The Wolf Among Us Remastered Review – A Howling Good Remaster

The Wolf Among Us Remastered Review

In the early 2010s, Telltale Games dominated the indie market with its choice-driven, episodic narrative adventures. Each tale let you shape the story’s direction, resulting in countless classics that are still fondly remembered today. Following the studio’s unfortunate closure in 2018, the team returned with The Expanse. Now, as Telltale gears up for the long-awaited sequel to The Wolf Among Us, they are releasing a remaster of the original. Will this whet your appetite for the next instalment, or has this 13-year-old classic lost its bite?

As a fan of the incredible Fables comics, I was tentative about a video game adaptation. While Telltale had proven the ability to capture the tone and style of a renowned property with The Walking Dead, they did so with new characters leading the narrative. With The Wolf Among Us, you play as one of the main players of the series, Bigby Wolf. However, through the combination of Adam Harrington’s excellent voice work and a tight, faithful script, the game manages to capture the gruff and abrasive personality perfectly. This permeates the entire experience as each of the supporting characters feels plucked directly from the source material, showcasing a wonderful and diverse cast.

I’ll Blow Your House Down

You play as the sheriff of Fabletown and must ensure that each fairytale follows the rule not to alert the mundies of your presence. After investigating a disturbance, you soon encounter the sadistic murder of a person involved in the earlier incident. This soon escalates with more massacres taking place, meaning that you must track down the serial killer and bring them to justice. With its grisly murders and shady characters, the story evokes the atmosphere of a classic film noir. This is further enhanced with the new option to change the neon-soaked streets to a stark monochromatic colour palette, which reinforces the classic film aesthetic.

Each episode follows a clear formula. You investigate the surroundings in search of clues that help you with interrogations. These discussions are central to the experience, allowing you to shape the story with pivotal decisions deciding the fate of certain characters. While your choices don’t affect the final destination, they do alter your relationship with characters and deliver consequences that add emotional weight to your decisions.

Action sequences add tension while driving the narrative forward. These include QTEs that flow with events to keep you fully immersed. For example, you may need to direct the cursor towards an item to pick it up and hit an attacker, duck a punch by pressing down on your analogue stick, or repeatedly tap a button to escape someone’s grasp. The developers implement these sequences well, making each segment feel dynamic and keeping you engaged in the action.

More Than a Lick of Paint

The remaster includes a polish and reworking of the visuals, which is immediately apparent. While the original has a stunning art direction that made the game look and feel like a living, breathing comic, it showed its age. Telltale has upgraded the visuals and ironed out the creases, maintaining the essence of the original but providing a strong upgrade to make this the definitive version of the game. Although characters are stylised, improvements have been made to the hair and textures to enhance their visual quality. This expands into the environments with small, meaningful changes that help bring the world to life without compromising the original’s distinctive comic-book aesthetic.

Outside of the campaign, there are five deleted scenes. These are not simply reels to watch; you can play these segments, which offer a different take on events in the campaign. While none of these drastically alter the narrative, it’s great to see how the developers were looking to tackle certain scenarios. Although the base game is without issues, these scenes are a little rougher around the edges, with odd bugs seeping through the cracks.

A real highlight is the inclusion of interviews with key players in the creation of the classic. With over 60 minutes of conversations, you will learn about the journey from page to console. These insightful interviews capture the love and dedication that went into the title and are a joy to watch. Add in the extensive art gallery that features everything from concept sketches to environmental paintings and you truly receive a package that celebrates one of Telltale’s greatest games.

Happily Ever After

The Wolf Among Us Remastered is a wonderful example of a remaster. Not only does it improve the visuals, but it also irons out performance issues from the original release. The detective tale is every bit as engaging as you’ll remember, expertly balancing gripping storytelling, memorable characters, and meaningful choices to deliver an unforgettable experience. With the addition of behind-the-scenes content, a noir filter and deleted scenes, this is the perfect celebration of a classic.

***A PS5 code was provided for this review***