The Wolf Among Us: Episode 5 - Cry Wolf Review (PS3)

So, this is it. We’ve finally made it to the end of protagonist Bigby Wolf’s investigation into the murder of a Fabletown resident that began some eight months ago. It’s been one hell of a journey, with plot twists, surprising levels of violence, and acts so unspeakable that Walt Disney would turn in his grave if he knew what several of his precious princesses had been up to. Fortunately, The Wolf Among Us: Episode 5 – Cry Wolf continues Telltale Games’ winning streak, tying everything together in one of the most climactic and eventful productions that the developer has ever released.

Despite this being the final episode in the season, and assuming that everyone reading this review has in fact played all of the episodes to date, we’re still going to keep this piece spoiler-free. However, if you’d like to discuss the ending in more detail, we encourage you to head over to our forums in order to chat about it with fellow readers.

On with the review, and this instalment takes full advantage of its predecessor’s lethargic pace in order to drop you straight into the action. You’re immediately provided with a number of different ways to work your way through the conversational minefield that presents itself, and these riches of responses are just one of the reasons why Bigby makes for such a brilliant lead. As seen in sister series The Walking Dead, Season Two star Clementine has the option of responding in some distinctly un-Clem ways, but almost anything that comes out of the hairy anti-hero’s gob totally fits.

It’s probably due to the fact that you’ll be able to sympathise with the muscular manwolf’s situation. Hell, even reading his Book of Fables entry in the game informs you that he popped up at Fabletown to serve and protect, but with a chequered past such as his, nobody trusted him – at least not at first. These historical events mean that should you choose to let the frontman fly off the handle and yell at small children, it makes sense considering his long-suffering nature. This is a protagonist that’s genuinely good beneath his anger, but he’s also very capable and dangerous, and so deciding which side of the character’s personality that you unlock is both an interesting and fitting dynamic.

Towards the end of this episode, many of the characters that you’ll have interacted with throughout the course of the season are gathered in one place in order to discuss how the investigation must end. This is a fantastic design choice because it manages to both make the scene feel more grandiose, but also forces you into a battle of wits as you attempt to win them over – with all of your previous decisions and dialogue choices coming into play. By this point, everyone will have some kind of dirt on you, and so, much like the rest of Bigby’s experience in the case, you won’t be able to please everyone; irrespective of your final decision, you’ll still be the bad guy to some.

Honestly, the closing moments of this final episode caused our jaws to drop in bewilderment, and will surely inspire a great deal of conversation and debate among online theory makers. Fortunately, from a narrative standpoint, all signs point to a second season, especially given the varying reactions of the major characters to your final decisions. However, with both Tales from the Borderlands and Game of Thrones titles currently in production at the overachieving studio, we may have to wait a while before we get to see more of Bigby Wolf.