Back towards the end of 2018, plenty of people probably assumed they’d never experience a brand-new title from Telltale Games again. Afterbreathing new life into the point-and-click adventure game genre, via episodic content and a focus on branching narratives, the studio was suddenly shut down with no warning to its employees. Anticipated projects likeGame of Thrones: Season 2, and an adaptation of Netflix’sStranger Things, were put on ice indefinitely. Fast-forward to the present, and a brand new Telltale Games is set to enter the spotlight withThe Wolf Among Us 2, following outside investment.
When the originalThe Wolf Among Uslaunched in 2014, it cemented the first studio’s reputation as a narrative and creative force in gaming. The video game adaptation of Bill Willingham’s legendaryFablescomic book series demonstrated that the success Telltale Games achieved with itsThe Walking Deadgame, was far from a fluke. In many ways Bigby Wolf’s adventure is still regarded as one of the studio’s best to this day. Based on the first reveal trailer forThe Wolf Among Us 2, there’s a sense that this legacy will not only be honored in the new game, but that the studio’s return could be accompanied by some long overdue graphical advancements as well.
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Telltale’s Graphical Journey
Despite being lauded for its narrative prowess and the ability to make players second guess their actions, Telltale Games’ adventures were never considered graphically impressive. For much of its existence, the original studio stuck to creating titles that featured cell-shaded comic book-inspired aesthetics. In an industry full of photo-realism, this is by no means a bad decision within itself. However, following its breakout success withThe Walking Dead Season 1, Telltale never strayed too far from that aesthetic. Titles like2017’sBatman: The Enemy Withinended up looking visually indistinct from a lot of the studio’s previous work.
Out of all the games that make up Telltale Games’ catalog, the firstThe Wolf Among Usis arguably the title that stands out the most when it comes to graphics. From just a quick glance at the reveal trailer for2023’sThe Wolf Among Us 2though, it’s instantly clear that the game’s sequel is going to be a cut above anything else that the original Telltale created visually.
While the first game had a unique set of hues to its palette, what’s on offer in the upcoming game appears to be a far more defined and visually distinct art-style. During the scenes in the trailer where Bigby is dealing with the cast ofThe Wizard of Oz, the action looks like it’s been taken straight from the pages of a comic book, on a level that a lot of the older studio’s homogenized games never quite achieved.
Considering how routinely the first Telltale Games managed to serve up memorable and heart-wrenching stories, the fact that the rebooted studio is also starting to examine other areas of production is a big deal. If the entire episodicThe Wolf Among Us 2experience can live up to the reveal trailer’s graphical standards, there’s a chance that the game could becomethe pinnacle of Telltale’s entire portfolio; one that blends storytelling excellence, with a leveled-up graphical showcase that lives up to the same standards. It’s not hard to imagine Telltale Games’ projects going forward being as much a treat for the eyes, as the older games were for the mind.
Telltale’s Shift to Unreal Engine 4
One of the reasons whyThe Wolf Among Us 2appears to be so visually impressive, is the fact that the new Telltale Games is using Unreal Engine 4 for its projects. Before being closed down in 2018, the first studio utilized its own proprietary Telltale Tool engine to design every game from the studio since 2004. Unsurprisingly considering its age, a lot of the graphical and performance issues thatTelltale Games’ historic titlesbecome infamous for can be traced back to this engine. Making sure that Telltale Tool was able to run on every platform imaginable, ensured that it was never really optimized to run on anything other than PC.
As a result of this, Telltale Games’ older hits were marred by frame rate issues, stiff animations, glitches, and character models that were often stylistically similar to each other. Shifting over to Unreal Engine 4 takes away a lot of these headaches, thanks to the efforts that Epic Games has already done to get its software running well on most platforms. Despite being a small vertical slice that might not be indicative of final gameplay,The Wolf Among Us 2’s reveal trailer was missing each ofthese previous Telltale hallmarks. The action and animations looked smooth for example, while character models were cleaner than they’ve ever been.
Telltale Going Forward
Despite only being resurrected at the end of 2018, the new Telltale has already picked up several exciting projects. WhileThe Wolf Among Us 2will be the first out of the blocks for the rebooted studio, anadaptation of Amazon’sThe Expanseis already in the works as well. Reaching a new graphical standard with itsFables-inspired sequel bodes well for this project, as it’s easy to imagine the game now featuring sci-fi themed visuals that are unlike anything seen in a previous Telltale Games release.
Ensuring that each of its titles have their own unique visual identity will also likely lead to more companies coming back into the fold to partner with the studio, which should help the overall health of Telltale going forward.
The Wolf Among Us 2releases in 2023 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
