Developed by: Dontnod Entertainment
Published by: Square-Enix
Reviewed on: Xbox 360 (also available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PC)
Episode 3 of Life is Strange starts off on the night following the end of Episode 2. Some of the whispers that you can hear all depend on the events at the close of the Episode 2, but this time around there doesn’t seem to be as much recollection of past choices you made this time around; the only thing I noticed was that I ended up drowning my potted plant. It’s probably due to the gravity of the events that closed out the previous episode. For most of the beginning you sneak around trying to gather more information about some of the suspects in the missing person’s case that Max and Chloe are investigating. The story seems to drag a good part of the episode. However towards the end it starts to really pick up steam. You start learning more secrets about many of the key players in the story, including Chloe, which actually explains some of the issues and hang ups that she seems to have. This all leads to an incredible ending that literally changes everything about the story.
As far as game play goes, it’s mostly more of the same thing: hunting and gathering for fetch quests, rewinding time, and skipping already seen dialogue. If you get stuck it can get pretty frustrating. One new mechanic is introduced when Max and Chloe needed to get through a locked door and when they finally force their way inside, they trip an alarm. Once inside, Max rewinds time and everything goes back to the way things were. From there, Max can open the door and let Chloe in without setting anything off. Besides that, Episode 3 doesn’t have as many new uses for rewinding time like the memory game in the previous episode. This game was far more story based this time around as opposed to Max constantly using her powers.
The game seemed to drag for a majority of the game, but once the main story starts to get serious, the slow start is easily forgotten and forgiven. Still it’s definitely understandable that other players might have an issue with how long it takes for this episode to get interesting. There were very little graphical and sound issues this time around. Overall this episode ran much better than the previous two.
Chances are if you played the first two episodes, you’re going to buy this episode regardless. That is of course if you haven’t already bought the season pass at this point. If you haven’t, however, and are still on the fence after finishing either Episode 1 or Episode 2 of Life is Strange, then Episode 3 will sell you with the direction that it’s heading for the next episode.
