After the first part, which was a surprise to everyone who tried it, with a very unique scenario and ideas by the French development team Dontnod, the game Life is Strange returns, this time developed by the team Deck Nine Games in a spin-off part called Life is Strange Before the Storm. We will try to provide a summary of its content through a review of its first episodes, so stay tuned with us.
Basic Information:
Game Title: Life is Strange Before the Storm
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Deck Nine Games
Release Date: August 31, 2017
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Age Rating: 16 years and above
The events of the game take place three years before the adventure we experienced with the protagonist Max Caufield in the first part, where we take on the role of the character Chloe Price. Through a very deep scenario, we navigate Chloe through internal psychological events and strong conflicts that she will endure, pushing her down a path of deviation.
After the death of her father and the transfer of her childhood friend Max Caufield to live with her family in the north, the main character in the game, Chloe Price, finds herself alone, especially since she was very close to her father and her friend. She continues to suffer from a large void internally, behind struggles that made her take an unexpected direction.
Despite all the efforts, her mother remains always apart from her, as there is always a gap between them due to their different ways of thinking. Through the events of this part, Chloe Price will face very strong psychological conflicts between the pressures of studying at college and her declining grades, as well as her mother’s issues. In addition, her mother’s friend will also get involved in this mess of problems and conflicts that the character is experiencing due to her reckless behavior, especially as she goes through a very difficult teenage phase, which made it difficult for her to find someone to communicate with, get closer to, guide her to a better path, other than her new friend Rachel Amber.
Rachel Amber will not be in a better condition than the protagonist Chloe, and of course, those who followed the events of the first part will know her well. We will discover more about her character through the first episode of the game Life is Strange Before the Storm, through events that reveal her importance to Chloe and how their relationship has become very strong, leading to dramatic events and psychological conflicts for the two girls through this episode, making it very exciting.
Starting from the characters that will make a comeback in the game and understanding well the reasons for their presence in the story, it is necessary for everyone who played the first release not to miss the experience in this episode. I hoped that the events would not end quickly because they carried excitement to the farthest possible point, making us very excited for the upcoming episodes with both Chloe Price and Rachel Amber.
As for the gameplay in this part, it has not evolved significantly from the first release, which remains the original, despite some attempts in the dialogues to add more interactive options. I see this as an idea that was not successful on the part of the developers, as replacing the time rewind feature with this concept. However, we still find all the original gameplay controls, such as control buttons and the gameplay style in terms of dialogues, which remains very successful.
It is undeniable that we enjoyed most of the scenes containing dialogues and always with the gameplay style that allows you to take the lead and change the course of the story through several options that were sometimes the key to the heart of all scenario balances. Overall, the gameplay style was good, as it maintained the basics of the original game. Although we wished for a completely new content, it remains good.
Now let’s go to the graphics aspect in Life is Strange Before the Storm, where the game uses the Unity development engine, which as we know, offers excellent performance in games. However, in the game Life is Strange Before the Storm, the Deck Nine Games team decided to utilize their creative power more than exhausting all their resources, which led them to present somewhat average graphics that resemble the first version. We do not notice any drastic changes in the city of Arcadia Bay or the overall design of the game environment, for example, the Blackwell University.
Everything we have visited remains the same without any drastic improvements, only some visual effects that are on the fingertips and the quality of the well-designed characters is undeniable. This made the experience very similar to the first part, as if we were playing the same game but with different events and characters. Despite that, we do not overlook the effort made by the development team through excellent details in the game world and the artistic aspect of the graphics, which has never changed from what we experienced before. Personally, it took me back in time to retrieve the events of the first part.
Our review is coming to an end, and in the final paragraph, as it can be said, we always end with the best, which leads us to talk about one of the most important elements of success, which is the music in the game. I will not describe its quality no matter what I say or express through these words, as it presented something beyond creativity, similar to the first part which was also distinguished by the same thing. Personally, until now in 2017, the best game music I heard remains in the game Life is Strange Before the Storm.
I believe that most players who experience the game will agree with me because it immerses you in the atmosphere of the game. If you are new to the series and are experiencing the game Life is Strange Before the Storm for the first time, you will immediately be immersed in the events of the game and the wonderful dramatic adventure, where the musical segments ignited excellence and success to categorize it among the best segments this year without any dispute. This music was designed once again to maintain the same approach that the game has followed, which is excellence, through sound tones that remain in the ear and cannot be forgotten, especially if you immerse yourself and delve into the events of the game.
At the end of our review of the first episode of the game Life is Strange Before the Storm, it managed to continue this by keeping the same approach as the first part, presenting a content and scenario that introduced several characters we were attached to previously. It was great to see them return, and we cannot hide some negative points that did not affect the experience in any way, making this first episode of the game Life is Strange Before the Storm maintain the spark of excellence and eagerly awaiting the second episode.
Final Rating: 7.5/10
