t you. You’ll often piece things together before him, but he’ll still argue the same points. And even if you can deliver the dialogue in different ways with three choices, sometimes the best option is just not to speak at all, because Bigby isn’t saying what you really want him to. That would be fine in a TV show or movie, and there’s obviously no way of telling the game precisely what you think, but it feels as though this area could be improved on.

Unfortunately, some things which could be shocking are just shockingly obvious as, if you’ve been paying attention, it’s easy to work out what’s going on before anything happens. That seems to be the general issue here – the story is acting as though you’re not yet invested in the series, and while that was fine for the first few hours through the last two episodes, it doesn’t work at this point.

Aside from all of that, though, this is a really solid episode, with some great investigative moments alongside some more action-packed sequences. And by the time you’re in the final scenes, the game’s back to doing what it does best, bringing new things in and finally feeling as though you might be getting somewhere, rather than just investigating a dead end.

What will impress are the choices. While the last episode had very little in the way of this, the third episode has some smart selections which you’ll have to make at times. It’s obvious that – as a whole – it’s always going to play out down the same path, but these little moments of choice make you feel empowered and in control.

There’s even a section where you can choose between a few environments to visit, or at least to visit first, and an added time limit here means that you’ll have to make the most sensible decision depending on your progress through the investigation so far. It’s almost like you’re actually bringing your own clues into things rather than once again listening to Bigby deciding where to go.

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Many environments in this episode, and many of the characters, haven’t changed from the last, which means that any excitement falls somewhat flat – you won’t get the same feeling as you did in the first couple of episodes where you were meeting twisted versions of fairytale characters for the first time, but there’s still a couple of surprises and nice touches that make it all worthwhile.

This review might seem quite harsh, but it’s just hard to say all the good things without simply repeating previous reviews – there isn’t much of a change due to the episodic nature of the title; the setting is still superb, there are still some really interesting bits of dialogue that range from a serious tone to a more comedic one, and the visuals are once again spot-on, with some great camera angles framing scenes wonderfully with the noire-esque purples and yellows really shining.

What’s Good:

  • It doesn’t lose the allure of the previous episodes through the setting.
  • The choices feel more prominent and lead to exciting outcomes.
  • Visuals and directing is great.
  • Conclusion feels like a true second act turning point.

What’s Bad:

  • Pacing falls flat for the first half, with no new characters introduced and limited new areas.
  • Bigby takes some time to work things out, even when you’ve already pieced it together.
  • Story isn’t as well-written as in previous episodes.

In the end, this is another good episode – there’s nothing really bad going on here, and the choices are even better implemented than before. Saying that it’s too similar to the previous ones would be wrong as it’s an episodic series, so it could be described as the pacing losing its way somewhat in the overall arc.

That’s just the first half of the episode, though, as the second half shift things up a gear and delivers a really exciting ending, which is worth sticking around for.

Score: 7/10

Version reviewed: PC

1 Comment

  1. Ooh, can’t wait! Wife is working tonight and is out tomorrow night, so will need to wait until Sat/Sun evening to play this with her.

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