Review: The Wolf Among Us – Episode 4: In Sheep's Clothing (2014)

In Sheep’s Clothing comes in at just over an hour and feels less like a full episode of the season and more of a episode 3.5. With no character progression or real gameplay or choice the ball never really gets moving, the last few minutes really are the only real progression of the story but what this episode does well at is showing the reason why you’re called the big bad wolf.

This episode opens amazingly and if it had all just been set in Bigby’s apartment I would’ve been happy. The dialogue was some of the strongest from the season so far as we saw a much weaker and broken Bigby on the brink of death. This game has never failed to give amazing writing and this episode doesn’t fail to do that either as Doctor Swineheart, Snow and Colin the Pig try and pick the pieces and move forward from the previous night. It opened up new ground on Bigby and Snow’s relationship and they started to become the characters fans of the comics will have come to know and love. But sadly this scene is over as soon as it begun and everything just takes a nose dive from there.

I have never felt both Bigby and Snow have been used to their full potential. Both are interesting and very layered characters but we are never able to delve deeper in to their characters. A particular scene turns the couple into one shade of dull and takes away any personality or charm that the other characters had. It slows down the episode and doesn’t really do anything different that could have been done with a simple conversation in option in Bigby’s apartment. We also have conversations with Toad and Bluebeard who are both strong brilliant characters and who we have been exploring their personalities since the first episode. But In Sheep’s Clothing just grinds that character development to a halt within a short space of time as we run circles with poor dialogue that doesn’t really lead anywhere. It just left me wondering whether this episode is less story development and more just a bit of filler for the final act.

In Sheep’s Clothing introduced a handful of brand new characters to the series but none of them ever really hit the mark. With the episode being so short we never really got a chance to peel past the surface of them characters and see what makes them tick like we have other characters in the series. We meet Jersey the Devil who would have been fantastic member of the ever growing cast if he had just been given the screen time he deserved. I was hoping for a brilliant scene like we had when we met Georgie, the strip club owner. But instead it was straight into “I hate you, get out!” which we should come to expect by now but it didn’t hit the mark and while the fight that broke out was great it didn’t feel needed. As we near the final stretch of this season now maybe it’s a good idea Telltale to focus on your established characters rather then try to introduce new ones and focus on wrapping up some mysteries rather then expand on new ones.

Episode 4 really shines in the final minutes of the episode and just as things started getting interesting it was over. Unlike the final scene of episode 3 where Bloody Mary and the Crooked Man finally came to light and we had a very meaty ending this one felt rushed. The end scene, as all villains of Wolf Among Us, stared you out as you entered the room, was amazing and I was the edge of my seat waiting to just let rip into the crooked man. But just as I was ready to make my choice the black screen came up and I was left asking: “Was that it? What part of that did I really play that wasn’t scripted and the choices made for me?” I would have been happy with a hour long episode of any game when I feel I’ve come away gaining something from it or I’ve accomplished something.

While this wasn’t as enjoyable as previous episode, the writing was still some of the best from Telltale to date but the lack of story progression or choice made it feel unimportant and weak in the progression of the season as a whole.