Wolf Among Us Part 2

I think interactivity is an incredible prominent part of the game The Wolf Among Us. One can interact with most anything in the game and one must in order to complete the game. However, there's the issue of not being able to interact with everything in the game which results in not knowing everything in the game. I feel that this is not a failing of the game but a success as it reflects the reality of not being able to know everything in life.

A game's ability to reflect on life is very powerful because it gives the game a certain substance that without it would make the game less impactful on the player. Arguably, Wolf Among Us allows the interaction with a lot of objects but not every single object in the scene. This shows us that whilst we can see a lot, we can only do so much that is relevant to move our story forward in a clear distinct way.

In other games you may well be able to interact with all that is shown on screen, such as The Sims. The problem with this is that there is far less direction and it becomes easy to be swallowed up in endless detail that only confuses the player. This stops the player, or at least hinders the player from continuing in the directed way of the story.
When one enters a room in The Wolf Among Us one first asks "what actions are available to me as a player?" The game design is done in a way that makes it quite clear. Markers are distinctly highlighted with a white circle, that open up if there are possible more options such as listening to the door or kicking down the door. This array of actions one can take when interacting with an object makes the player think clearly about what they can and can't do with their situation. Ultimately, the clarity of interactive objects lends well to a very linear story based game.

To prove the prominence of interactivity within the game, I propose looking at it without interactivity. There is nothing the player can click on, or affect in the video presented in front of them. If things do happen, then it nothing to do with the player. This is no longer a game. A game requires some level of interactivity otherwise it is a movie. In saying this, The Wolf Among Us has a strong story that lends to the likes of comic books and movies but has been made into a game because of the interactivity.

All in all, this game is cleverly designed with very purposeful interactivity that only adds to the story in a way that does not interfere with the smoothness of the game. I think that whilst this works well for this game, it may not work so well for games that don't have such a set series of plot points to hit. The style of interactivity dictates the pace of the story unfloding and so it can be used to make one feel more in the moment. The Wolf Among Us takes the player through specific moments in a way that feels our own.