Life is Strange: Before the Storm – Review in Full

I’ve waited for the all the episodes to be released to review Life is Strange: Before the Storm because I feel it’s important to write reviews with as fewer spoilers as possible, and obviously to avoid guessing where the game is going next episode and ultimately being disappointed – you’re either upset that the game didn’t go where you thought or upset that it did.

Anyways, the game itself. If you missed the original, Life is Strange is an episodic story driven game, focusing on two friends, Max and Chloe, dealing with the teenage dramas that hit close to home for a millennial like me, and also a bit of mucking about with the space/time continuum. Don’t look at me confused, just take your face over there and go play it.

Before the Storm ditches the wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey stuff for Chloe, who is the player character this time around, and instead uses a new dialogue challenge called “Backtalk”. In some interactions the player has the option to become defensive and aggressive in order to get what they want or need. However, failing the challenge can lead to the situation becoming worse. These challenges are at times amusing, and some are very poignant and relatable. It also has the added effect of being the most teenage mechanic in any game I’ve ever played, and Deck Nine deserve props for it.

This type of dialogue challenge aids in the further development of Chloe’s character and personality from the original game. She has become more varied and layered whilst still retaining the don’t-give-a-fuck attitude of a naïve and angry teenager. The wounds of her father’s death still show throughout the story, and Rhianna DeVris, taking over from Ashly Burch, does a fantastic job portraying a wonderful yet broken young woman trying to create some semblance of stability in her life.

We also gain an insight into the creation of the various relationships Chloe has with many people in Arcadia Bay; we learn about the deep mistrust between her and David, her future step-father, but we also learn why David cares for Chloe, almost ret-conning the shock rescue of the first game to be less surprising.

Something obviously has to be said for Kylie Brown and her stunning performance as Rachel, the missing girl from the first game and Chloe’s girlfriend. Brown really goes for it in her moving portrayal of someone whose perfect family life crumbles around her. These two girls are extremely sympathetic and well rounded, but the way the two meet and can become an item happens almost immediately, and feels a bit jarring.

It potentially may have played out better had Chloe and Rachel been able to slowly explore their relationship over the course of all three episodes, though development time constraints may have necessitated this quick bonding of the two girls. An argument could also be made about the impulsivity of the two central characters as a reason for the fast forming relationship; they’re escapism and wanting to leave their dead-end town behind as quickly as possible shows this.

Other characters are once again great. My personal favourites were Steph and Mikey, two DnD players who are a total joy and who can even be joined by the player for a few short campaigns. These sections are some of the most amusing in the entire game, and demonstrate another side of Chloe - her dorky side. The games in this series have made continued references to Max and Chloe's desire to be pirates and other make-believe games the two came up with when they were kids. Chloe's escapades and enthusiasm in the DnD games shows that there is still a playful side to her beneath all the angst.

Despite this, some characters are not so well done. Joyce (Chloe’s mother) doesn’t receive nearly the same level of depth and development as she does in the first title, along with Rachel’s parents, especially her mother. Rachel’s father does, thankfully, but not nearly to the point where I could consider him anything more than a supporting actor, not someone who is actually fairly key to the third act. Above all else though, the supporting cast are let down somewhat by poor scripts, bored sounding voice actors, and honestly feeling a bit like afterthoughts.

Deck Nine, 2017

The antagonists throughout the story are more grounded and believable, the central one being Damon Merrick, an unhinged drug dealer who is Frank's (the dealer from the original) boss. Damon is unnerving and threatening, which is exactly what is needed for an antagonist that is directly related to, at least for me growing up, the teenage reality.

Overall this is still the focus of the narrative; teenage life and dramas. But Before the Storm shifts the tone away from wanting to hold onto that, to wanting to escape from it. There is a big emphasis on broken homes, substance abuse, and being or becoming an outcast. Where Life is Strange was a relatively typical look at the modern teenage story, Before the Storm is the angry, angsty, alternative look at adolescence.

Music helps to hold this tone, drawing from punk and indie music blended together to evoke a sense of angry isolation. Just like Life is Strange, this installment succeeds in taking me ten years back in time to pretty similar experiences. Daughter, an indie band from my neck of the woods, have written the original score and offered up some of the most haunting music in their repertoire. For licensed tracks, the punk music is blasted out during random acts of Chloe's teenage rebellion, such as defacing an entire school's ladies toilets. There is also a Mixtape Mode, where the player can craft a playlist and then listen to it whilst Chloe lays on her bed smoking a cigarette, granting the player a new way to connect to the character and enjoy the music.

Deck Nine, 2017

Finally, I should probably talk about the graphics, which unfortunately feel a touch dated. Before the Storm retains the same hand painted aesthetic and sepia-tone lighting but the in-game assets appear to working towards the same constraints as before. Environments can feel empty and devoid of life at times. Again, development times and budgets can possibly explain this but potentially this is also a memory issue that comes with using the Unity engine. Thankfully though, the lip-syncing appears to be much better, but elsewhere character animations don’t look quite as good.

Overall, I’m still not quite sure what I think of Before the Storm. There are some wonderful highs but unfortunately just as many issues with the story and voice acting. It is a flawed game, both in terms of narrative and graphical fidelity, but for a development team who have never done anything like this before, I think Deck Nine have made a promising start. What I can say for certain is that I am so glad I was able to see some of my favourite characters in gaming again, and in a story that is different and, barring a few issues, just as compelling.

I look forward to the bonus episode called “Farwell”, coming out soon, which sees Ashly Burch and Hannah Telle reprise their roles from the original game, and I will be writing a short piece for that as well. See you next week!