The wolf among us character story. The Wolf Among Us - Review. Nightmare on the street of fairy tales

Once upon a time, there lived fairy-tale characters.
They lived, of course, in fairy tales. But then the Exodus happened,
and they were forced to leave their native lands and move to the world of people...
Many of them live in New York.

But life among people is not at all like a fairy tale. There it was “they lived happily ever after”, but here time flows differently and “happily” does not happen as if by magic. For Fable there is only "long" left.
Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, the Three Little Pigs and Grendel, Hans and Bluebeard... they all live in the Fairy Tale District in New York. Those of them who have the appearance of people or know how to transform into them walk among people without fear of being discovered. But others have to hide their appearance behind Glamor, although they are expensive and not everyone can afford. This “town within a city” is run by Mayor Ichabod Crane (Yes, the one from Sleepy Hollow). And Sheriff Bigby Wolf keeps order.
Who is actually the Great Gray Wolf.

Well, or in the European version - the Big Bad Wolf. Yes, the same one that ate Little Red Riding Hood. And he also has piglets.

His name is a play on words: if you write Big Bad Wolf in English as Big B. Wolf, you get “BigB.”
The sheriff is lonely, although he has long been unrequitedly in love with Snow White (she has been divorced for many years; life with Prince Ferdinand in the human world has not improved). Bigby drinks and smokes heavily, and tries to distance himself from his bloody past. Although few people know about his efforts, he has a corresponding reputation and many Fairy Tales are afraid of him. And those who are not afraid, at least do not trust.




This is such a fabulously dark noir - the Beast works several jobs to feed his family, because he lost his wealth after the Exodus... But Bluebeard even increased it.
The former Piglet (one of three), and now quite a boar, Colin generally lives on the Farm - in the place where those from Fairy Tales live who cannot wear Charms or cannot afford to buy them. Periodically, he runs to Bigby and complains to him about his life, blaming him for all his troubles. He, BB, blew away the house then...
For a long time, the life of Fabletown (Fairy Tale Quarter) was, although far from a cloudless existence, but not overshadowed by death... It is impossible to kill a fairy tale.... But, it turned out that only “almost”.




A brutal murder of Fairy Tale occurs and the sheriff begins an investigation. Which, as expected in the noir genre, will be intricate, dark, will reveal many secrets (both past and present) and will reveal many dark and secret places in the souls of all involved... And will change the sheriff himself.

If you still haven’t realized that we’re not talking about a series or a movie, then I achieved my goal :) And that’s good - because, although we’re actually talking about computer game, comparison with the series is quite justified.
This is a graphic adventure game - and when you play through it, you are essentially a participant in the story along with the viewer. That is, it’s as if you are watching an animated series (the game even consists of “chapter episodes”, there are even “in the previous episode”, credits and “watch in the next episode..,”), participating in dialogues and choosing the main character.
Therefore, control comes down to literally three buttons - you can walk around the rooms a little during the investigation, run after a suspect, bend down during a fight (and the neo-noir genre tells us that Bigby will have a lot of fights :)) and look at the evidence . And, of course, you will have to choose answers in the dialogues, and the plot of the story will depend on them.

What can I say about the story itself? For starters, the plot is very cool and keeps you in constant suspense. On the one hand, all the signs of the genre of both fairy tales and noir are present here. But they are mixed in a very unexpected way, and throughout each “episode” I, getting used to the plot, sincerely exclaimed “Wow!”, and at the end even “No, no, not.....!” At the same time, it’s very nice and funny to see a bunch of references to the classics and at the same time hints and Easter eggs, as well as plays on well-known fairy-tale cliches. Well, it’s just that the world of Fairy Tales itself is very interesting and full of references: Bigby smokes Huff & Puff cigarettes, and these are the words of the Wolf when he blew on the piglets’ houses :) The beer they drink in the Fairy Tales Quarter is “Midas’ Gold” :) And so on. ..
Visually, it is stylized as a comic book (and for good reason, because in the beginning there was a comic book called Fables and I will definitely get to it :))

Trailer

So if you are a fan of the neo-noir genre, you like stories where fairy-tale characters live secretly in our world - or you are simply a fan of detective games - I recommend "Wolf" with all my paws!

Especially for leonuri - I highly recommend this to you, as a lover of “Grimm” :) I know that you are not a gamer, but for this game make an exception :) There is almost no need to poke buttons :) As a last resort, put your son in jail :))) )) Let him poke, and you watch a stylish, action-packed fairy-tale detective on the screen :)

The game on steam is in English, but here you can download the Russification. Well, you-know-where there are probably already with Russification.

Telltale continues to walk with a victorious gait, delighting all fans of high-quality quests and simply unusual games. A year ago, the entire gaming community was delighted with an interactive comic with elements of a quest based on. The developers, in turn, assessed the scale of their own success and decided to present a game that differs from The Walking Dead only in the story it tells. That's how it turned out The Wolf Among Us– a very atmospheric detective story starring characters from children’s fairy tales.

But the heroes of fairy tales do not at all mean that the game has become childish or frivolous. Instead, this is a gritty noir detective story with a sullen protagonist. By the way, his name is Bigby Wolf and he is a sheriff. A sheriff who is called upon to maintain law and order among fairy-tale creatures living in a modern metropolis. Make sure that a piece of the fairy-tale world remains hidden from the eyes of ordinary people. After all, in fact, the sweet, kind and brave heroes are entirely psychopaths and immoral individuals, but these are details that are more pleasant to reveal for yourself, plunging into the cycle of events of The Wolf Among Us.

In fact, Bigby Wolf is not only a sheriff, he is also that big and bad gray wolf from fairy tales. However, in its alternative life he is a stern upholder of the law. We have to play for him. If you spent at least an hour or two on last year's The Walking Dead, then you are actually already familiar with the gameplay, which will be discussed further. The game is built on the principle of an interactive comic book. The characters communicate with each other, and from time to time we need to choose one of the phrases to maintain the conversation.

Serious consequences may be hidden behind this not particularly important remark. Characters in The Wolf Among Us remember your words and actions, which subsequently entails a response. This doesn't necessarily happen in the next scene, no. It’s just that the non-linear plot of the game after your phrase will go along a completely different path and you can’t go back.

In our free time from chatter, the game will give us a little classic quest. Wandering around the location, collecting and using items. Compared to The Walking Dead, the interface has been tightened up a bit, becoming clearer and more logical. At the same time, the quest component is still relegated not even to the background, but to the background. The game is built around a plot in which the player is more of an observer than a participant.

Occasionally diversify game process action scenes. This will happen at the very beginning of the game, as if revealing all the possibilities of The Wolf Among Us. The essence of these scenes is to quickly and timely touch certain points on the screen, or perform swipes. Bigby Wolf will do the rest himself.

The art is a noticeable step forward from Telltale's previous game, but still has a comic book style. Of course, given the game’s bias towards interactive scenes with the participation of the player, one cannot fail to note how well-designed and meticulously the characters’ images are. At the same time, it becomes possible to compare classic fairy tale characters with their versions from the game. The sound is also at the same level, the dialogues are voiced in English, but there are no Russian subtitles, so knowledge of English is not only welcome, but also a necessity.

The conclusion is quite simple. If you're a fan of quests or just unusual games, then Telltale's next game shouldn't be missed. The Wolf Among Us is a fascinating and damn atmospheric project, inspired by a series of comics based on fairy tale characters known to everyone. At the same time, the game is a full-fledged detective story, moderately cruel and gloomy. While only the first episode is available, looking back at The Walking Dead, there is no doubt that new ones will not be long in coming.

Deconstruction of fairy-tale images is one of the favorite pastimes of modern creators. That Terry Gilliam turns his crazy gaze on the personalities of the Brothers Grimm themselves, then the Disney bosses will suddenly decide to expose the evil witch from “ Sleeping beauty"a tragic heroine. The characters of the classic fairy-tale pantheon were also heroes of comedies (“ Shrek"), and militants (" Witch hunters"), and horror films (" Snow White: A Scary Tale"), and "Twilight" melodramas (" Little Red Riding Hood"). And, of course, dozens, if not hundreds, of porn films.

However, it’s not enough to mold Little Red Riding Hood into a sexy werewolf hunter and tie a mace to Rapunzel’s braid to make them interesting to a mature audience. Asylum studio is capable of these cheap tricks. Transform archetypes into living people , whose fate one would not give a damn about, is a much more difficult task. Screenwriter Bill Willingham, who previously helped Neil Gaiman in work on an epoch-making The Sandman, And Mark Buckingham, who painted, coped with it, perhaps better than anyone before them. So, get acquainted - Fables.

Wolf is different from wolf. IN The Wolf Among Us Bigby was only showing a fraction of his true power.

Lived once

The fairy-tale world is destroyed and enslaved. Power in all kingdoms was seized by a mysterious Enemy. Popular fairy tale characters, or as they call themselves, legends, survived the massacre and fled to our boring world devoid of magic. The main thing here is faith: thanks to the fact that many ordinary people still remember them, the legends continue to live. They settled in a land that had become a refuge for many outcasts and seekers of a better life - in America.

New York today. For simpletons The Fabletown area is unremarkable. To ensure that this state of affairs does not change, the legends inhabiting the quarter are carefully monitored. The wealthiest of them, outwardly no different from ordinary people, live in a luxurious apartment building; Legends of a lower class rent small apartments and rooms. Those who do not have enough money for potions that maintain the human form are forcibly sent to a special suburban area, Farm, where they coexist with ogres, dragons and other unpleasant non-humans.

Along with the heroes of the Brothers Grimm, characters from a variety of works participate in the events of the comic. For example, Frankenstein's monster.

Readers who have played at least one episode of the Telltale series are very familiar with the situation, since this is a fairly accurate prequel to the comic. However, the emphasis in the game is placed completely differently. The developers presented the story of Fabletown and its inhabitants as a typical noir detective story with chases, fights, dead prostitutes and an anti-hero avenging them, but this is still a significant simplification.

Fables is first and foremost a social drama. Sometimes it's just drama. And sometimes comedy. At times a thriller, often a detective story, and once an action fantasy. This comic does not want to fit into the Procrustean bed of a particular genre, just as our everyday life does not fit into it.

A fairy tale is a lie...

The main character in Fables, Unlike The Wolf Among Us, No. Yes, Sheriff Bigby is given a lot of pages, but the authors can easily remove him from the story at any time and not mention, for example, numbers ten. And Snow White is not always at the center of events. Almost every legend that appears in the comic is given a chance to unfold before the reader.

But let's start with Bigby Wolf. Yes, this is the same Gray Wolf that tore Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother to pieces, destroyed the piglets’ houses and did many other things that they prefer not to tell children about at night. Now, trying to atone for the mistakes of his youth, he serves as the sheriff of Fabletown. In appearance and demeanor, Bigby resembles Logan from " X-Men", by cunning - John Constantine. Like the London sorcerer, the sheriff knows how to find a person with the abilities he needs and use him in his multi-step plans. He even has a small network of agents, which includes Cinderella, who turns out to be an excellent spy, and Mowgli - like Bigby, who has the sense of a wolf.

Bigby is an excellent detective. Instead of freezing in horror, he notices that there is too much blood at the crime scene and it is splattered very neatly. Suspicious, don't you think?

IN The Wolf Among Us The relationship between the Wolf and Snow White was more like mutual teenage sympathy, although in the comics it was much deeper. Being half beast, half force of nature (Bigby's father is the North Wind himself), he falls in love on a super-biological, primal level, falls in love with all his being. And he loves Snow White from the moment he first saw her and smelled her. At the same time, Bigby understands perfectly well that their chances for a happy future together are negligible, and therefore does not pretend to anything.

As the 17th century French poet Pierre Corneille said: “Beauty alone conquers us with power. We, not fearing death, are afraid of dear wrath.”

Snow White in the comics is a much more complex personality than the Komsomol activist from the Telltale series, who suddenly turned into a bureaucratic bitch in the finale. In fact, the whole of Fabletown rests solely on it. King Cole, a good-natured, mustachioed fat man who holds the position of mayor, hardly appears in his office, and after listening to the complaints of residents, he can only shake his head sympathetically.

All paperwork, all significant decisions, all destinies lie on the shoulders of a young and eternally beautiful girl who cannot afford to be kind and sympathetic. The mechanism must work, and its task is to lubricate the nuts, even if O whether with tears or blood. And, by the way, behind her scary tale with her maniacal stepmother and dwarves, whom she prefers not to remember, an unsuccessful marriage (the Prince turned out to be such a stud) and an uncontrollable younger sister, Rose, whose relationship is complicated by the fact that it was she who fell under Snow White’s ex-husband.

Snow White is a good person, but as an official she is adamant.

According to the good tradition of the Vertigo publishing house, each comic book hero has a lot of problems, both supernatural and everyday. The marriage of Beauty and the Beast is falling apart at the seams due to constant debts, Pinocchio will never sleep with a woman because the stupid fairy turned him into a boy, but forgot about physical maturation, and Jack, who once received magic beans, is fruitlessly hoping to catch his luck again for tail and gets involved in more and more financial adventures.

Villains as such in Fables No. Instead of them there are heroes with their own beliefs and interests. The power-hungry sadist Bluebeard regularly makes generous donations to Fabletown's treasury to keep the system running. For this, he quite reasonably demands that you treat your requests with special attention and not ask unnecessary questions. Prince Charming is a manipulator and gigolo, but he just uses the beauty and charm given to him by nature. What's bad about it? Even the terrible Enemy turns out to be a person driven by (generally) good intentions.

Outwardly, the Enemy resembles a typical fantasy villain like Sauron. But the first impression, as usual, is deceiving.

...yes there is a hint in it

Despite the general message in the style of “ They lived happily ever after" - an excuse for kids», Fables remains perhaps Vertigo's most life-affirming comic. There is no oppressive darkness and sharp satire in it, as in Hellblazer, nor the abundance of philosophy and surrealism, as in The Sandman, nor extreme blasphemy, as in Preacher. Fabletown is home to some pretty nice people who know how to find mutual language. For example, when a merciless army of wooden soldiers, sent by the Enemy from the Native Lands, invaded the area, all the legends rushed together to defend their second home, forgetting about past grievances, and without hesitation sacrificed themselves, covering each other’s backs.

And the feuds between the heroes do not necessarily end in bloodshed. Rose Red, for example, found the strength to reconcile with her older sister Snow White and found on the Farm, where she was exiled for problems with the law, new house and friends.

Covers Fables was handled by James Jean, one of the most talented illustrators in the industry.

However, the themes raised in the comic are not at all fabulous. Its leitmotif, of course, is social inequality, which is especially pronounced in this world. Your well-being directly determines whether you look like a human or, for example, like a blue-skinned goblin. At the same Farm, where all the legends that should not appear in public gathered, general discontent reached such a level that a real revolution broke out, with the establishment of a new government, slogans and many victims. The leadership of Fabletown, barely able to cope with the situation, had to take extreme measures and execute the leaders of the uprising in order to stop this from happening in the future.

One day Jack did get rich. The irony is that in our reality the last film about Jack failed miserably.

As screenwriter Bill Willingham said, politics one way or another permeates all areas of our lives, so it cannot be ignored by comics. Over time in Fables The views and beliefs of the author himself become increasingly apparent. Willingham's concern for the situation in the East and his pro-Israeli position became obvious after the appearance of the characters in the story " Thousand and One Nights" Sinbad, the vizier, the genie and other characters are depicted more like caricatured Arabs, living according to archaic laws and not agreeing with the fact that some barbarians are trying to force them to give up their slaves and dissolve the harem, than as living heroes. However, outright bullying on the level of Garth Ennis (see comic book series Preacher Fables still trying to avoid it.

Familiar motives

The concept of “heroes of myths and legends in a big city” is not so original and has been used in various works more than once. However, fairy-tale characters are not often thrown into our world.

TV series "The Tenth Kingdom" (1999)

Possibly the main inspiration Fables. Here, too, all fairy tales live in one world, you can move freely between magical world and modern New York, and the Gray Wolf walks around in the guise of an unshaven handsome man and is also in love, although not with Snow White herself, but with her daughter. A wonderful family mini-series, not at all outdated, despite its advanced age.

TV series “Once Upon a Time” (2011)

Fairy-tale heroes fled from a world destroyed by a catastrophe to ours and founded a settlement in modern America. Some plot details are very reminiscent of what we saw in Fables. There is even a Gray Wolf as sheriff. By the way, he is played by someone who had not yet tarnished his reputation.” Fifty Shades gray» Jamie Dornan. And the ABC channel, which broadcasts the series, is owned by The Walt Disney Company, so here, for example, Mulan or Elsa from “ Frozen».

Film "Real Fairy Tale" (2011)

Perhaps Sergei Bezrukov and director Andrei Marmontov have never heard of some American comic book that has never been published in Russia, but their joint project “ Real fairy tale"in many ways resembles a free arrangement Fables in the Russian way. The same fairy-tale apocalypse, in the same way the heroes migrate into our reality and try to settle in it. Vasilisa the Wise works as a teacher at school, Ivan the Fool serves in the Airborne Forces, and three heroes guard the oligarch Koshchei, and in the evenings they let off steam in the arena of fights without rules. However " Real fairy tale"is not a drama or a satire, but a very good children's film, completely undeservedly ignored by the audience and torn to smithereens by critics.

* * *

The story of the tales is coming to an end. The one hundred and fiftieth anniversary issue will be released in the first quarter of this year. Fables, which will be the last. Unlike the same long-suffering Constantine, Bigby and his comrades will not have to be reborn in the current main DC Universe. The New 52” and hanging around with the Justice League, which is generally great. Fables- a thing in itself, a smart and adult fairy tale. In the thirteen years that have passed since the release of the first issue, its heroes have endured a lot and deserved their happy ending. At least this time.

Independent developers and publishers rolled into one Telltale Games , which already has about 25 games, are distinguished by one characteristic feature. All of the studio's games are mostly released episodically, united into thematic seasons, just like in the world of modern TV series. The company's portfolio also includes live-action adaptations of popular films, television shows and comics. True love and devotion from fans Telltale Games deserved after the release of the reference first season " The Walking Dead» (« the walking Dead). Since then, the company's games have received a huge amount of trust from fans, and new project- “” instantly attracted the attention of the public. And as the release showed, it’s definitely not in vain.

http://youtu.be/azdK8yDC1lA

• Name
• Developer: Telltale Games
• Genre: Adventure, Graphic novel
• Year: 2014
• Metacritic: 77 out of 100

“The whole world is a theater. There are women, men - all actors in it" © W. Shakespeare

"is an interactive graphic novel based on the comic book universe Fables by Bill Willingham. Here, characters from fairy tales, myths and legends are forced to buy Charms in order to hide their real appearance from the inhabitants New York where they settled. Life is by no means easy, and money is not enough Enchantment Not everyone has enough. In the world "" Great Gray Wolf, well known from the fairy tale " Little Red Riding Hood", and part-time - main character games, works as a sheriff to keep order, and tries to atone for his past sins. Snow White is a deputy local manager, Gorgeous And Monsters sort out relationships against the backdrop of a deteriorating financial condition, and Mermaid and a number of other fairy tale heroines are even forced to engage in prostitution in order to somehow make ends meet.

And all this is done in an excellent noir style. The noir here is not the same as in the recent film "", but it can easily compete with it. The extravaganza of bright colors plays on high contrast, all these purple shadows, orange light and charcoal darkness create a unique look for the game.

"Faith"

The first episode, immediately after the atmospheric intro video, throws the player into the thick of things. Bigby- that same gray wolf, comes at the call of Mr. Toad complaining about noise and disturbances among neighbors. Arriving at the place, he encounters Lumberjack and a girl named Vera. Bigby gets involved in the conflict that arises, which leads to a very brutal fight with a spectacular fall out of the window. The girl thanks for the rescue, but not a day passes before the main character discovers the girl’s severed head on the threshold of his house.

He will remember this

Telltale Games from the first minutes of the episode they delight fans of their work with their signature style, variability in decision-making, intriguing plot and interesting action based on quick time events. By and large, since the times of the same “ Walking Dead“The mechanics have not undergone any noticeable changes. We are still exploring locations, participating in cutscenes where we need to press buttons on the controller in time to dodge blows or jump over obstacles, and conducting entertaining dialogues with numerous characters, where their further attitude towards the main character will depend on the choice of lines. And here doubts begin to creep in: will the decisions we have made have such a strong impact on the further development of events? There is a strong impression that whether we are rude to everyone, use force and behave like an immoral person, or throw all our strength into helping and solving the problems of other characters, nothing will change in the finale, and all decisions will only affect the attitude of those the most characters to Bigby. But, somehow, the developers once again manage to make the player feel for the characters and get used to the role of the main character quite strongly, trying, together with Bigby, to prove to others that he is not as bad as everyone is used to thinking.

"Smoke and Mirrors"

And if the creators of the game succeeded with the relationships between the characters, then the difficult moral choice that the main character faces several times during the game turned out to be not so difficult. If in the first season " The Walking Dead", the player desperately tried to choose the lesser of two evils with time inexorably running out, after which he panicked about whether the choice made would turn out to be wrong. But there was no right choice as such.

There are no such emotions here. By and large, the player doesn’t care where the main character goes first. The suspicion that the choice made will not really affect anything in the end intensifies more and more as the game progresses.

"A Crooked Mile"

As you can see, the mechanics have not changed, but its components are performed at a slightly different level, which begins to be perceived somewhat differently. And if there are not so many fewer dramatic moments and situations in the game where the player is torn by conflicting feelings and the torment of choice, but rather the intensity of the passions themselves has decreased, then the decision to cut back on the research element will appeal to many. Now there is no need, as it was in " Sam & Max» travel back and forth in search of an item that was accidentally missed, and without which the plot does not want to move forward. Research in "" comes down mainly to investigations at the scene of incidents and/or crimes, with the construction of logical conclusions and modeling of events. And this was done an order of magnitude better than in “,” where investigations were placed at the forefront of the entire gameplay.

"In Sheep's Clothes"

Having taken a vigorous start in the first episode, "" deflates, and in all other issues it shows itself rather sluggishly. Basically we talk to different characters in different locations, and after 2 hours we discover another sudden turn of events, we look “in the next episode”... Until the final episode, Telltale Games as if they were swinging to stun the player in the finale. And, in fact, that’s how it is. The final episode, not only boasts an abundance of action and eventful events, also spills out all the player’s previously made decisions. And if they, not to say that they radically influence the development of further events, but they make you nervous and remember, and sometimes even regret, one or another action. What is the final judgment worth? In general, the fears that arise in the course of 2-4 episodes are dispelled, if not completely, then to a significant extent.

"Cry Wolf"

But the ending evokes conflicting feelings. On the one hand, it dramatically changes the player’s perception. According to the law of the genre, everything turns out to be far from what it seems. But it turns out that the entire first season is by no means an original completed project, but only a grandiose set-up for a continuation, which now definitely will happen! Telltale Games There is still something to surprise us, but the company has not lost its touch.

Results:

Look and design: 10
Plot: 9
Stability: 9
Graphics quality: 6
Sound and music: 8
Replayability: 9
Gameplay: 7

Pros:
Visual style and noir
Variation and twisting plot
Improved research component

Minuses:
There is no former drama and intensity of emotions
Technically the game is outdated
This is just a big start for the next season

1.General information about the game.

“The Wolf Among Us” is another brainchild of the company Telltale Games, published from October 11, 2013 to July 8, 2014. This is a classic graphic point`n`click-adventure, released in episodes (there were 5 in total). In terms of plot, Wolf among us is a neo-noir detective story in which the main emphasis is on dialogues and moral dilemmas, rather than searching for clues or QTE battles (although there is that too). However, the characters and setting of the story are not realistic, but fantasy, and are taken from the Fables comic book, popular in the 2000s. Bill Willingham.

Unlike many adventure games, the effect of empathy for the hero is well implemented in this game. It's hard to imagine that the gaming elements in Wolf among us could be of interest to those who remained indifferent to the hero and plot. In this regard, it is interesting to understand the mechanisms of constructing such sympathy and consider the features of moral gameplay. It is worth adding to the game features those common features that are characteristic of other games from this studio: the influence of choices on the development of the plot and the registration of important decisions at the end of each episode (with general player statistics).

2. Game as a statement.

The subject matter of Wolf among us is broad and has a noticeably mature theme. Since Telltale games are focused on telling a story, the discrepancy between the plot and additional meanings arising from the gameplay is minimal. What appears on the screen is the “statement” of the game. At the same time, the player will not always feel exactly the experiences that the authors intended, and this allows you to understand some elements of the story in your own way.

If we highlight the main topics, we will see the following.
The theme of the past, which covers various references to experiences and memories, mistakes and reckoning, and attempts to explain the present (the problems of the present almost always come from the past). Adjacent to this broad theme is the more specific theme of fairy tales and reality. The framework plot of the comic and the game is the exodus of fairy-tale creatures (“tales”) into the world of ordinary people, which ultimately creates tension between the “fairy tale in reality” (Fabletown is a city within a city) and the “reality in the fairy tale” (the tales are forced to adapt to laws and challenges of a real city, and not the Fairy Lands in which they lived before). This part is very reminiscent of early Sapkowski, who also worked on translating fairy-tale and mythical plots into the perspective of realistic history. Willingham uses the same technique: the real events that happened to the heroes of fairy tales (Snow White, the Woodcutter, Beauty and the Beast, the Little Mermaid, etc.) turn out to be only from afar similar to the plots of fairy tales. In them, as in real world, deception, violence and inequality prevail.

No less important is the theme of relationships - love and hate, fidelity and dependence. This theme works most strongly to create sympathy for the characters. Since the “legends” live much longer than ordinary people and at the same time a relatively small local community, they have to build relationships against the backdrop of a tangible history of previous deeds, grievances and disappointments. As Grebenshchikov once ironically sang: “ good memory worse than syphilis, especially in close circles" Those. on the one hand, everyone knows each other well, and on the other hand, the “legends” also feel loneliness and lack of support (especially given the fact that many lost everything in the exodus). Relationships between fathers and children, wives and husbands, sisters, lovers and exes often run along the line of dependence: family ties are something that remains forever, moreover, in some cases they do not depend in any way on our choice. However, in the scenes where these relationships somehow manifest themselves, the player has little choice: at the same time, it is precisely such scenes, using cinematic techniques, that enhance the effect of involvement (for example, the scene of the conversation between Snow and the Wolf in a taxi in the first episode).

With increasing realism, the game world inevitably becomes a response to social problems - in our case, these are political topics, as well as problems of local/closed communities and crime. The creators of the game followed the author of the idea, in a sense they even softened the political sound of the original. Willingham himself did not hide the pro-Israeli nature of his comic, believing that it would be dishonest to try to somehow hide it. On this occasion he remarked: “ It is impossible to always and completely keep politics aside. We are all political creatures, whether we agree with it or not." In the game, some of the nuances are weakened, although some continue to be clearly read. For example, the very first mentions of “simpletons” (mundy) sound with a noticeable amount of arrogance and specific misunderstanding, which clearly refers to the goyim. In Wolf among us, the emphasis is more on personal relationships, while in the comic there is much more irony and satire about social problems (for example, the second story arc is practically a paraphrase of Orwell’s “Animal Farm” with mocking remarks on the theme of revolution). It's also worth noting that it was the social context of the problems that made the characters in Fables complex and interesting, so in some respects the characters in the game are inferior to them in depth.

For my taste, the main semantic highlight of the game was the balance between the ideological and graphic components of the noir style. This is something that is present in the comics to a very small extent. The game reflects all the classic themes of noir: the lone hero (forced to fight with himself), nostalgia and moral ambivalence, the destructive influence of the city, baroque excess. Moreover, with regard to genre and style clichés, “The Wolf” takes a very interesting position - it is a kind of postmodern irony on the theme of noir, in which the technique is simultaneously exposed/literalized and deepened in new plays. Ultimately, a graphic novel has very different limitations than a video game. The game is better suited for noir (since editing, intra- and off-screen voiceovers, and rhythm changes are possible in it), especially due to the inconvenience with long dialogues in the graphics (large foot wraps of text are inconvenient and too lazy to read, while noir with a minimum of lines is this is not the same at all).

Let us examine in more detail this dual play on the schemes and techniques of noir.
Firstly, a key feature of the noir atmosphere is nostalgia. Here, on the one hand, it is given “head-on”: each hero has a “fairy tale” in the past in the literal sense of the word. On the other hand, the personal stories of the characters bear only a vague resemblance to “fairy tales.” There was enough violence and injustice in this past, so many “legends” experience a kind of nostalgia, but only for some clarity of bygone times (and not everyone dreams of returning there). Ultimately, like noir heroes, they have nowhere to return to: they only have a choice - to cling to the past or try to start everything anew.

Secondly, the important background of noir is urban environment, embodying the ambivalence of morality/law and evil. Sometimes in noirs it seems that all the inhabitants of the city are in captivity, which is literally conveyed in the backstory: the stories are really exiles who were forced to leave their homeland. Their city within a city replicates all the temptations and problems that are so often highlighted in noir (poverty, prostitution, corruption, alienation, etc.). Night City proves to be not only a stylish setting for the game, but also a constant hint that almost all the characters have something to hide. This somewhat blurs the question of guilt and evil: there is no ideal scale distinguishing right from wrong, incl. for the main character. A significant part of the moral dilemmas in the game are therefore built on a simple thesis: the same assessment/line of behavior for all cases works poorly, and sometimes unpredictably.

Thirdly, the main character always embodies the torn and searching single subject. In Wolf among us, the protagonist is literally the Lone Wolf. In the past, he is a dangerous enemy for many "legends" (he was nicknamed the Big Bad Wolf, which later became something like the initials - BigB, Bigby), but now he is a sheriff who not only fights to enforce the rules, but and for the trust of the community. His animalistic nature doesn't like the city, so he constantly smokes cheap cigarettes to drown out the smells of the city (a good explanation of the visual cliché). And many of the investigator’s tools are replaced by the beast’s impeccable scent. Moreover, Bigby’s previous story is also not without tragedy, at least it explains the bitterness in the past (His father, the North Wind, abandoned his mother White Wolf, which is why she soon died, and Bigby himself, being the youngest in the litter, was forced to fight for own place). Those. Both clichés - the struggle for survival and the struggle with oneself - are again given literally. The wolf must restrain himself so as not to turn into a beast, at the same time, like all simple “legends,” he survives (his work brings him little: a bunch of problems and a wretched little room in which there is not even a bed).
In fact, noir in video games (including this one) goes through its evolution in the opposite direction, but without losing its acquisitions - from late noir with an atmosphere of decay to a hard-boiled detective relying on fists and luck in the investigation.

3. Moral issues.

One of the main criticisms of the game was that it was too linear: there were very few plot resolutions and, by and large, one ending. One can only partially agree with this; ultimately, the whole question is how and with what to compare. There are choices in the game (choosing where to go forward) that change the consequences, it's just that these consequences relate to particulars - like the survival of Prince Lawrence, which really has little effect on anything.

It is worth recognizing the fact that the message “character such and such it will remember" is used here only to remind you of the moral nature of the choices, but not of the loss of any opportunities (which is typical for many games with moral gameplay). Bigby's moral choices in five episodes ultimately come down to the final struggle for the minds and sympathies of the “legends.” Whether this was done consciously or not by the authors is unknown, but the fact remains clear that against the backdrop of “democratic” decision-making in the finale, the actions of the Wolf ( moral deeds player) turn out to be more important than the sins and guilt of the accused. Democracy is like that.

The game developers, however, tried to use all the basic formulas of moral gameplay. The logic of the plot is based on a scenario of fixed justice, and in some cases the “illusion of choice” technique is used (most dialogues end the same), in others it is “blind following” (in some cases Bigby has no option to act ignoble). It would seem that fixed equity does not fit with other scenarios, but here they are are imitated. This is a good example of how references to other games can be used to enhance engagement. Despite the relative linearity of the game, there are elements of the “branching narrative” that characterizes the model of accumulation of deeds. There is no obvious scale in the game, but the constantly displayed inscription “the character will remember this” creates the feeling of some kind of karma of the hero, influencing subsequent events. Plus, you can find another technique in the game - the “hidden moral spectator”. This, for example, is Snowball in a number of dialogues (for example, TJ’s questioning).

But that's not all: in games of this kind there is no freedom for the NPCs or even the sequence of episodes, and against this background the creators are trying to imitate a third type of scenarios - “emergent moral systems”. Ultimately, the player and his hero do not have the task of pleasing everyone, however, the logic of the setting (a community of “tales” that are forced to somehow come to terms with each other and adapt to new conditions) sets a tangible vector for self-determination - either in the spirit of group solidarity ( not all “legends” are impeccable, but all are their own), or, on the contrary, in a purely individualistic vein (do not take on the worries of others, fight for your happiness, associated with only one character - Snow).

Ultimately, the game itself takes on the most obvious moral resonance. Detective story, in which there is no clear answer about wine. Depending on the understanding, almost everyone can be considered the perpetrators of a number of crimes. Who should be punished more: the performer or the one who gave the order? What if the order was indirect? Are those who remained silent and conniving guilty, or are only the direct participants and the creator of the criminal scheme responsible? Should those who provoked the crime through carelessness, negligence, cowardice or thoughtlessness be blamed? How to assess the guilt of those who are subject to revenge, resentment, lust or simply the desire to survive? The game does not provide answers, but encourages you to pose the question itself with the possibility of a subsequent answer (for yourself personally). Oddly enough, the fact that these answers and the choices associated with them have little effect on the plot is rather a plus in this game. Instead of just one thing, you get both history and stimuli for moral imagination (one is not replaced or subordinated to the other).

4. Analysis of the media sphere around the game.

Overall, in terms of media coverage of the game, the game remained noticed only by the gaming media. At best, some gaming publications responded with short reviews in the spirit of a “fairy tale for adults.” “The Wolf Among Us” received high ratings from both users and critics (an average of 8 to 9 on a 10-point scale). Moreover, gamers' ratings were slightly higher, which is another confirmation of the importance of sympathy for the main character. As indirect evidence of “people's love,” we must also note the attention paid to the characters in the game by the creators of porn content.

The announcement of a game based on Fables appeared in February 2011, but then there were several delays, including due to a revision of the concept. At the end of 2012, the creators decided that Bigby would be the main character, and therefore, at the beginning of 2013, the game changed its name to The Wolf among us. It is also worth noting that the release of the finished game was postponed twice, primarily so as not to create competition for TheWalking Dead. In connection with this circumstance, some critics noticed that the game turned out to be somewhat lagging compared to the general background of games of 2012-2013. However, it is precisely this circumstance that allows us to see the advantages of this game: so simple game managed to push aside the giants of 2013 (and this is Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm, Last of us, GTA5, Dead Space 3, Beyond two souls, Batman Arkham Origin, Tomb Raider, Rain, etc.). And yet, despite 8.5 million copies sold, Telltale Games has no plans to release a sequel. Perhaps compared to other projects, The Wolf among us really paid off poorly (The Walking Dead today has 28 million copies sold).

In addition, in the gamer community there is an interesting version about the script of The Wolf Among Us, which they allegedly were forced to seriously redo after the first episode. According to this theory, after the release of the first episode, a certain player guessed who the killer was and posted his thoughts on the forum of the official website. After this information became widespread, Telltale Games decided to change the script, which forced them to abandon a number of characters, dialogue, and the planned ending. One confirmation of this: the second episode was released after 4 months, and not 1.5 as announced. Users also noted that many frames from the trailer for the second episode were simply missing, and the episodes themselves (from 2 to 5) became shorter. For example, judging by the frame from the trailer, there was another equally important character in the game - detective Brannigan. The fact that the plot was changed so quickly can be considered another explanation for why the second season was never announced. As for the theory about the killer, perhaps in the original plot it was a red-haired guy who appears several times on the periphery in the first episode (the character's name is Cryer - this is a character from a fairy tale about a boy who cried "Wolf!"; in original version he stole a sheep, and then was exposed by the Wolf, which is why he is now trying to take revenge on him).

5. Summary.

As a summary, I will now try to answer the question “What makes the game attractive?”, although these are largely subjective things.

Without the effect of involvement - through sympathy or identification with the hero - Wolf among us would lose a significant part of its playability and popularity. At best, the game would seem like just another detective quest with a relatively small number of mysteries. Therefore, it is interesting to try to answer analytically - how does the game achieve this effect? Even among about three hundred negative reviews on Steam (this is 3% of the total), there are practically no complaints about the hero or the plot. In general, the game either did not live up to expectations (plot development, playing time, variability and the influence of choices on the course of the game), or simply turned out to be inconvenient (bugs in the first versions, simple and tedious gameplay, QTE, pixel hunting).

In general, I counted 5 elements at once, which were quite skillfully used by the creators at the very beginning of the game. And all these are well-known techniques, which once again confirms the truth that sometimes you don’t need to reinvent the wheel, you just need to be able to use what you have.

1. Cliché hero. From the first minutes of the game, we discover the main character in a knightly role: he (and with him we) finds himself in a situation in which the most appropriate way of behavior is to protect a girl from a drunken boor. The limited choice of lines one way or another revolves around the Wolf’s modesty/reticence and his willingness to help (to protect, to listen, to treat without contempt, to throw money). His type is “a guy”, and not a “defender of the law”, which also provokes interest in history (due to the discrepancy between the role of the “sheriff” and the type). By the way, in comparison with the original, Bigby was made more attractive, adding brutality. Also, a somewhat tired manner of speech and a rumpled face reduce skepticism in relation to the hero: the image of “shining armor” could only strengthen it. Thus, from the first scenes we already receive enough information to be interested in the continuation - the hero is internally complex, ready to stand up for himself and for others, and at the same time is not flawless (including because the first skirmish does not end entirely in his favor) .

2. Setting. By mixing the comic book style with noir in the right proportion, the authors clearly counted on both audiences. Both styles have in common a “love” for simplifications and accents, which in Wolf among us made it possible to equally well develop the emotional aspects of both the characters’ faces and the setting/landscapes. Many scenes are drawn with a good cinematic sense of light, shadow and composition. Even graphically, the setting emphasizes the connection with the fairy tale, incl. an unusual choice of tones: instead of an alarming dark purple there is a lighter plum and purple, instead of a sickly yellow - bright shades of green, like spring, malachite, olive and citrus, plus a lot of neon (pink, blue, orange). Ultimately, noir itself is also a fairy tale, a dark fairy tale for disillusioned adults. Yes and real ones folk tales were never bright: they were designed to warn or reconcile a person in advance with a gloomy reality. It’s just that in noirs the viewer gets pleasure not from the hopes and joys of the heroes, but from the fact that he turns out to be right in his “disappointed knowledge” about the world and people.

3. Detective line. One of the keys to creating any plot is the emergence of a mystery. Detective stories are built on the question “Who killed?” (or accompanying ones). Since this is also a noir, it couldn’t be otherwise. Curiosity or searching for hints/evidence is one of the best ways“smuggle” identification with the hero. Simply because the reader/viewer and the hero are united by a common desire much better than a coincidence of character traits or appearance. Few, for example, would consider themselves similar to Hercule Poirot (even his own author did not like him and tried to finish everything off), but this hero aroused significant sympathy among readers.

4. Love line. A hint of the Wolf's romantic feelings for Snow appears quite early in the game, so the development of events, willy-nilly, is considered in this vein. This is clearly a reference to other games with romance, which again makes many players expect some kind of resolution (for example, an erotic scene). Regardless of how the storyline plays out, the job of engagement has already been accomplished if at least one of the characters is interesting. It is also curious that for players who are already familiar with the comic book, this logic of involvement also works, although they know that in the game the relationship between Wolf and Snowball will not end in anything (the game acts as a prequel to the comic book, which means it cannot show what which will only happen in comic book episodes). Those who have read the comic already sympathize with the characters so much that they even agree to the nuances of dialogue, rather than the full development of relationships.

5. Symbolism. Quite quickly you can realize that the plot of the game is based on the interpretation of fairy tales, and this is also a reason to see what happens next - i.e. what other familiar plots receive an unusual interpretation. In addition, the game has a lot of hidden symbolic hints and allusions, the solution of which is a favorite pastime of some gamers. Thus, it can be noted that cognitive interest can be supported not only by the main plot line (detective, love story), but also by the background and details. For example, the plot of the plot is not only the murder of a girl, but also a symbolic message. The heroine's name is Faith, i.e. “faith” (from English: faith in the religious sense, trust, loyalty, honesty), thus the death of faith or its loss is also a literal expression of what is happening to many of the heroes of history. I'm not even talking about simple allusions, like the name of cigarettes (Huff and Puff) or a sign (Glass slipper shoes), which are well understood by English speakers. The game is also full of hints at a more complex reading of the story: for example, due to the existence of transformation in others (using enchantments or other objects, such as Vera's donkey skin), there are many interpretations about the characters in the game. Many, for example, believe that the Wolf never meets with Vera (she was already dead by that time) and in the first episode Nerissa pretends to be her. There are also more extravagant versions that believe that the main villain in the game is Colin (what is stopping him from turning into someone?) or Bluebeard.

Thus, a rather interesting pattern can be seen. The game's creators were well aware of the limitations of their approach, genre and technical capabilities (graphics, engine, etc.), and at the same time used plot and symbolic elements to the maximum to engage the game. The game turned out to be rich precisely due to the complex system of motives and themes with the living of the scenario. Particularly interesting was the use of hints and imitations to expand the moral sound of choices within the framework of an initially extremely limited model (the model of blind following). Paradoxically, The Wolf Among Us does a much better job of illustrating moral dilemmas in games than many games with branching narratives and multiple endings. And this paradox is not accidental: and in real life The ethical dimension of actions and actions does not arise only against the backdrop of a fork in three roads with free choice. The complexity of choices, including the dilemma of “lesser evil” or “exceptions to a universal rule for all situations,” is what motivates us to question ethics and learn something new in this area.

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