SINGAPORE — Imagine a world where you play the Big Bad Wolf, fighting off The Woodsman and chasing away one of the three little pigs as they invade your home. No, this is not the latest fairy-tale based children’s game, but a mature noir-infused thriller based on a comic-book world in which famous fairy-tale characters inhabit modern New York. Your favourite child-friendly Disney characters these are not: The plot centres around the gruesome death of a Fable, one of the fairy-tale characters now living in our world.

Made by the developers of last year’s multiple-Game Of The Year winner The Walking Dead, Telltale Games, this new game is based on the long-running and critically acclaimed Vertigo comic series Fables by writer Bill Willingham and artist Mark Buckingham. But non-readers need not worry: The story is a prequel to the long-running monthly comic-book series (now at issue 133), and there is enough subtle exposition for non-fans to get into the story.

In this first episode, Faith, you play as Bigby Wolf (the Big Bad Wolf of legend, if you are not familiar with the comic), who is now the Sheriff of Fabletown — an area in Manhattan where all Fables stay. Attempting to solve the murder mystery will bring you to locations to meet characters both old and new. For example, an obscure French fairytale gets referenced in the game, but you also get to see some famous characters from the comics. It is truly a treat for fans to see these characters come to life, and the quality of the voice-acting and writing really brings the comic book characters to life in a way even non-fans can appreciate.

What is even greater is how the game looks and sounds. The noir-esque soundtrack pulses with foreboding as you explore the seedier parts of the Fables universe, and it is really the graphical design that sings: The Wolf Among Us shows us you do not need a powerful graphics card to have a great looking game. The stylised graphics are a mixture of Buckingham’s comic book art and cell-shaded computer graphics that really puts you in the right mood for the story. The graphical design, an evolution of what was last seen in The Walking Dead, really helps the noirish atmosphere permeate the story, and it’s only marred with minor freezes during scene changes.

But unlike The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us does have some limitations for fans who read the series: The game’s is driven by the choices you make, such as during conversations or choosing where to explore first, and certain choices might be more obvious than others, given that these are familiar characters with over 10 years of history behind them. This will not be an issue for non-fans, but it does prevent those familiar with the story from stepping into the character as much as the blank slate The Walking Dead’s Lee Everett was. Nonetheless, there is nothing stopping you from playing the way you want to, and no option really feels entirely out of character for Bigby.

Choice and repercussions are the main focus in The Wolf Among Us, and while some quick-time events can help add some excitement, the true heart-stopping moments are when you’re forced to make choices even as the timer ticks down — which is pretty much every decision. The story also features branching points which can and will affect the story in different ways: Some events will play out the same way whatever you choose, but there is a major decision that might have bigger consequences further down the line.

Detractors might say that The Wolf Among Us is not so much a game as it is an interactive storybook, and they would be partially right — without going into what define a game, the trappings of the usual triple-A titles are nowhere to be seen. That said, given the depth of storytelling and the entertainment value to be had, this is an argument that is easy to look past. And it works great for non-gamers too: My wife finished this episode of the game in one sitting before watching me have another go at it.

It has been a great year for narrative-driven games, with the much-lauded The Last Of Us and the Ellen-Page starring Beyond: Two Souls both showing the potential of focusing on story before action. Telltale Games too has been leading the charge for the renaissance of adventure games — once loved, then shunned in the gaming world — and with The Wolf Among Us I cannot wait to sink my teeth into the continuation of these adventures. There are four more episodes to go, but it looks like the wait will be worth it. If you cannot wait, it might be a good time to go out there and pick up some comics.

The Wolf Among Us costs US$24.99 (S$31) for five episodes, and the first episode is available now. Subsequent episodes will be released at later dates.