How far does Max’s new power go?
At the end of the first episode of Life is Strange, we got a future vision of a massive tornado heading towards the town of Arcadia Bay and a very random snow shower appears during a sunny evening, but what does it all mean?
Episode 2 picks up a day after and Max is waking up at Blackwell Academy, things don’t start so well for her friend Kate who has already been harassed by David the Security Guard/Her best friend Chloe’s stepdad as a viral video takes over her life, I chose to be there for Kate and to help her through her ordeal…but depending on your choices, fate can swing many ways with this situation.
Max and Chloe go to a junkyard to try out Max’s time travel powers and it goes well at first, but ultimately they end up saving Chloe multiple times throughout the day. The downside is that we begin to see the physical effects the power is having on Max, she begins to have a nose bleed and even faints, where one time her powers temporarily stop working making her have to try everything to avoid a dark outcome.
Of course, it’s entirely up to you what choices you make and while it’s hard to see where it’s headed at the end, I for one am excited to see where it can go. It’s roughly the same length as the first episode, but ultimately more enticing and unpredictable…there were some moments of genius to be found in the second episode that I hope carries through to the remaining 3.
A lot has been said about the game’s lip syncing, or lack of it. It is noticeable, that’s for sure…but I wasn’t bothered by it one bit, because I was grabbed by the plot and the voice-acting isn’t half as bad as some have been making out. The visuals themselves are impressive for a low-budget game, my only complaint is a section of the episode where you have to find 5 glass bottles in the Junkyard, it was tedious and frustrating to hunt them down…hopefully we won’t get anything like that next time.
The Verdict
Episode 2 carries the pace of the first and steps it up a considerable notch. With so many storylines going on at once, it might be hard to keep focused, but if you can then hopefully the next 3 episodes will be amazing for you as I hope they will be for me.
