The Wolf Among Us: Episode 2 - Smoke and Mirrors

Almost transformed in a visual novel, the second episode of The Wolf Among Us focuses on conversations to advance the plot, making it quite an odd adventure game.

The first chapter fascinated the public with the great characters and a well crafted cliffhanger. A shame that this second part doesn't seem able to show the same qualities, to shrinked between the linearity and the absence of new fascinating characters.

Smoke and Mirrors establishes that The Wolf Among Us will likely be worth seeing through, although whether it’s worth doing so now or waiting for the season’s end is a more open question than one might have anticipated at the end of the first episode.

Like its predecessor, Smoke and Mirrors enjoys great writing, excellent voice acting and a lead who is likeable in all the right ways. That said, the second chapter in The Wolf Among Us feels somewhat too short -- like a build-up, a segue to bigger things. There are also moments where the writing trips, leaving players to wonder if Bigby's been hit on the head one too many times.

The Wolf Among Us Episode Two: Smoke and Mirrors doesn't always live up to the promise of the first episode and is marred by some technical issues. However, The Wolf Among is still an intriguing and stylish murder mystery that has us eager for the next episode.

Stylish aesthetic and cinematic flair still keep the overall experience enjoyable, but my initial spark of love for the series has largely disappeared. After a shoddy narrative decision revealed within the first 15 minutes of Episode 2, my trust in the series has diminished.

Ultimately the pace of Smoke and Mirrors is quite different from Faith, but it’s a change that seems necessary for Bigby to do his job. Familiar camera angle issues and an oddly placed fight aside, The Wolf Among Us continues to deliver. The game is still a great bridge for new fans to familiarize themselves with the Fables lore and old fans to connect the dots only they know exist.

Episode two puts The Wolf Among Us in an awkward place. Telltale shows enough of its hand to interest players in the rest of the story, but the unevenness of this second episode deflates the enthusiasm that first worked so hard to earn. It's difficult to tell how strong the series will become, but right now, it's tough to accept good when you're used to great.

Smoke and Mirrors feels like a necessary bridge spanning the impactful first episode and the events portrayed in the episode three preview that concludes this episode. It smolders more than it burns, though in some sense, that's an appropriate trajectory for Bigby's ongoing investigation.

Do you know how much time passes in Episode 2 before the game finally decides to ask you for input? 9 minutes. For whole 9 minutes, Smoke and Mirrors plays itself. This number is more telling than any review.

After many delays Smoke and Mirrors was finally released, that visibly shows that it suffered under the haste of the developers. Besides from sitting back and watching an interesting story, there isn’t much to do in this episode, that has been shortened and has quite a few nasty bugs.

A great world and an interesting story, but this short second entry lacks the tense decision-making of the first.

Four months of waiting for an hour of gameplay? That's hardly a case for celebration, even though the compelling narrative standards remained intact. [Issue #239]

The adrenaline-laced interactive sequences of Smoke & Mirrors are fun to play, but in between the gameplay is far too sparse and linear, and its story loses some story momentum in the process.

Yet even with another cliffhanger to keep you on tenterhooks until Episode Three, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see audience interest starting to wane, particularly if Telltale continues to treat us more as viewers than as players.