Life is Strange: Before The Storm is an episodic graphic adventure video game developed by Deck Nine and published by Square Enix.
Arriving two years after the release of the original game Life is Strange: Before The Storm developer Deck Nine takes over from Dontnod Entertainment for this prequel set one year before the events of the first. This time, you take control of the rebellious Chloe Price as you play through her relationship with Rachael Amber, which formed such a key part of the original game’s mysterious plot-line.
Retaining the same style of Life is Strange, though the developers have dropped the time travel element, this three-part graphic adventure is very much for the fans of the first than maybe newcomers. It not only provides numerous nods to previous events but also fills in one of the major gaps in the Life is Strange lore, which judging by the unearned post credits sequence seems to have been designed to close the book on this story, especially with Dontnod Entertainment confirming that their currently in-production sequel will feature a new setting and cast of characters.
Opening with Chloe playing chicken on the train tracks as she sneaks out to attend a concert at the old mill, its clear that Chloe is still every bit the rebel she was the last time we saw here even if she’s not voiced by Ashly Burch this time, now having Rhianna DeVries – who does the motion capture for the character – taking over the vocal performance. Of course, by having Chloe as the lead it does take the story in an interesting direction, especially when she has no special powers outside of the ability to argue with anyone which here forms an occasionally amusing mini-game in which she can argue people down in her typically blunt attitude.
By removing the time travel elements, the story is a lot more grounded than before, which to an extent doesn’t effect the overall story being told as Arcadia Bay still remains the small seaside town were dark secrets run deep, which is very much the case here as Chloe and Rachel attempt to find out the identity of a mystery woman Rachel sees with her father. At the same time seeing the relationship between Chloe and Rachel slowly unfolding over the course of the three episode is certainly interesting to play though with so many moments capturing the carefree abandon that we got with Chloe and Max.
Following the relationship plot in this grounded style also means that the player gets to play though rather unique situations such as Chloe fumbling her way through a production of “The Tempest,” which the chances are you skimmed over the stage directions unless your the kind of player who soaks in every scrap of paper that you come across. The downside to this situation though is that there is a lot of fetch quests often for really uninteresting occasions such as setting a table in one gripping sequence that goes on way longer than anyone should commit to setting a virtual table.
While perhaps not as gripping as the original game, especially with the over reliance of family drama this is not a game without its moments which will delight fans of the original game, but may prove more hit and miss for the newcomer while a bonus ending aiming to bring the story full circle ends up feeling unearned. Thankfully, the short number of (lengthy) episodes works in its favor.