Review - The Wolf Among Us; Episode 2 - Smoke and Mirors

by Matt Taylor

Format reviewed on; PC (Steam)
Developers; Telltale Games
Publisher; Sony Computer Entertainment
Formats; PS3 , PC, Mac, Xbox360
Pegi Rating; 16+
After reviewing the first episode of Telltale Games’ The Wolf Among Us, I was aching to get back into the story and figure out what the hell was going on. While the last episode builds up to a cliffhanger, the second episode titled ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ falls to the rocks below. 

What made the first episode so great was its very well paced story and changing scenes, but the second episode has very few actual changes and teeters on the brink of being a straight up animated TV show. Telltale have made a name for themselves in point-and-click adventure games since 2012’s The Walking Dead, and The Wolf Among Us started on a high note. Catering to the classic genre, the game gave me plenty of interactive scenes and reasons to pay attention while backing it up with beautiful design and tight controls. Smoke and Mirrors takes that all away with very little choices or interactive areas, leaving you to watch and listen while the characters on screen read through their scripts.
Episodic games can be hard to play when nothing has happened. I finished the Smoke and Mirrors in roughly two hours and don’t feel any further into the story and the very minor plot twist easy to predict. 

While I can criticise the game for reasons above it still looks, plays and sounds great, continuing on from the first entry into the game ‘Faith’.

I’ve purchased the season pass for The Wolf Among Us and even with the faults of the second episode I’m still interested in where it’s going. I’m just hoping that Telltale are building up to something that’s worth the wait.
Good - Still looks great.

Bad - Predictable and NOTHING HAPPENED!

2/5
Game from Telltale Games
Images - from Publisher