Life is Strange: Before the storm (episode 1) review

*PS4 version

It's great to go back to Arcadia Bay in this promising beginnings of a prequel


Life is Strange was a huge and wonderful surprise when I played it, I jumped in rather late into its release, around the the fourth episode and not too far from the fifth and final one. It was Centred on student Max Caulfield, who discovers that she has the powers to rewind time. Despite its flaws it was engaging and thoughtful from start to finish, and it had me completely hooked.

Before the Storm is a three part episodic prequel focused on Chloe Price, who was one of the most important figures in Life Is Strange. This episode's story is relatively bare bones and doesn't have a mystery box hanging over it like the first game, for the moment it's more character driven and focused on Chloe's mourning of her dead father and her relationship with another student Rachel Amber.

The game is best described as a point and click adventure but with greater freedom to interact with the environment. The environments are contained but work as puzzles that drive the game forward, this might mean you have to interact with objects and NPCs in a certain way to get to the next narrative point. A good example of this is in the beginning of the game when you have try and get into a concert by persuading the bouncer, if that fails you have to sneak your way inside.

**

The rewinding time power that was such a unique function of the last game has gone and replaced with a backchat option which is part of the dialogue choices you have to make, it comes into play when you get into heated arguments. While it suits the boisterous character of Chloe it does feel a little tacked on and lacks the dynamism of the rewinding time ability. But it is just a small function of the game, it's a reactive tool rather than a narrative plot device.

There does seem to be less gameplay agency as well, cutscenes also seem to be a bit longer, but i think this is because of the shift in a more character driven direction, and the narrower story beats (so far).

**

The graphics are basic and nothing to shout about, they certainly aren't what you'd call a current generation. And while the eyes convey character emotion, the facial animations are not particularly good, there's no difference between a character's sadness and their happiness. But the experience is so rewarding none of this was game breaking whatsoever, in many ways it gives it an odd charm, but I'd be lying if I said that it was something to gloss over.

**

With so much focus on emotional choices connected to the character, the dialogue is thankfully an improvement over its predecessor, it's still a bit patchy and unnatural in places, but there is nothing here that is noticeably cringey. If you're engrossed in the story and the emotional beats that the game is trying to portray, you'll be able to turn a blind eye to what is one of the series evidently weaker features.

**

Seeing as we return to Arcadia Bay, some of the locations do return, this might be a problem with prequels in other game series but I loved going back because the setting feels like a character itself rather than just a backdrop. While your exploration is restricted, the locations feel like they are lived and breathed in, little nuances will be familiar to your own everyday life.

This is helped by the game's sombre atmosphere, there's a great use of daylight as a visual cue, it always hangs over Arcadia Bay in a peculiar way. Making its isolation feel uneasy but peaceful.

Aside from Chloe there are a few returning characters from the first game, usually in slender cameo roles, although there's a possibility that they could have a bigger influence in later episodes. But I was surprised by how much I really cared for Chloe herself, a person who I'd struggle to like in reality, and one who was a bit overbearing and often quite annoying in the first game. But I really warmed to her this time round, while she has a teenage angst that results in conflict, her brashness is naive but sympathetic. She has become a character I feel personally invested in.

Verdict: 8/10

This is a promising start and I can't wait to see where it goes in the next two episodes, even if I do know the eventual fate of the main characters. I found myself getting really emotional at times as I began to understand the inner strengths and weaknesses that Chloe possesses.

If you were a fan of the first Life is Strange this is a must have, for those who have not played the first one I'd recommend you try its first episode, it's free on almost all platforms. If you like it then buy the rest of the episodes as well as this one, the price isn't steep for what you get in return.