Rating
The Wolf Among Us: Episode 2 - Smoke and Mirrors
The second episode of The Wolf Among Us, a five-episode series based on Fables (DC Comics/Vertigo). Bigby continues investigating the 'serial killer' walking the streets of Fabletown. He also attempts to find answers from Faith's pimp: Georgie Porgie, and becomes more involved with Beauty and Beast's affairs.
Details
- Released
- February 3, 2014
- Developer
- Telltale Games
- Genres
- Point-and-click · Adventure
- Publisher
- Telltale Games
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The Wolf Among Us: Episode 2 - Smoke and Mirrors Reviews
Professional reviews from gaming critics
“Episode Two of The Wolf Among Us is exactly what you want: more of Bigby’s journey through an early period from the Fables universe.”
While Smoke and Mirrors is a little on the short side, The Wolf Among Us continues to impress with its story-driven gameplay that adapts to your previous decisions in unexpected ways. The story gets even more sinister and takes us to the darker parts of Fabletown, which is saying something, since episode one opens with The Woodsman beating up a prostitute in a run-down tenement building. Even if you've never heard of Fables before, if you're a fan of noir fiction and like a healthy dose of mysticism, you should be playing The Wolf Among Us.
A more focused, hard-boiled narrative and comic-book artistry make 'Smoke and Mirrors' a more compelling game than 'Faith,' even if it's not necessarily more fun or interesting to play.
Smoke and Mirrors is a great second act to The Wolf Among Us. Its 90 minutes are packed with memorable characters and scenes, as well as some of the most agonizing decisions Telltale has ever forced me to make. And despite being a tad bit disappointed that the overall plot hasn’t been moved all that far forward, I’m still completely invested and more than a bit terrified to see how my tough decisions will affect the story going on.
With the first two episodes already hits, the next episode is a guaranteed to continue the record, answering our questions and exposing more of the truth. For fans of the Fables graphic novels, or of Telltales previous work, The Wolf Among Us is a must play, and Smoke and Mirrors will confirm you've made a solid choice.
'Smoke and Mirrors' doesn't match up to the previous episode in terms of content, or the quality of its content, but it's still another great instalment.
The other concern is a fairly minor one as well, but the main storyline felt like it was taking overly cautious baby steps. I am sure that the events in this episode will tie into the third one in some meaningful way, but it felt like this was more of an opportunity to further characters themselves than solve the murder mystery underscoring the events of the game. So as a stand alone game it doesn’t quite work, but with so many diverse characters with their own motives at play, they do make for a fascinating lot. I am really looking forward to seeing what Episode 3 has to offer.
So, The Wolf Among Us has another strong episode under its belt, though one which doesn’t feature any particular stand-out moments. The lack of choices really lets it down, but the plot might necessitate this at this stage in the season. While the story is great, don’t expect it to blow you away as much as the first episode. Let’s hope the next episodes pay off.
Smoke & Mirrors isn’t quite as good as the superb Faith and is a little shorter, which is a kick in the flying monkey nuts after how long it took to turn up, but it’s still an excellent and enjoyable adventure full of intrigue, surprise and emotion. If Telltale keep this up they could well end up eclipsing The Walking Dead for me, and I nominated that for our Game of the Year. Just, er, could we have Episode 3 a little sooner please?