Episode 1: Chrysalis
Being a teenager always has been and always will be difficult. It's a period of time where we don't fully know who we are, what's happening to our bodies, why the world works the way it does, and where we are treated like children but expected to act like adults. It can take a toll on someone's mind and leave them in bad places, it can leave us confused, scared, and more than likely a sense of not a single person understanding what you are going through; because your problems are different to everyone else's.
Its a time when we are expected to make the decisions that will potentially decide what happens with the rest of our lives and a time where we should find what our purpose is in this world. But as someone who is still in their late teens, nearly into their twenties, I can wholeheartedly say Life is Strange has spoken to me in a way that people have not been able to since I was fourteen years old.
Max is not a little girl, but not quite a woman yet. In her late teens she has been recently enrolled at her dream college to study photography under the wing of her teacher, professional photographer Mark Jefferson. A shy girl, she prefers to look at the world through a camera lens, distorting her perception of the world to the way she wants to see it it.
Having returned to her home town in Oregon after living in Seattle for five years, Max finds that people she knew growing up are not the same people they once were; that time has changed them, herself, and their town into something she no longer recognises as the world she grew up in for so many years.
After waking in class from a bad dream, she witnesses the murder of a fellow student during a school shooting. However as she reacts to this event her day begins to replay itself exactly as she remembered it, but she has the power to make things play out differently if she reacts differently to how she did before. Once realising that she has the ability to rewind time, she makes it her mission to save the student from being killed and live with the repercussions of it, as well as living a normal teenage life and dealing with a single, visceral, and incredibly lifelike bad dream.
Thanks to its superb opening, Life is Strange managed to grab my interest very quickly. But holding it would prove to be difficult because let's face it, teen drama stories are often boring. But like Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being A Wallflower, LiS is always throwing you curveballs, things you don't see coming, things that escalate the situation, and things that are real problems, not just teen dramas. Speaking more of these instances would ruin the surprises, but expect issues such as teenage pregnancy, big brother surveillance, missing persons, and the dangers of social media to pop up along the way, with the likelihood of many of these individual storylines being central to the progression of the story.
Its a story that looks at teenagers for what they are, confused and mislead by the society they have been raised by. About looking at people stumble through their lives, the mistakes that will haunt them forever and the good times that they will never forget.
Life is Strange is an episodic game in the bane of Telltale's adventure games, from the folks behind 2013's unique and equally intriguing beat-em up Remember Me. If you are familiar with Telltale's games such as The Walking Dead, Back to the Future, Tales from the Borderlands, and The Wolf Among Us, then you'll feel right at home with Life is Strange as it plays almost identically to the well established formula. You control Max with the left stick, the camera with the right and you can interact with various objects you find in different ways, by either looking at them, touching them, or taking a photo of them for Max's scrapbook.
You can talk to people and what you say to them will ultimately affect how they treat you, these decisions affect how the game plays and will hopefully lead to being able to have multiple different endings for the final episode.
Life is Strange does include one interesting and game changing mechanic, but one that makes you question the weight of decisions. This ability is to rewind time whenever you choose at the push of a button. At several points the game will force you to solve puzzles by using this rewind mechanic, such as getting a group of bullies out of the way of a door they are blocking, or allow you to provide the answer for a question correctly after previously getting it wrong.
This mechanic can be used at any time, but during the games major decisions you are often advised to rewind and pick a different option to see how things would have changed had you done it differently, which to me undermines the element of crucial, game altering choices. Luckily, there is no correct way to do things, so you should never feel like you picked the wrong thing; but having that ability to instantly change what I just did if I didn't like how someone reacted almost feels like I'm cheating.
Running on the Unreal Engine, Life is Strange has a very distinct art style that lands somewhere rather awkward in the spectrum of being minimalist and wanting to be a graphical powerhouse. Everything in Life is Strange looks as if it has come to life from Max's scrapbook, with nothing having overly defined edges and lines, with colours being quite single tonal and nothing ever looking as if its graphically complex. But the way this is rendered in the Unreal Engine, makes it feel as if the textures haven't loaded properly. It looks like it's meant to be a much prettier game than it comes across as. Saying that, its not a bad looking game and has a good visual flair, but it just feels like its running in the wrong engine or that it should have a lot more graphical prowess than it currently has.
The voice acting also leaves a little to be desired. Most of this is to do with the awkward dialogue that feels like it was written by adults in their late forties rather than people who are actually the ages of Max & her friends. One use of the word 'Hella' made me cringe and actually want to stick a screwdriver in my ear just so I didn't have to hear it every 10 minutes from that point on. I cant think of a time where I haver ever heard some of this dialogue used in real life apart from in crappy teen movies and it does absolutely no favours for LiS.
Despite those small annoyances though, Life is Strange is a superb opening chapter to what could actually be this years most interesting episodic game narrative. Telltale may have the properties of Borderlands and Game of Thrones to work with and have always been the masters of storytelling, but something as original as Life is Strange doesn't come around often, especially when its as good as it is.
If you can look past some awkward dialogue and the confusing artistic style the game has then you will find a lot to enjoy in this rather long introductory episode (coming in at just over 3 hours). Dontnod could be onto a winner here, I cant wait to see where the story goes next.
Being a teenager always has been and always will be difficult. It's a period of time where we don't fully know who we are, what's happening to our bodies, why the world works the way it does, and where we are treated like children but expected to act like adults. It can take a toll on someone's mind and leave them in bad places, it can leave us confused, scared, and more than likely a sense of not a single person understanding what you are going through; because your problems are different to everyone else's.
Its a time when we are expected to make the decisions that will potentially decide what happens with the rest of our lives and a time where we should find what our purpose is in this world. But as someone who is still in their late teens, nearly into their twenties, I can wholeheartedly say Life is Strange has spoken to me in a way that people have not been able to since I was fourteen years old.
Max is not a little girl, but not quite a woman yet. In her late teens she has been recently enrolled at her dream college to study photography under the wing of her teacher, professional photographer Mark Jefferson. A shy girl, she prefers to look at the world through a camera lens, distorting her perception of the world to the way she wants to see it it.
Having returned to her home town in Oregon after living in Seattle for five years, Max finds that people she knew growing up are not the same people they once were; that time has changed them, herself, and their town into something she no longer recognises as the world she grew up in for so many years.
After waking in class from a bad dream, she witnesses the murder of a fellow student during a school shooting. However as she reacts to this event her day begins to replay itself exactly as she remembered it, but she has the power to make things play out differently if she reacts differently to how she did before. Once realising that she has the ability to rewind time, she makes it her mission to save the student from being killed and live with the repercussions of it, as well as living a normal teenage life and dealing with a single, visceral, and incredibly lifelike bad dream.
Thanks to its superb opening, Life is Strange managed to grab my interest very quickly. But holding it would prove to be difficult because let's face it, teen drama stories are often boring. But like Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being A Wallflower, LiS is always throwing you curveballs, things you don't see coming, things that escalate the situation, and things that are real problems, not just teen dramas. Speaking more of these instances would ruin the surprises, but expect issues such as teenage pregnancy, big brother surveillance, missing persons, and the dangers of social media to pop up along the way, with the likelihood of many of these individual storylines being central to the progression of the story.
Its a story that looks at teenagers for what they are, confused and mislead by the society they have been raised by. About looking at people stumble through their lives, the mistakes that will haunt them forever and the good times that they will never forget.
Life is Strange is an episodic game in the bane of Telltale's adventure games, from the folks behind 2013's unique and equally intriguing beat-em up Remember Me. If you are familiar with Telltale's games such as The Walking Dead, Back to the Future, Tales from the Borderlands, and The Wolf Among Us, then you'll feel right at home with Life is Strange as it plays almost identically to the well established formula. You control Max with the left stick, the camera with the right and you can interact with various objects you find in different ways, by either looking at them, touching them, or taking a photo of them for Max's scrapbook.
You can talk to people and what you say to them will ultimately affect how they treat you, these decisions affect how the game plays and will hopefully lead to being able to have multiple different endings for the final episode.
Life is Strange does include one interesting and game changing mechanic, but one that makes you question the weight of decisions. This ability is to rewind time whenever you choose at the push of a button. At several points the game will force you to solve puzzles by using this rewind mechanic, such as getting a group of bullies out of the way of a door they are blocking, or allow you to provide the answer for a question correctly after previously getting it wrong.
This mechanic can be used at any time, but during the games major decisions you are often advised to rewind and pick a different option to see how things would have changed had you done it differently, which to me undermines the element of crucial, game altering choices. Luckily, there is no correct way to do things, so you should never feel like you picked the wrong thing; but having that ability to instantly change what I just did if I didn't like how someone reacted almost feels like I'm cheating.
Running on the Unreal Engine, Life is Strange has a very distinct art style that lands somewhere rather awkward in the spectrum of being minimalist and wanting to be a graphical powerhouse. Everything in Life is Strange looks as if it has come to life from Max's scrapbook, with nothing having overly defined edges and lines, with colours being quite single tonal and nothing ever looking as if its graphically complex. But the way this is rendered in the Unreal Engine, makes it feel as if the textures haven't loaded properly. It looks like it's meant to be a much prettier game than it comes across as. Saying that, its not a bad looking game and has a good visual flair, but it just feels like its running in the wrong engine or that it should have a lot more graphical prowess than it currently has.
The voice acting also leaves a little to be desired. Most of this is to do with the awkward dialogue that feels like it was written by adults in their late forties rather than people who are actually the ages of Max & her friends. One use of the word 'Hella' made me cringe and actually want to stick a screwdriver in my ear just so I didn't have to hear it every 10 minutes from that point on. I cant think of a time where I haver ever heard some of this dialogue used in real life apart from in crappy teen movies and it does absolutely no favours for LiS.
Despite those small annoyances though, Life is Strange is a superb opening chapter to what could actually be this years most interesting episodic game narrative. Telltale may have the properties of Borderlands and Game of Thrones to work with and have always been the masters of storytelling, but something as original as Life is Strange doesn't come around often, especially when its as good as it is.
If you can look past some awkward dialogue and the confusing artistic style the game has then you will find a lot to enjoy in this rather long introductory episode (coming in at just over 3 hours). Dontnod could be onto a winner here, I cant wait to see where the story goes next.
Episode 2: Out of Time
Its not been too long since we began our adventure through Blackwell Academy as Max Caulfield; a photography student who has moved back to her home town only to find that she has the power to rewind time.
I can happily say I bring good news that 'Out Of Time' brings yet another excellent episode to the table, though one that is perhaps not so well balanced as the previous episode.
'Out Of Time' follows several interweaving storylines, in particular that of fellow photography student Kate, and Max's best friend Chloe. Kate is having troubles with social media and a viral video and Chloe is just attempting to get by in life without getting killed by someone she owes.
Of course, being a story driven game I cant really divulge much further into things; however be rest assured that Life is Strange could be set to be a downloadable GOTY contender if its story continues to be as strong and challenging as it is in this episode. Tackling issues not often explored even in TV let alone videogames, especially having it centred around a set of characters who aren't quite adults, but not kids anymore. Its classic teen drama, but presented in a unique and touching form.
The gameplay of episode 2 is where this entry does fall a bit flat however. Unlike the first episode where you were never stuck doing one thing for too long, 'Out Of Time' has a very bland gameplay structure. With the majority of the episode focusing around trying to convince Chloe of your time manipulation powers it actually moves relatively slowly for an entry that barely scrapes two hours long. A particular annoyance of the episode is when you are put into an environment and tasked with finding 5 collectibles. Only one of these collectibles is difficult to find, but that entire task felt like padding, especially seeing as the task only needed three of the collectibles anyway.
On top of this episode 2 has some rather irritating puzzle sections wherein you're expected to rely on the rewind mechanic to complete it rather than your actual skill at solving the puzzle. Whilst the gameplay it itself is not bad, I certainly hope that the rest of the season does not follow suit.
The king of the gameplay is of course, the conversation sections. 'Out Of Time' also has one of the most tense conversation experiences I have had in a game like this, ever. With the consequence of how this conversation goes dramatically altering the outcome of the game. It was this section in particular that goes to show that this game is more than just a Telltale knock-off, its playing ball with the best and showing signs of being able to beat them at their own game.
In short, if you don't own Life is Strange yet, it is one of this years best download games so far as well as one of the best episodic adventure games since the first season of The Walking Dead. This could well be 2015's dark horse.
Its not been too long since we began our adventure through Blackwell Academy as Max Caulfield; a photography student who has moved back to her home town only to find that she has the power to rewind time.
I can happily say I bring good news that 'Out Of Time' brings yet another excellent episode to the table, though one that is perhaps not so well balanced as the previous episode.
'Out Of Time' follows several interweaving storylines, in particular that of fellow photography student Kate, and Max's best friend Chloe. Kate is having troubles with social media and a viral video and Chloe is just attempting to get by in life without getting killed by someone she owes.
Of course, being a story driven game I cant really divulge much further into things; however be rest assured that Life is Strange could be set to be a downloadable GOTY contender if its story continues to be as strong and challenging as it is in this episode. Tackling issues not often explored even in TV let alone videogames, especially having it centred around a set of characters who aren't quite adults, but not kids anymore. Its classic teen drama, but presented in a unique and touching form.
The gameplay of episode 2 is where this entry does fall a bit flat however. Unlike the first episode where you were never stuck doing one thing for too long, 'Out Of Time' has a very bland gameplay structure. With the majority of the episode focusing around trying to convince Chloe of your time manipulation powers it actually moves relatively slowly for an entry that barely scrapes two hours long. A particular annoyance of the episode is when you are put into an environment and tasked with finding 5 collectibles. Only one of these collectibles is difficult to find, but that entire task felt like padding, especially seeing as the task only needed three of the collectibles anyway.
On top of this episode 2 has some rather irritating puzzle sections wherein you're expected to rely on the rewind mechanic to complete it rather than your actual skill at solving the puzzle. Whilst the gameplay it itself is not bad, I certainly hope that the rest of the season does not follow suit.
The king of the gameplay is of course, the conversation sections. 'Out Of Time' also has one of the most tense conversation experiences I have had in a game like this, ever. With the consequence of how this conversation goes dramatically altering the outcome of the game. It was this section in particular that goes to show that this game is more than just a Telltale knock-off, its playing ball with the best and showing signs of being able to beat them at their own game.
In short, if you don't own Life is Strange yet, it is one of this years best download games so far as well as one of the best episodic adventure games since the first season of The Walking Dead. This could well be 2015's dark horse.
Episode 3: Chaos Theory
The ending to the last episode of Life is Strange left the world with its jaw on the floor and gamers everywhere weeping, and that was just the 2nd episode to what is set to be a serious contender for this years Game of the Year awards. After an agonising wait we finally have episode 3, 'Chaos Theory' to whet our palette, but has it been worth the wait?
'Chaos Theory' starts off with Blackwater and Arcadia Bay in mourning of the suicide of Kate Marsh at the end of episode 2, showing us a more quiet and sensitive side to the characters and to the environment itself. The town is also in confusion over the unusual weather that has been occurring over the past few days including the snow and an eclipse.
'Chaos Theory' centres on our dynamic duo Max & Chloe as they start to unravel the mystery surrounding the key figures in Blackwater relating to Kate & Rachel; these include Nathan, David, Victoria, and Frank. It also explores Chloe's past relating to her birth father and the bond the two girls share that had been lost because of Max moving to New York all those years ago.
'Chaos Theory' is a smaller episode than previous entries, both in terms of story and length. It's not a lot shorter than the previous two episodes but with only a couple of important events in the game it moves a lot quicker through sections that aren't as important.That being said, the episodes finale will yet again leave you speechless. I haven't felt the way I did after finishing the episode in a very very long time, a mix of sadness, regret, and sheer disbelief mixed with anger and confusion simply left me stunned that Life is Strange had managed to pull off what it did so well.
There are fewer puzzles in 'Chaos Theory' with the only collectible hunt being pretty easy. Other than that, its just a hell of a lot of talking and a lot of rewinding conversations to open up new speech options with newly learned information. Its pretty slow and is likely to be the downtime episode in the series, but luckily the conversations are entertaining and insightful.
In terms of presentation, I noticed this episode has a pretty big problem with frame rate when moving to new areas. Something that hadn't really been a problem in the previous episodes, but really interrupted the flow in this one. The art style again makes particular sections of this game look gorgeous, such as the pool scene and using Max's phone as a torch in the opening scene.
Episode 3 'Chaos Theory' really splits my mind when trying to come to a conclusion on it. Its the downtime episode, not much action and a lot of talking, but the ending is just so spectacular that I cant help but feel like I need to shower the episode with undying praise. The finale to 'Chaos Theory' only makes my presumption of Life is Strange being a GOTY contender even stronger. Life is Strange is a game that every self respecting gamer needs to play now, Dontnod have struck gold with this game.
The ending to the last episode of Life is Strange left the world with its jaw on the floor and gamers everywhere weeping, and that was just the 2nd episode to what is set to be a serious contender for this years Game of the Year awards. After an agonising wait we finally have episode 3, 'Chaos Theory' to whet our palette, but has it been worth the wait?
'Chaos Theory' starts off with Blackwater and Arcadia Bay in mourning of the suicide of Kate Marsh at the end of episode 2, showing us a more quiet and sensitive side to the characters and to the environment itself. The town is also in confusion over the unusual weather that has been occurring over the past few days including the snow and an eclipse.
'Chaos Theory' centres on our dynamic duo Max & Chloe as they start to unravel the mystery surrounding the key figures in Blackwater relating to Kate & Rachel; these include Nathan, David, Victoria, and Frank. It also explores Chloe's past relating to her birth father and the bond the two girls share that had been lost because of Max moving to New York all those years ago.
'Chaos Theory' is a smaller episode than previous entries, both in terms of story and length. It's not a lot shorter than the previous two episodes but with only a couple of important events in the game it moves a lot quicker through sections that aren't as important.That being said, the episodes finale will yet again leave you speechless. I haven't felt the way I did after finishing the episode in a very very long time, a mix of sadness, regret, and sheer disbelief mixed with anger and confusion simply left me stunned that Life is Strange had managed to pull off what it did so well.
There are fewer puzzles in 'Chaos Theory' with the only collectible hunt being pretty easy. Other than that, its just a hell of a lot of talking and a lot of rewinding conversations to open up new speech options with newly learned information. Its pretty slow and is likely to be the downtime episode in the series, but luckily the conversations are entertaining and insightful.
In terms of presentation, I noticed this episode has a pretty big problem with frame rate when moving to new areas. Something that hadn't really been a problem in the previous episodes, but really interrupted the flow in this one. The art style again makes particular sections of this game look gorgeous, such as the pool scene and using Max's phone as a torch in the opening scene.
Episode 3 'Chaos Theory' really splits my mind when trying to come to a conclusion on it. Its the downtime episode, not much action and a lot of talking, but the ending is just so spectacular that I cant help but feel like I need to shower the episode with undying praise. The finale to 'Chaos Theory' only makes my presumption of Life is Strange being a GOTY contender even stronger. Life is Strange is a game that every self respecting gamer needs to play now, Dontnod have struck gold with this game.
Episode 4: Dark Room
Life is Strange has been an episodic series that has consistently pushed the bar higher and higher since it's debut episode of how to maturely tackle difficult issues in a video game. A medium of entertainment that is still in its infancy compared to the likes of TV, film and literature. Over the last four months we have seen the exploits of protagonist Max Caufield and her quiet coastal town Aradia Bay grow darker and into territory most video games dare to never even think of, let alone treat with such boldness or care as Life is Strange. The fourth and penultimate episode in this series continues this trend and proves to all developers that such issues can be handled in video games, and only goes on to show how worthy this series is of Game of the Year status as well as one of the most important episodic games in recent history surpassing even legendary adventure game developer Telltale Games.
Dark Room picks up immediately after the shocking twist at the end of Chaos Theory. Max has managed to alter history itself by rewinding time back to her childhood and saving Chloe's dad from being killed in a car crash. The resulting alternate timeline has placed Chloe in a wheelchair and completely dependant on her parents due to being paralysed from the neck down. Alongside this, Max is coming ever closer to solving the mystery of what happened to Rachel Amber and how Nathan Prescott and the recently deceased Kate Marsh are connected to her disappearance.
Dark Room plays it fast and loose with your emotions over its three hour run time. Asking you to not only to solve the mystery of Rachel Amber in an L.A Noire style evidence hunt, piecing together all the evidence to find who is responsible for her disappearance. But it also confronts you with some of the hardest moral choices in an adventure game to date. I cried at a particular moral choice near the beginning of the episode before I had even chosen what I was going to do, you know that when something makes you have that kind of reaction before you have even decided that you have some an amazing story, a masterfully written script and a truly human cast of characters.
Dark Room lives up to its title being the darkest episode of Life Is Strange to date. Usually being a series that looks on the lighter side of the bad situations these characters are in, this episode deals with issues such as euthanasia, drug addiction, and mental health issues. Some of the scenes in this episode are deeply upsetting and disturbing to view, and by the time the credits are rolling you'll not only be speechless but you'll also be scared to know what's going to happen come the season finale.
The episode consists largely of collecting evidence to sort through to find the culprit for Rachel Ambers disappearance. The big puzzle of the episode is essentially analysing various pieces of data and piecing them together to make sense in what can only be described as CSI: Arcadia Bay. There is a smaller puzzle later on in the episode which can be a little bit of a brain bender, forcing you to get the puzzle wrong before you actually have the opportunity to get it right even if you can see the solution from the start. The episodes puzzles are well designed and fun to solve, though the later puzzle I spoke of can test a players patience. Of course expect a ton of conversation and several weighty moral choices to make, good thing you have the power to rewind time right!
In terms of performance, Dark Room runs smoothly on current gen consoles with very few frame rate drops and fewer loading screens than previous episodes. Not to mention it has some gorgeous moments as expected from a game with such a unique art style. The voice acting is great as expected and the soundtrack is on top form this episode with a large variety in different tracks this time and not sticking to the usual acoustic guitar ambiance we have grown used to over the series.
Dark Room propels Life is Strange from being an above average adventure game into a groundbreaking new benchmark for the genre in storytelling. It ties up almost every loose end leaving room for a pulse-pounding finale that will be unbelievably difficult to wait for. It's sudden change of tone from a relatively happy yet mature game into something akin to a horror film is a surprising yet extremely welcome shift that has come at the exact right moment in the series.
So begins the waiting game, but one thing is for sure. Life is Strange is without a doubt one of the most intelligent, well written and sensitive games in recent memory, and will undoubtedly be a strong contender in this years Game of the Year awards ceremonies.
Life is Strange has been an episodic series that has consistently pushed the bar higher and higher since it's debut episode of how to maturely tackle difficult issues in a video game. A medium of entertainment that is still in its infancy compared to the likes of TV, film and literature. Over the last four months we have seen the exploits of protagonist Max Caufield and her quiet coastal town Aradia Bay grow darker and into territory most video games dare to never even think of, let alone treat with such boldness or care as Life is Strange. The fourth and penultimate episode in this series continues this trend and proves to all developers that such issues can be handled in video games, and only goes on to show how worthy this series is of Game of the Year status as well as one of the most important episodic games in recent history surpassing even legendary adventure game developer Telltale Games.
Dark Room picks up immediately after the shocking twist at the end of Chaos Theory. Max has managed to alter history itself by rewinding time back to her childhood and saving Chloe's dad from being killed in a car crash. The resulting alternate timeline has placed Chloe in a wheelchair and completely dependant on her parents due to being paralysed from the neck down. Alongside this, Max is coming ever closer to solving the mystery of what happened to Rachel Amber and how Nathan Prescott and the recently deceased Kate Marsh are connected to her disappearance.
Dark Room plays it fast and loose with your emotions over its three hour run time. Asking you to not only to solve the mystery of Rachel Amber in an L.A Noire style evidence hunt, piecing together all the evidence to find who is responsible for her disappearance. But it also confronts you with some of the hardest moral choices in an adventure game to date. I cried at a particular moral choice near the beginning of the episode before I had even chosen what I was going to do, you know that when something makes you have that kind of reaction before you have even decided that you have some an amazing story, a masterfully written script and a truly human cast of characters.
Dark Room lives up to its title being the darkest episode of Life Is Strange to date. Usually being a series that looks on the lighter side of the bad situations these characters are in, this episode deals with issues such as euthanasia, drug addiction, and mental health issues. Some of the scenes in this episode are deeply upsetting and disturbing to view, and by the time the credits are rolling you'll not only be speechless but you'll also be scared to know what's going to happen come the season finale.
The episode consists largely of collecting evidence to sort through to find the culprit for Rachel Ambers disappearance. The big puzzle of the episode is essentially analysing various pieces of data and piecing them together to make sense in what can only be described as CSI: Arcadia Bay. There is a smaller puzzle later on in the episode which can be a little bit of a brain bender, forcing you to get the puzzle wrong before you actually have the opportunity to get it right even if you can see the solution from the start. The episodes puzzles are well designed and fun to solve, though the later puzzle I spoke of can test a players patience. Of course expect a ton of conversation and several weighty moral choices to make, good thing you have the power to rewind time right!
In terms of performance, Dark Room runs smoothly on current gen consoles with very few frame rate drops and fewer loading screens than previous episodes. Not to mention it has some gorgeous moments as expected from a game with such a unique art style. The voice acting is great as expected and the soundtrack is on top form this episode with a large variety in different tracks this time and not sticking to the usual acoustic guitar ambiance we have grown used to over the series.
Dark Room propels Life is Strange from being an above average adventure game into a groundbreaking new benchmark for the genre in storytelling. It ties up almost every loose end leaving room for a pulse-pounding finale that will be unbelievably difficult to wait for. It's sudden change of tone from a relatively happy yet mature game into something akin to a horror film is a surprising yet extremely welcome shift that has come at the exact right moment in the series.
So begins the waiting game, but one thing is for sure. Life is Strange is without a doubt one of the most intelligent, well written and sensitive games in recent memory, and will undoubtedly be a strong contender in this years Game of the Year awards ceremonies.
Episode 5: Polarized
I knew Life is Strange would be special from the moment it was announced. The concept was intriguing and developer Dontnod Entertainment had previously delivered one of the most captivating stories I had experienced in gaming with Remember Me. Little did I know however that Life is Strange would grow not only into a spectacular game, but one of the best games I have ever played and one that delivers the best story I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. The games final chapter, Polarized, not only provides a heart wrenching three hour run time, but is also the best episode of the game so far in terms of it's gameplay and character depth.
Professional photographer and lecturer at Blackwell Academy, Mark Jefferson, is the mastermind behind the disappearance and murder of Rachel Amber. Along with his apprentice, a vulnerable Nathan Prescott who he used and manipulated to his will.
The episode begins with Max strapped to a chair in the Dark Room under the Prescott's barn. With no way to escape the restraints of the chair, Max begins a journey of rewinding time and changing the past using photographs. Of course the danger of repeatedly rewinding time becomes more and more apparent to Max as she attempts to right all the wrongs in Arcadia Bay, creating numerous alternate realities and eventually realising what she must face in order to stop Arcadia Bay from being destroyed by a tornado.
Polarized delves into the nitty gritty of time travel and alternate realities in a way I haven't seen done so well in mainstream entertainment since Donnie Darko. It's complex and it's also pretty frightening to say the least. You'll be confused, you'll begin to slowly lose your mind, you'll have your perceptions of people messed with, you'll question every decision you have made so far and ultimately only you have the choice of how it all ends.
The last four episodes have downplayed Max's abilities quite a lot. Only allowing us to use it for menial tasks such as receiving information we need to proceed, solving a puzzle or moving Alyssa out of the way of something being thrown at her every god damn episode.
It was only in Episode 3: Chaos Theory, that we really got to see what Max was capable of by delving into her past and attempting to rewrite history by saving William Price's life. But that was also a glimpse of what was to come, creating an alternate universe with a paralysed terminally ill Chloe.
Polarized lets Max explore her destiny, by jumping through her history using photographs. Exploring the past, the present and the future all in a single episode. Allowing us glimpses of what life would be like for her if she had done things differently.
The only real bad part of Polarized comes if you have been thinking about it religiously leading up to your actual journey through it. Creating your theories, analysing previous episodes for clues and if that's the case, more likely than not, already having worked out how the game is going to end. It is a little predictable, it is a little cliché, but that doesn't stop it from completely destroying you emotionally.
The connections you have made with the characters over the last four episodes, people like Warren, Kate, Joyce, David, Victoria, and of course Chloe aren't developed on by uncontrollable dialogue. It's in Polarized that you are given full control over how you respond to these key characters and ultimately how you are going to end your time with them. Do you try to convince Joyce to take David back? Do you finally stand your ground against Victoria? Do you see things from David's perspective? Do you finally acknowledge Warrens affections for Max? That's your choice to make. Some are pretty easy choices for you to make based off your personal attitude on the person thusfar, but some of them are a little harder thanks to the curveballs LiS has been throwing along the way. But ultimately you will end Life is Strange with a personally tailored ending, it's satisfying to allow a game to let you tailor how you're going to have your last interactions with the characters and it will give the already impactful ending so much more weight.
I walked away from Polarized with tears in my eyes and the knowledge that I had done right by the people that deserved it and that my Max was my Max, not just a template that had been slightly altered in the last few seconds of the game like numerous other choice based gameplay will give you.
Life is Strange is a phenomenal game. It is unlike anything I have played before and I cannot see anything else taking it's place as my game of the year, even with all that is left to be released. It's not flawless, you only have to look at my reviews of previous episodes to see that, but what it does provide is a story unlike anything else you will experience in video games. One that takes risks with leaps, not tentative steps. One that's not afraid to tackle taboo subjects in an adult and respectful manner. One that gives the player a sense of control of their destiny and doesn't funnel them through supposedly meaningful choices to give them a handful of identical endings. Life is Strange doesn't give you unlimited possibilities, but that just makes it all the more meaningful.
I knew Life is Strange would be special from the moment it was announced. The concept was intriguing and developer Dontnod Entertainment had previously delivered one of the most captivating stories I had experienced in gaming with Remember Me. Little did I know however that Life is Strange would grow not only into a spectacular game, but one of the best games I have ever played and one that delivers the best story I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. The games final chapter, Polarized, not only provides a heart wrenching three hour run time, but is also the best episode of the game so far in terms of it's gameplay and character depth.
Professional photographer and lecturer at Blackwell Academy, Mark Jefferson, is the mastermind behind the disappearance and murder of Rachel Amber. Along with his apprentice, a vulnerable Nathan Prescott who he used and manipulated to his will.
The episode begins with Max strapped to a chair in the Dark Room under the Prescott's barn. With no way to escape the restraints of the chair, Max begins a journey of rewinding time and changing the past using photographs. Of course the danger of repeatedly rewinding time becomes more and more apparent to Max as she attempts to right all the wrongs in Arcadia Bay, creating numerous alternate realities and eventually realising what she must face in order to stop Arcadia Bay from being destroyed by a tornado.
Polarized delves into the nitty gritty of time travel and alternate realities in a way I haven't seen done so well in mainstream entertainment since Donnie Darko. It's complex and it's also pretty frightening to say the least. You'll be confused, you'll begin to slowly lose your mind, you'll have your perceptions of people messed with, you'll question every decision you have made so far and ultimately only you have the choice of how it all ends.
The last four episodes have downplayed Max's abilities quite a lot. Only allowing us to use it for menial tasks such as receiving information we need to proceed, solving a puzzle or moving Alyssa out of the way of something being thrown at her every god damn episode.
It was only in Episode 3: Chaos Theory, that we really got to see what Max was capable of by delving into her past and attempting to rewrite history by saving William Price's life. But that was also a glimpse of what was to come, creating an alternate universe with a paralysed terminally ill Chloe.
Polarized lets Max explore her destiny, by jumping through her history using photographs. Exploring the past, the present and the future all in a single episode. Allowing us glimpses of what life would be like for her if she had done things differently.
The only real bad part of Polarized comes if you have been thinking about it religiously leading up to your actual journey through it. Creating your theories, analysing previous episodes for clues and if that's the case, more likely than not, already having worked out how the game is going to end. It is a little predictable, it is a little cliché, but that doesn't stop it from completely destroying you emotionally.
The connections you have made with the characters over the last four episodes, people like Warren, Kate, Joyce, David, Victoria, and of course Chloe aren't developed on by uncontrollable dialogue. It's in Polarized that you are given full control over how you respond to these key characters and ultimately how you are going to end your time with them. Do you try to convince Joyce to take David back? Do you finally stand your ground against Victoria? Do you see things from David's perspective? Do you finally acknowledge Warrens affections for Max? That's your choice to make. Some are pretty easy choices for you to make based off your personal attitude on the person thusfar, but some of them are a little harder thanks to the curveballs LiS has been throwing along the way. But ultimately you will end Life is Strange with a personally tailored ending, it's satisfying to allow a game to let you tailor how you're going to have your last interactions with the characters and it will give the already impactful ending so much more weight.
I walked away from Polarized with tears in my eyes and the knowledge that I had done right by the people that deserved it and that my Max was my Max, not just a template that had been slightly altered in the last few seconds of the game like numerous other choice based gameplay will give you.
Life is Strange is a phenomenal game. It is unlike anything I have played before and I cannot see anything else taking it's place as my game of the year, even with all that is left to be released. It's not flawless, you only have to look at my reviews of previous episodes to see that, but what it does provide is a story unlike anything else you will experience in video games. One that takes risks with leaps, not tentative steps. One that's not afraid to tackle taboo subjects in an adult and respectful manner. One that gives the player a sense of control of their destiny and doesn't funnel them through supposedly meaningful choices to give them a handful of identical endings. Life is Strange doesn't give you unlimited possibilities, but that just makes it all the more meaningful.
STORY: 10/10
GAMEPLAY: 7/10
PRESENTATION: 8/10
LIFESPAN: 8/10
SCORE: 9/10
I'm proud to say that Life is Strange is perhaps the best story I have ever been told in a game and I believe that every one, gamer or not, should experience the tale of Max Caulfield and her extraordinary, yet strange life.