The Wolf Among Us: Episode 2 'Smoke & Mirrors' | Review

"He's Big; He's Bad;
and He's on the Hunt."

The Big Bad Wolf is back in an all new episode of The Wolf Among Us: Smoke & Mirrors! After playing through it, all I can say is "...". Honestly, I have no words, but is that good or bad? Well...both. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed it and am loving the series so far, but there are a few things I want to address, and don't worry, there won't be any spoilers.

After last episode's shocking end, Episode 2 starts with Bigby reliving the horror of seeing Snow's decapitated head and snaps back to reality in a questioning room at the police station. What happens next is what's to be expected: find out what happened and who might have done this. Black magic is also introduced as well as a couple of new characters, and unlike the first episode, Smoke & Mirrors contains nudity. Yep. Prepare to see some bewbs.

The Strip Club

The game overall was rather short, around an hour or an hour and thirty minutes. As for the gameplay, this episode was different. There wasn't much action or walking around, instead, there was a lot of dialogue. At times it felt like I was watching something rather than being a part of the game which isn't always a good thing. It felt kind of rushed in my opinion. As for the choices you have to make, they weren't exactly major and none of them really affected anything — for now anyway.

It also felt like Telltale Games went off track with their original plan for Episode Two and changed it to something else. The reason I say this is because if you remember watching the "Next time of The Wolf Among Us: Smoke & Mirrors" preview, there were cutscenes that aren't actually in the game. Here are a few examples. In my preview for the second episode, it showed Prince Laurence — if you saved him — talking about Faith, there were different dialogues and scenes with Crane including a fight/struggle near the well, and the scene between Beauty and Beast differed also. It left me a little confused and a little concerned as to whether or not the creators scrapped their original idea and went with something somewhat different. It was kind of disappointing I must admit.

Smokin' dat Huff & Puff

But apart from that and a few minor bugs, The Wolf Among Us: Smoke & Mirrors was a good episode overall. It's entertaining, interesting and well designed, and the ending is one that will either leave you shocked or not surprised. For me, the ending was predictable, but nevertheless, the next episode "A Crooked Mile" should be even more interesting and hopefully longer and more interactive. Bring on Episode 3!