The Wolf Among Us: Game Noir

The Wolf Among Us: Video Game Noir

About the game: 

 The Wolf Among Us, one of the late Telltale Games licensed products via Warner Bros, shipped five episodes over the course of 2013 to 2014.
 Over the course of the game's release it has taken gamers into a shady and dark world of neon lights, smoke and alcohol vices, and downtrodden fairytale creatures such as the Big Bad Wolf, Bluebeard, Snow White, and many others whom players may recognize. 

 Although we know these characters from classical authors such as the Grimm brothers or even their respective on screen movie counterparts, The Wolf Among Us differs in various ways.
 Where the modern and Disney interpretations of these stories would typically tone down certain subject matter, the Wolf Among Us is true to the rough origins of select characters.
  In fact, it goes so far as to point out that the mundies (i.e. the humans of the real world) have tales about these characters with details that are simply not true at all.
 If you do a bit of digging, it is true that many of our watered down fairytales were done so as to subvert the original adult oriented themes.
 As the Grimm brothers and other authors of these stories were writing many of these tales to the audiences of a much different time period.
 Of course, the idea of what was appropriate and what was not has greatly changed in modern times. This is evidenced by the versions of fairytales we have now as these later editions toned down the  darker themes to make them appealing to children.

 However, The Wolf Among us rejects this idea of modernization in several ways.
This includes the usage of a rather obscure and slightly jaw dropping fairytale called Donkeyskin by the 16th century writer, Charles Perrault.
These themes and history of the characters is briefly explored using similar methods much like ABC's Once Upon A Time, with characters relaying their tales through a big book of fables, where their history is recorded.
It is also shown that there are mundy versions of these tales (as revealed by the episode smoke and mirrors).

 The Wolf Among Us, like a select few within the medium in today's take on fairytales, is a twisted version of the classic fairytale stories we know. Because, by taking the heroes and villains of these classic tales and placing them into real life roles it is easier to bring these classics into the modern light for today's audiences.
Similarly, like Once upon a time,The Wolf Among Us introduces us to Fabletown, a fictional location.
The town is a hidden community which is located in the Big Apple, New York City, where it was located in the original comic series Fables by Bill Willingham. The various fables are exiled here after a force known as the adversary, forces them from the homelands. 
Where the game differs to its comic book counterpart is in terms of theme and content. Certain details are left out or skimmed over briefly, such as Snow White's history with the dwarves or the day Bigby first fell in love with Snow.
Another massive difference is the context and theme of the game vs the original comics. Although the Fables series had detective based scenarios, the Wolf Among Us takes a more 1980's centric Private Eye approach and uses several allusions to the PI genre.

For example the Jaded PI, the use of codenames (i.e. Mr. Smith), and the lying client trope are all massive parts of the hard boiled/private eye genre. Often in these types of stories the classification of PI is categorized by tropes such as vices or the detective has a great deal of knowledge about their city. In this case, Bigby falls into all of these, as his vices of smoking and alchol are all products of the PI genre.
Other characters within the Wolf Among Us also fit into these types of PI genre categories. Examples of these would be people like Nerissa or Ichabod Crane. Both of them fall into the line of a fem-fatale (Nerissa is both the fem-fatale and a lying client) and the lying client (Ichabod falls into the role of a pawn and the lying client).

The Story:
The story opens with Bigby Wolf investigating a ruckus following a call he receives from a fairytale character named Mr. Toad.
Following a fist fight with his old rival, the woodsman, Bigby has an encounter with a mysterious gal and returns to his apartment complex called "The Woodlands."
With the intent to wait for the mysterious gal for his "statement", Bigby is soon in for a crude awakening. The following morning, he and Snow White discover the same unknown fable has been murdered and left on the stairs of the apartment complex.
 In a whirlwind of chasing down one lead after the other and hitting opposition on all sides, Bigby and Snow White are sent by Ichabod to uncover the culprit behind these series of disappearances and murders.
At first it seems this is an issue of money within a sect of unsavory business, and it all starts with the mysterious gal. Although Bigby's chance encounter with her seems a coincidence at first glance, as the story continues the classic PI "this is bigger than we thought" moment happens and it turns out Bigby has bitten off more than he can chew. This leads to a series of twists which no one of fabletown can predict.

However, the story is only one aspect of the Wolf Among us and there is much more to be unpacked with the series main leads and cast of characters such as Ichabod Crane, Mr. Toad, the three little pigs, and others who are not just of Grimm Brother fame.

 As with all telltale games there are a plethora of characters, one of these being the main lead and filling the role of our jaded private investigator is Bigby Wolf.
The romantic love interest or even the side kick role is filled by Snow White, however, as there are so many, I will only cover the main two (for the sake of surprises, please buy this game while you can).

 Bigby Wolf (main lead/Jaded detective):

 Within the game the player controls Bigby Wolf, son of the North Wind and Winter Wolf of the original Fables comics.
Bigby is a variant of the Big Bad Wolf from stories like Little Red Riding hood, The Three Little Pigs, and Peter & the Wolf.
However, He is also considered a werewolf, according to his comic book origins.
According to the comic books, Bigby was transformed into a half human via a lycantrophy knife by Snow White, but the game glances over much of this as well as the reason that Bigby smokes.
According to the comic version, Bigby also drinks and smokes heavily mainly due to his heightened sense of smell. Because by smoking, he is able to dull his senses in order to avoid a sensory overload which comes with living in the mundy world.
There is also an easter egg, in the episode smoke and mirrors, where Bigby states "you can't fool this nose" in relation to knowing what Snow White's perfume smells like.
It is stated, In the comics that her scent is the one he knows and this reason gives him access to being able to find her and know her location at all times. However, much of these references are very subtle within the game than it is within the original comics.
Within the Wolf Among Us, Bigby is the Sheriff of Fable-town and is tasked with keeping order among the community. As the story is mainly focused upon Bigby and his viewpoint, the player is put in control of him for the entirety of the game, from which they see the world and others through his perception.
Through using the right and left analog sticks as well as the assigned buttons to navigate the community and various locations within Fable-town, if places are explored thoroughly the player may gather important clues to progress forward.
All of this is useful in an attempt to uncover the culprit behind a series of murders that have caught the attention of the Fable-town Business office. In this place, Bigby is employed by Sleepy Hollow's infamous Ichabod Crane and works alongside Bufkin and Snow White to help the Fables adjust to living in the Mundy World.

In relation to those around him, Bigby is seen as a monster due to his checkered past in the Fable Homelands. Because of this, Bigby has very few fables who like him except for Snow White, Colin, and Bufkin.
Bigby's rough and lone wolf personality, due to rejection by the fables as caused him to become closed off. Often he protects himself from opposition through a variety of sarcastic and gruff responses.
This sense of humor adds to his jaded demeanor of a hardened fable who has lost faith in his fellow fables, is willing to use severe means to his advantage, and break the rules to get results.
However, he will differ in personality depending on your choices and can be kind and gentle or rude and blunt.
 The latter and rougher personality hearkens back to his history of misdemeanors and "blowing a few houses down" back in the Homelands, however, Bigby can either change his ways or retain his vile wolf reputation depending on the player's reactions to specific situations.

Snow White (Love interest):

Similarly, the relationships you have with the characters of The Wolf Among us will be altered depending upon what is said or done.
For example, Bigby is constantly interacting with Snow White throughout the game and your actions will either harm or help her relationship with Bigby. 

Snow herself begins as a timid and uncertain character, however, depending on how Bigby treats her authority, she becomes more assertive and commanding.
However, as the story continues, Snow takes charge when Ichabod Crane loses power and From then on out, Snow White dramatically changes.
Instead of the would be damsel in distress, Snow becomes Bigby's equal and their relationship flourishes and They work together despite the tension of the current situation.
As Snow White is not a playable character, her personality and actions are set in stone, but her reactions to Bigby's deeds are entirely determined by the players choices within the narrative.
 Interestingly enough, it is implied that Bigby has romantic feelings towards Snow, which is another nod to the comic book roots of these characters.
Ironically if The Wolf Among Us season 2 had been made it would've explored Snow and Bigby further, a few years following the end of their last adventure in season 1.

The Verdict: While the Wolf Among Us season 2 may never see the light of day, it's predecessor and comic books are still around.
For those interested in this obscure fairytale title, I highly recommend playing both the game and reading its established lore. All 150 comic issues are available in graphic novel form on various online sites and second hand comic book shops such as New Dimensions.
 This game is an absolute must buy for anyone who enjoys cult classic Noir. In gaming this genre is often overlooked and has few decent titles to name save for a select few. However, this video game and even those unfamiliar with the comic book series of Fables will enjoy it, along with other Telltale names such as the Walking Dead, Batman, and Tales From the Borderlands.
It is an experience that I can say, without a doubt, will leave you wanting to go back and play again.