Life Is Strange: Before the Storm

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Life is Strange: Before the Storm Ep 3 Review@holoz0r3090d

Every choice you ever make leads to another choice. Except in Life is Strange: Before the Storm, Episode 3, where the prequel to Life is Strange concludes. Playing as a young Chloe Price, enamored with the complicated Rachael Amber; you continue to deal with mature theme after mature theme; in a world that is as dreamy, ephemeral and as fleeting as youth.

This is what makes the final episode of Before the Storm so powerful. It punctuates all that came before it tightly, and doesn't waste anytime progressing the narrative.

Pushing against ''challenging'' plot lines, Before the Storm somehow manages to touch on so many demographics and aspects of contemporary American society, from struggling single mothers, angst riddled, adolescent youths, veterans of recent conflicts struggling to find a place in life; people with money being highly influential even though their ideas aren't necessarily great, and the flirtations of youth with sexual discovery, alcohol, drugs, and other vices.

Without the supernatural game play elements and time travelling abilities of the original Life is Strange title, Before the Storm paints a coming of age tale across the faces of Chloe Price and Rachael Amber, where quoting Shakespeare, the game noting the fact that the "World's a Stage", before the bitterness of youth cynically responds, "and everyone in it is fake, and just acting."

You don't play Before the Storm for flashy visuals, twitchy moments of satisfaction. You play it to become immersed in an almost voyeuristic manner to the everyday thoughts and whims of teenage life.

Family drama, medical drama, personal drama, and tension abound throughout the game. Playing, I found myself mirroring Chloe, not wanting to go downstairs, for fear of speaking to a disappointed mother on mother's day. Wanting to hit Elliot, the kid that has a crush on Chloe, because how dare he move in on Rachael Amber's turf.

The final episode of Before the Storm takes all that came before and provides an excellent experience that I'm recommending everyone play. With any story where its easy to become attached to characters, you'll feel that a heap is still left to explore, but the incredible thing is - this tale is like a good book, the characters are changed by their experiences, and their lives continue, without you.

There's a strong sense of loss in that, and Life is Strange: Before the Storm delivers it eloquently.

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›Life is Strange: Before the Storm - Episode Two (PC) Quick Review@holoz0r3174d
Chloe has done some bad things. She's late to another moment that will impact her future. Life is Strange: Before the Storm is a game that is all about moments that impact the future. There's no right, there's no wrong, there's just action and consequence. What makes the game's plot move forward is that consequence is not always immediately clear.

For the second episode of Before the Storm, we return to the world wherever you left off, in the principals office, recapping what happened in the first episode; where you're faced with the first of the many actions you must take to witness the consequence unfold.

There's tension, there's suspense, and there's the ribbon that you must follow to keep the story going. The dialogue itself is forced; like the first episode, but this time around, it tells more story, and places hints as to how things unfold in Life is Strange (with Before the Storm being the prequel).

Complaints about the control scheme remain, and the mouse / keyboard combination is cumbersome - I went to using an Xbox controller plugged into my computer, which let the game flow at a much quicker pace, due to the fact that I wasn't spending time clicking an option, then pressing a key on the keyboard to confirm.

The music is great, just like the first episode, and fits the mood and atmosphere of the game perfectly, it's a coming of age soundtrack, a mix of indy rock, heavy on the obviously meaningful lyrics. I still miss the Unreal engine used in the original title, and the shift to Unity really dials down the detail in the second installment, while still managing to retain the charm and style of the original; just less resolved.

Still, it remains capable of some brilliant, picturesque storytelling:

Storytelling is exactly what Life is Strange is about, and in this second episode, it manages to do this very well, with (slightly) better voice acting; and the second episode sets the stage for the finale; which will lead into the original game. It makes playing this episode all the more difficult, knowing what will unfold.

The relationship between Chloe and Rachael grows deeper in this second episode, tugging ever so gently at the heart strings that will no doubt be ripped clean apart in the final episode of Before the Storm.

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›Review - Life is Strange: Before the Storm Episode One@holoz0r3216d
Life is Strange was a game that took many people by surprise. It stormed to success, winning awards, accolades, and is celebrated for its storytelling and honest depiction of youthful, impressionable characters. Before the Storm seeks to continue that success; this time placing the player in the role of Chloe Price.

Just as Life is Strange presents the player with choices that impact the plot, offering numerous and deep and meaningful choice, leading to\ different outcomes, and tense decision making; Before the Storm is more of the same, just so far, without granting the player any supernatural skills.

Chloe is a teenage girl, and she's a bit of a rebel. While she is keenly intelligent and articulate, she lacks motivation for the things that the world would like her to display it on.

The game opens with Chloe heading out to a concert in the middle of nowhere. A new game mechanic is introduced, and I dub it adolescent bickering.

You listen to the NPC, and prey upon their choice of words until they get sick of hearing Chloe's witty remarks. They are indeed witty, and well written. I got a few laughs out of the burns provided by Chloe early in the game; but what is off putting is that some situations that you chose to escalate really shouldn't end the way in which they do.

The original game used the Unreal engine, and Before the Storm employs unity to do its deeds. Immediately, the engine being different is quite jarring. It results in slightly lower quality textures and facial animations, which is really important in a game like this; where reading the expressions of characters is fundamental to progression of the story.

Even with this drop in visual fidelity, the game is still capable of delivering cinematic storytelling that leaves a resonating impact. The choice of camera angles, composition in scenes and visual poignancy immerses you in a world where a novice film student would delight. Scenes have meaningful props and items that flesh out the plot, even if you can't interact with every single one of them. You can be a vandal, leaving graffiti in almost every place you go; and as a result, leaving a further legacy on your environment, a vast departure from simply capturing it in the original game. I wonder if the consequences of Chloe's graffiti will come back to bite her later.

Here's an example of that visual poignancy. If you look closely, you can see Chloe curled up in front of the wrecked car. The scene is a junkyard, the car is junk, and she's vulnerable. The setting sun is symbolic too, indicating that the idea of youth is one that is transient.

In this first episode, the relationship between Chloe and Rachael, the most popular girl in school is fleshed out through a sequence of scenes that dominates the later part of the episode. The dialogue flows well, however the voice acting is a little lacking in emotion at times.

One of the most enjoyable scenes in the game will probably have very little to do with the outcome of the plot. There's a wonderful scene, where before entering the school building, you get the opportunity to take part in some Dungeons and Dragons style table top roleplay. Here is where the voice acting of Chloe's character shines brightest, and the joy and innocence of student life is so accurately captured.

The despair is captured earlier in a long, drawn out interaction between Chloe and her mother, and her mother's new boyfriend. These scenes seem forced, and confrontational for the sake of being confrontational.

Episode 1 of Before the Storm sets the scene and gets us ready for what is to come later. There's another 2 episodes, and at about 3 hours for the first (I played at a meandering pace) - this game should represent good value; however at this stage, it feels very much like there's a bit of improving yet to be done for this title to shine as brightly as the first entry in the series.

Don't forget this doesn't have the same development team behind it. I have reviewed the Steam version of the game, on PC.

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